Steady,
son. Patience; you need to time it right. My
father's voice chime inside my head loud and clear. My heart is in my mouth as
I feel the ground rumbling beneath me; the beast (a Mammoth, editor) is approaching. Steady,
son. You've only got one shot. Sweat is dripping down my shaking left-hand
fingers holding onto my bow. In the other hand, I hold my arrow tightly pulled
back in an attack position. This is it. Though I have been hunting for some seasons,
I have been restricted to smaller animals such as deer and bison. Never have I
gone face to face with a beast of this size. A huge, hairy creature rising at 3
times the human size (about 5'4'', editor),
and arguably the heaviest of all animals (8-12
tons, editor). The beast is not a predator and thus not a directly dangerous being.
However, it could easily squish a young man like me with its enormous figure,
and hunting of this proportion would definitely be caricatured on our
community's cave walls for seasons to come.
I feel ages have passed these few seconds,
but finally it appears directly in front of our hiding spot. Yummy, my father grins behind me with
the other 30-year-old elderly hunters. Giant tusks pierced through
the air ahead of its skull, giving me my definite aim for the most effective
weakening of the beast. A tough shot, leaving me petrified of missing and
startling the animal. However, as I know our tribe's women are finding little
fruit or nuts to gather in this landscape, my tribe's hungering tummies are
driving me forward. Now! my father
exclaims, and I let the arrow go. Leaping through the air, it soars perfectly
towards the animal's head. The second before it hits feels like an hour and I
am still scared to death of missing my aim. Nevertheless, as the beast screams
in agony I have never felt more delighted, and stand back to enjoy my
victorious shot as the older men further attack the animal with their spears. A
new skilled hunter has arose, and though my father and most men of our tribe are
soon at the end of their lives, we shall neither go hungry nor cold in the
future.
