Sitting in a treestand wearing your fluorescent orange,
In position before the sun has even woken.
Watching, waiting, praying
For the chance to see movement.
Everything silent as the sun rises and with it, the animals

Hours go by sitting on the ridge,
Looking down at death valley for your prey.
It feels like a waste of a day.

Something starts to stirs,
Caught in the peripheral vision
Slowly turning so as to not spook the creature,
You line up with your old 30’06
Exhale and pull the trigger.

A loud scream immediately follows
Unusual, you quickly climb down with your gear
Rushing to the animal, blood everywhere
Flailing on the ground it is no animal
A human.
Panicking not sure what to do
Fear hits you like a wall as you try to help

He stops breathing.
Realizing what happened
Thinking it was just an accident
Just an accident,
A life ended
Gone.
Now yours will never be the same.