It was one of those days when he wanted to just drop everything and grab his 30-06 and go deer hunting. But know he had to focus on getting the spring calves branded and getting back to the ranch house before dark. The sun. The white, puffy clouds. The beautiful Montana sun. All of this seemed to call his name. Josh Mayhem. Josh Mayhem. That gentle whisper on the breeze calling him to his stand. No, he told himself. Focus, before one of the calves kick you or you burn yourself with the branding iron. So, he did all he could to concentrate on the task at hand.


She watched him ride up to the house in the pale evening light. A handsome, kind, but yet a strong-willed man. He could always find humor in anything and sometimes it led to trouble, but he always knew how to fix the problem. Because of theses traits, some people thought of him as smart and others thought of him as a troublemaker mostly because he never thought before he acted. But, she still loved him, none the less.

They had been married for three years now. They both wanted kids someday and almost never fought. They had bought the ranch when they got married with nothing to it but a run down house, an old cobble stone well, and a barn that looked more like a pile of rotten boards. Over the years they had rebuilt it and grown their herd from 20 to 2000. In order to keep up with the work, they had hired two men that lived in the bunkhouse out behind the house. Now, they were still expanding their herd of long horns and buying more land.


As he rode up, he saw her standing in the doorway watching him. Savannah was beautiful. There was nothing else to it. To him it was a fact, not an opinion. From her brown hair to her kindness, there was nowhere that he could find a flaw. And everyone in town thought the same. In town, she was an idol and wherever she went, people came just to see her and to hear her voice.

He put the horse up for the night and went in the house.

“How’d it go out there?” Savannah asked.

“Good, we had more calves than last year though,” Josh answered.

“That’s good.”

She put the food on the table and sat down with him.

“I think I will go hunting tomorrow,” he said thoughtfully.

“What about the branding?” Savannah questioned as she put a forkful of potatoes in her mouth.

He chewed thoughtfully before he replied, “The hands can finish up the last few.”

“Okay, well then I guess you better get some sleep.”

“Good idea. I will be going then, darling. Good night!” he bounded up the stairs in excitement.

“Good night,” she chuckled as she recalled how he looked like a deer himself, the way he leaped up the stairs.

The next morning, Josh got up early and got ready. When he left with his backpack and gun, it was getting light out already, so he had to jog to his stand in the south pasture to get there before the deer started moving. He got there and climbed up. Josh loaded his gun and sat back to wait for the big buck that had been haunting the county for years.

For years, there had been a massive, chocolate-colored buck roaming the county. Some said that seeing him brought good luck, but more people said it brought bad luck. Josh did not believe any of this nonsense. He thought it was all hocus pocus. He found it ironic that people called it a “monster” but yet, nobody seemed to be able to shoot it because it ran away. But he did not care what people called it, he still wanted it mounted on his wall.




When Savannah woke up, Josh was gone. Oh, well. It was not anything new. Josh was always gone hunting. He was always taking days off just to go hunting.

She got up and got dressed. She may as well get up and make the most of the day. If anything, she deserved a break to go out riding.

When she finally finished eating and packing a lunch for herself, she could hardly wait to get out. She nearly ran out the door and to the stables. As she was saddling up her horse, one of the hired hands, a tall gaunt man of about forty, came into the barn.
“Morning, Ma’am,” he grunted with a nod of his head.
“Good morning, Hank,” she replied.
Hank asked as he grabbed the fork to start pitching out the stalls, “Goin’ out riding today?”
“Yes came the response from the other side of the stall.
“Stear clear of the south pasture where Josh is hunting.”
“Thank you, Hank. I appreciate it,” she said gratefully as the stench from the manure started to
pervade the barn.
“No problem, Ma’am. See you when you get back.”
She climbed into the saddle and as she headed out, she silently hoped that he would be done
when she got back so that she did not have to smell the terrible odor.
As she rode, she thought about everything that popped into her mind. She was so lost in thought
that she did not watch where she was going. Before she knew it, she was farther away than she wanted to go. She also noticed that she was in the south pasture. She had better turn around, she thought. But, if Josh had not shot her yet then he must recognize her. She decided she still better turn around.


Josh was just starting to nod off when he heard something. It sounded like something big. He slowly sat up and looked around. There, standing tall and proud, was the Monster. Its antlers seemed to glow and he could already see it mounted on his wall. He slowly put the gun to his shoulder. As he did so, the buck turned to looked at him. Josh dared not to breath for fear of scaring it off. The buck looked at him for what seemed like hours but was really just a couple of seconds and Josh swore he could hear his heart beat and that his breath sounded like a tornado in midsummer. Then, in one graceful movement, The Monster looked away and suddenly it took off running. As it ran into the open plains, he fired some quick shots after it without thinking about where the bullets would go if they missed. The Monster disappeared and Josh felt his heart pounding. He grabbed his binoculars and focused them where he thought the buck was.

What he saw through the binoculars was something that would haunt his life forever. For there, lying on the ground in a tangled and mangled pile, was a body. And on that body were the clothes that belonged to his wife. and on top of the body was a head that was as beautiful as his wife’s, only it had an expression of horror. But the worst thing about it was that he knew instantly that that body on that open grassland was that of his life, his wife.