Life, The Game, and the Beneficence of God
Bill Gallagher
1995
Clubfoot waited in the lower fork of a tree near the lakes edge, and he was the first of the hunters to hear the animal approach. He had been experiencing some memory time, reminiscing is what it was, when he heard a twig crack nearby. His senses, heightened by hunger, spiked to alert. He sniffed silently, dilating his nostrils by squinching his nose hard, and his teeth showed when he did it. There was no quick scent on the air, and that would make it a deer. Probably. He shoved his daydreams from his mind and put all his concentration Here. His weapons were ready, an agate tipped spear notched into its throwing stick, and two sling stones ready for pouch when needed. Sling stones were better for birds, but used in all chase situations, along with anything else at hand when the situation warranted. Great Fun. Very Fun.
The Earth Against The Earth.
Clubfoot didn't move, and barely breathed. He felt himself needing to break wind, and suppressed it, as much for its odor as its noise. The others of his party were stationed nearby, and counting himself there were four members total. This was the first day of an indefinite adventure, a search for a stone quarry, and crude democracy ruled as consensus dictated the actions of the group. The strictures of undertakings such as these went something like this: Look Everywhere. Stop when you get tired. Drink when you are thirsty. Eat when you are hungry. Clubfoot was hungry NOW, and he was just beginning to think that the twig cracking had been a random noise from the jungle-like thicket when he saw movement within the leafy pattern. Sure enough, it was a small doe, and it must have caught a stray whiff of something to approach through the brush so quietly, instead of coming down the animal trail the hunters had found earlier. They had searched for a place where relatively high ground dropped quickly to the waters edge, and there it was. All worn down and droppings everywhere.
The animal must be very thirsty, Clubfoot thought, and that was good. A less than fresh animal was usually easier to bring down. Usually. He held his breath as the deer continued toward him.
***************************
The other members of this hunting party had strewn themselves in various places along the beaten path, as that would be the most likely place for prospective prey to appear on its leisurely, unsuspecting stroll for a drink of water. Heh. Heh. Hehhhhhh. The path looked well used and this spoke volumes. No one had hunted it for awhile, and the animals, the game, had become complacent again. There were places to hide too, the trees, on either side of the path. Ambush Central.
Sunman took first position as he was the best hunter of all, and it would be good if he got first shot because he was most likely to hit. The other two hunters were stationed behind Sunman, though nearby: two young twin brothers, Spark, and Air. Though only 13, the twins were nearly full sized and healthy, and came from a family within the tribe well known for its affinity to stone. The boys were always well equipped and welcomed on hunts. Sunman had included them in this endeavor because of their families stone magic, and because they were able to carry their respective loads, and then some.
The final member of this band was, of course, Clubfoot. Clubfoot was out on the lakes edge. Sunman had directed him there, casting him out as it were, and Clubfoot, the older by 15 seasons, had complied. Sunman was just twenty seasons, but any argument would have been moot, because Clubfoot was not called Clubfoot for nothing. The top outside of his left foot, including the two outside toes, had been cleanly chopped off when he had been about the age of the twins. It had happened while mining stone; a small slide, weighing only several hundred pounds, had chopped off part of his foot, and it had bled profusely, and most members of the tribe had thought death was it for him. That he had NOT died gave him something of a mystical and nearly legendary identity for the rest of his life; this stemmed from the groups realization of The Beneficence Of God.
Which any nitwit could plainly see.
A sign for all, was Clubfoot, but he was not whole, and though well adapted to his deformity he lacked noticeably in the physical arts. His left leg had shrunk somewhat too, over the years, atrophied slightly, but however handicapped, Clubfoot was luck, and everyone needs that.
Sunman, sitting his perch near the game trail, was the first to realize from whence came the sudden and screechingly cacophonous racket which sundered the heretofore silent afternoon, and he jumped from his perch, dart knocked in its throwing stick, and took off toward the lakes edge. The twins, startled by the noise, gawped for a few seconds as they watched Sunman run through the woods toward the lake. They could hear his waist pouch clacking as the spare flints and sling stones within were jostled by his flight. Then they seemed to awaken, running quickly behind Sunman, toward the lakes edge. It was Clubfoot, they realized now, who had hollered, and was still bellowing by the sounds of it. They heard brush crash off to their right, and went that way.
