Beads of sweat formed in his forehead when he sensed that it was coming. Its terrifying silhouette gradually looked closer to him. He held his breath when it stopped moving. A loud thud startled him, and when he looked sideways, his breath hitched.
It's the limbless bear, and it roared at him.
Lev hums a merry tune as he wipes his rifle with enthusiasm. Excitement was apparent in his face as he admired his newly cleaned weapon, which had been with him since his first hunt.
Tomorrow is the start of the open season, and Lev was obviously aware of it. Hunting has been his hobby since he learned it. It's been a family tradition for them every open season to hunt and keep the hunted animal's corpse preserved in their small cottage situated at the foot of the mountain. This year, he's the only one who's hunting because most of the men in their family were busy. He knew that his cousins weren't busy men, so he just assumed that they'd be too afraid to come back to the cottage. What happened to them at the cottage last year was a mystery, but for him, it's utter cowardice on their part.
"Bunch of cowards," he muttered as he continued polishing his rifle.
It is said that his cousins were almost attacked by the mysterious bear that prowls near their cottage. When he heard of it, he just laughed it out because he knew his cousins were just exaggerating what happened to them so that they would not be embarrassed. He thought that maybe those were just rodents making a fuss outside the cottage. He always sees his cousins as scaredy cats, so hearing this story was not a surprise for him.
He put the rifle carefully on the mounted rack on the wall.
He was about to go down the stairs when he heard a loud rustling among the tall bushes. He immediately grabbed his rifle and went downstairs to check if there's any creature that invaded the vicinity near their cottage. He walked around to check if there was an animal caught in the bear traps he had placed. Just to be sure, he had put those around because somehow he was a little bothered by what his cousins had told him. He sighed when he saw nothing.
He looked around for a moment and noticed it was almost evening. He smiled to himself when he remembered what would happen tomorrow. He whistled happily as he trudged his way towards the door. He closed it not so gently, and he immediately plopped himself down on the furry couch.
He closed his eyes and hummed a merry tune again. The fur on the couch felt warm against his skin, and it's quite uncomfortable for him, but he just brushed off that unpleasant feeling by singing again.
"I'll be safe hereee~," he sang cheerfully in a quite off-tune manner, but despite his self-assurance, he felt something was off.
He assured himself again and said silently, 'It's safe here.'
Or so he thought.
Lev lay still on the furry couch, breathing hard as though he had been running. He had awoken from a horrible nightmare. He was breathing fast as he recalled what he had dreamed. He closed his eyes again, and he saw the mysterious figure looming above him. Startled, he immediately opened his eyes and sat up. He clutched his pounding chest to steady it. He tried to calm himself for a while, so he went to the kitchen to get some cold water to douse the uneasiness he felt.
He was about to sip the water when he heard a loud thud upstairs. He quickly put down the glass and went upstairs. He was halfway up the stairs when he saw a shadow near the room where the preserved animal corpses were stored. It seemed massive and terrifying. He stopped for a while to rub his eyes.
'Maybe I'm just hallucinating,' he thought.
After rubbing his eyes, he opened them.
Unfortunately, he wasn't.
There he saw a brown grizzly bear—only that it doesn't have any limbs, and it's growled at him.
He immediately ran when he saw the limbless bear crawling toward him.
He ran like a madman when he saw the bear slowly rise up and walk like it had limbs. He didn't look back until he reached the farthest, hidden corner of the cottage.
He stayed still and listened intently to the noise of his surroundings. Beads of sweat formed in his forehead when he sensed that it was coming. Its terrifying silhouette gradually looked closer to him. He held his breath when it stopped moving. A loud thud startled him, and when he looked sideways, his breath hitched.
It's the limbless bear, and it roared at him.
Lev screamed and ran like there's no tomorrow. He ran upstairs again to get his rifle. The limbless bear was still chasing him. He was about to snatch the rifle from the rack when something tugged on his jeans. It's a squirrel!
It was the stuff squirrel from the room, and when he looked at the opened room where they preserved the animals they had hunted, he noticed that there were multiple moving shadows coming from it.
He stood stupefied, and when the door opened, the preserved animals charged towards him. He tried to move, but it seemed that his knees had given up, and before the animals could reach him, he lost consciousness.
He fainted in terror.
A loud knock awoke Lev. He looked around and saw his rifle near him. He is still at the place where he passed out, but what baffled him is: why is his rifle near him? If he remembered it correctly, he wasn't able to get it last night.
'Maybe that was just a dream,' he thought, but when he saw the stuffed squirrel near his feet, he realized that it indeed happened. He picked up the stuffed squirrel, and for some unknown reason, he felt sad. He stared at it, and the more she stared at the stuffed animal, the more he realized that it really looked so sad.
Unconsciously, he picked it up, and he headed towards the room where other preserved animals were stored. He suddenly felt a heavy feeling of sadness when he saw them. The guilt and melancholy clung to him like a heavy, wet blanket. He doesn't understand why he's feeling so much empathy for these dead animals.
'So that's what it felt like to be hunted,' he reflected remorsefully.
He gently put down the squirrel near the window pane.
"Sorry," he muttered with deep sincerity.
"Hey Lev, what's wrong with you, man? I've been knocking forever here, but here you are looking like I'm the one who did bad to you," Primo said, irritated.
Lev just looked at him passively.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you," he lied while walking towards him. Primo noticed Lev was holding the rifle. Primo eyed it with alarm, but his alarm was replaced by curiosity when Lev just passed by him.
Lev got an ax, and without a word, he suddenly hit the rifle with it. He slowly destroyed it without uttering a word.
Primo stood transfixed.
"What the hell, man? Why did you do that?", he asked in bewilderment.
Lev gazed at the dark forest.
"An apology," he said sincerely. "For them," he continued while walking back to the cottage.
Gunshots rang through the air, reminding him that the open season had started. Upon hearing it, Lev's gaze unconsciously wanders towards the squirrel near the window pane.
He silently vowed never to hunt again.
Ever.
