I am thinking of ways not to work - for I shirk

"Didn't you hear nothing?" Chuck's eyes popped comically out from under his thick brows, which in turn were protruding from under his tired, worn, and ancient camouflage hat. I couldn't decide if the hat was meant to match with his surroundings, or with his own grubby, dingy self.
"No, Chuck, I didn't hear anything." He's an old friend, and right now he's my hunting buddy. He might be nearly as old as my grandparents, but I've never asked. I imagine he's been around these parts the entire duration of his considerable long life, and he doesn't strike me as one who'd get out much. I'm not sure he'd even be recognizably human in the city - people might mistake him for - well, hell, I don't know. Maybe a really pungent ad of some sort. It's not going to be long before marketers add overwhelming odors to attract attention. Kind of like the way flowers do for the critters that pollinate 'em. But I guess they wouldn't want to use Chuck. Who in their right mind would want a decaying, backwoods, self-described "Southern gentleman" for much of anything?
Well, I would. He's a damn fine hunter. He's a little gruff, and more than a little cranky, plus he smells like old chewing tobacco, but he really is a damn fine hunter.

"Damnit all, you ain't even paying attention. Just now, your eyes wandered up into the back of your head." His leathery jowls were shaking a little, and honestly it reminded me of a bulldog.

"Oh, I was paying attention. I was thinking, that's all."

"Concentrate, boy! Hunting demands it." He laughed a grumbly, leathery laugh - "Well, I do anyway. I want to eat tonight!"

I had to admit that was fair enough. "Alright, old man. There'll be food tonight, don't worry."

"Hah! Spoken like a city boy. You gonna go out and pick us something up? Maybe ask a plump deer to cook itself? Or are we gonna drive around in your truck 'till we see something? We'll drive up, shoot it, pull it through the window and leave our casings as change. We could even cook it up real fancy with the cigarette lighter. You like that?"

He is old, so I humor him. "Yes, sir, that sounds like a plan."

"And a damn fine one, boy. I have half a mind to do it, too, but it just ain't sportin' to play that way. You gotta respect your prey. It's gonna die for you, the least you can do is show some respect. God put it there - if you just up and shoot it, you're tellin' Him 'hey, this stuff on Earth is mighty fine, but I ain't gonna spend the time to appreciate it.' Gotta respect the Lord Almighty, that's for sure. All this mess is his art." He waved his arms around expansively.

"Yeah, that's true - so that's why you were getting after me for not listening. Did you figure out what that noise was during all your talking?"

"Boy, are you sayin' that I should be payin' attention myself?"

"Yes sir."

He laughed. "Fair enough. Now let's be quiet, and appreciate things a bit."


We went without speech the rest of the day, and through the early part of the night. The forest stayed silent. We didn't catch anything - we didn't see any animals. Not even birds. Chuck complained about it, but we ate the packaged food I'd brought. I had to endure a tirade of his on how the food scent would attract all the wrong kinds of animals, and maybe even scare off our deer. He wasn't one to talk much so I figured he'd enjoy the silence, but he seemed to be nervous - like he was talking to keep the quiet at bay. His leathery hands kept moving, too, endlessly grasping each other. It was making me nervous. But, there wasn't much else to do, and we needed to get up early if we were to have another chance at our hunt. I asked Chuck if he was going to sleep, but he stared at me from across the fire and said "you go ahead. Old men don't much need it." I looked at him, about to ask what he was going to do instead, but he ignored me and took out his rifle. Before drifting off to sleep, the last thing I saw was that rifle cradled in his arms, and him taking great pains in its cleaning.




- More later (of course it's not finished. Nothing has happened yet.)