***************************
Clubfoot had been overjoyed as the deer kept coming toward his perch. It really had no idea he was anywhere nearby. La-di-dah. Here deer, here deer. As if responding to this attitude, this mental summons, the deer did come closer. Clubfoot, with what he considered to be perfect timing, hopped down from his low perch in the tree, a twisted rictus on his face, right in the path of the animal painstakingly making its way to the lake. Clubfoots actual descent from the tree, with the knocked dart in his right hand and a sling with stone in his left, was miraculously quite silent. But as he hit the ground the air he had retained in his bowels while up in the tree, ejected itself explosively, and would one day, in the far far future, be duplicated exactly by a little boy stepping barefooted on a wet rubber ball. Squo-ROINK went the sound. The deer looked to its left, AWAY from him, and froze. The sound of Clubfoots rectal eruption had obviously echoed around, fooling the beast, and it was clear to Clubfoot the animal STILL knew nothing of his presence. Clubfoot himself froze, and just stared dumbstruck for ten long seconds or so, him and the deer in a little forest tableau. Then, because of a tree blocking his spears trajectory, Clubfoot hauled off and whipped his sling stone side-armed. It hit the animal with a satisfying thunk, but in the meaty part of the head, back toward the neck; the angle stunk. After an expression of utmost horror, a kind of "OHMYGOD THERES SOMETHING HERE THAT WANTS TO EAT ME" look, off went the deer, galloping away from the lakes edge, skipping here and there, confused and badly shaken. The chase was on, and Clubfoot, with his clubfoot and all, was bellowing as he moved, which was surprisingly fast considering his deformity. He marveled about it as he ran, and it became a mantra to himself, in time with his strides. "Heads HARD, he thought; HeadsHARDHeadsHARDHeadsHARD..."
*************************
Clubfoot, after flushing the animal, began the chase, which headed away from the lake. Sunman, coming from the opposite direction, now ran through the high reedy weeds of Floridas Early Archaic lakeside Savannah, directly toward that pair of animals, man and deer, all the while zeroing in on the audio signal of Clubfoots howl which was still coming from the scrub forest down closer to the lakes edge. Well behind, but closing fast were two more animals, the twins.
The first group encounter in this earthly drama occurred between Sunman, Clubfoot, and the deer.
The deer, thinking it was being pursued from the rear only, chanced a darting look backward as Clubfoot crashed and hollered after it through the brush. Sunman came upon the animal, or, more correctly, it came upon him, as it was peering thus, and, dropping his weapon, Sunman just reached out and grabbed the animal hard by its skin as it tried to rush past him. Sunman was able to hold on pretty well as new horror overtook the deer, making it jump all around with what seemed to be boundless energy. It dragged Sunman a few feet, but he had it good, it wasn't going anywhere far. That is until Clubfoot, not far behind, and running blind, came upon the scene literally. Repeating an achievement of Man unparalleled in its historical continuity, with the most recent example being the Game of football, Clubfoot speedily and strenuously collided with Sunman and the Deer, upsetting everything.
Like an energized electron escaping to a more positive place, the deer shot out of the interactive few square feet which it had just shared with Sunman and Clubfoot, ignorantly heading straight for the incoming twins. Another collision event constructed itself between the deer and the two boys, and one of the twins was able to land a beautifully executed hammer-fist blow to one haunch of the animal as it raced by, point number three. Immediately following this came Sunman, looking harried and concerned, but with spear knocked and ready in its throwing stick. Clubfoot was flagging to the rear and his spear drooped somewhat, which said a lot. The boys let Sunman jump ahead and those three quickly pursued their dinner on the hoof, while Clubfoot, his age and mis-shapeness showing, hurried along too, though lost to the pack proper, straggling. He could hear cracking branches occasionally and once Sunman shouted something unintelligible. Clubfoot moved haphazardly toward these sounds as they happened, turning this way and that, becoming quite disoriented, and not really caring.
**************************
Sunman chased the deer round and round. The land formed a kind of bowl, and alternated between scrub oak forest and high pulp weed thicket. The two boys flanked him either side and well behind, for what that was worth. Sunman was becoming perturbed, he could never remember an animal eluding him as well as this one was. Terrified, the thing made plenty of noise as it attempted to escape the geo-coliseum of the low land near the lakeside, and Sunman was able to follow those sounds without a problem, but only once did he actually catch a view of the deer, and that too short for a shot. It had to be getting tired, he thought, and then as he ran forward he saw it cross his path to the left. He gave one quick Hup! with his voice, and the twins, trying hard and doing well for their age, closed ranks and ran towards his signal.
*******************************
Clubfoot had come into a small clearing, and was taking a short break. Suddenly the chase sounds got a lot closer, and it is precisely at times like this when some animals are able to experience an extra sensory prescience, a very distinct feeling of SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND I MIGHT NOT LIKE IT A LOT. Clubfoot felt exactly that for one short instant before the blurry fur of the pursued deer erupted out of the brush in front of him, moving for all the world as if he was not standing there, right in front of it, blocking its way.
**********************************
Sunman, following closely behind the deer, entered the clearing just in time to see the next few links in this chain of events take place. The deer was about twenty feet in front of him, and had already made its way into the shadowy open space created by several larger trees. Clubfoot stood in the middle of the clearing. The animal saw him almost too late, and it was Clubfoot who stood frozen this time in surprise, wide eyed, with an unknocked spear in his right hand, and with his left hand on his crotch. He had been scratching himself when the noise of the chase suddenly came much closer, then burst at him with all its might. As the animal veered by him, its mouth foaming copiously, and eyes fairly popping out of its head, Clubfoot made a half hearted attempt to turn and throw his spear. It led the animal by a pace or two, but bounced up a little when it hit the ground, and the deer, unable to slow, ran right over it, and tripped a good one. Down now, and sliding on leaves, one of the deers front hooves pedaled air slowly: the illusion was one of crawling, but the illusion took on aspects of the macabre seeing as the deer was boogying along at a speed which must have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 mph, for a short time anyway. As the deer finally skidded to a halt it righted itself with no apparent damage, turned to the right, and ran, nay, SLAMMED, head-on into a medium sized oak tree. The force of this shook both the deer and tree, and Sunman, after a withering glance at Clubfoot which translated into something like "Oh You Are Sooooo SORRY...." closed on the injured and confused animal, presumably to finish a badly begun job. But this too, was not to be.
*************************
Following the action, Clubfoot turned to view Sunman and the deer, not thinking about the twins who were energetically charging toward what their ears told them was a site of some disturbance. As first Spark, then Air burst into the clearing, in perfect single file, they came across this violently confused milieu as it ensued. The first of the twins saw Clubfoot standing with his back to him, and let out a loud squeak as he made an effort to stop, but his brother, on his heels and ill-afforded a clear view, rammed him from behind, and together, as one nearly solid mass of flesh, they crashed into Clubfoot from behind.
The pre-collision shriek of Spark distracted Sunman, who was almost upon the quivering deer, and he looked back over his shoulder, hoping hard that he was not going to see a hastily thrown spear heading his way. He took a longer look than he had intended though, because its not often you get to see something like that. The two boys nailed Clubfoot hard, and spit flew from the old cripples mouth as his head whipped back, and the three went down together in a heap.
When Sunman finally looked back to the deer, it was gone. It had recovered from kissing the tree, then run like hell, and Sunman could not make the other members of his party shut up in time to hear which way it went. He stood there glaring at the three for a minute before throwing his spear down and stalking off into the woods. Had he stayed with the group he would have found it impossible to control the urge to box some ears, and that was unbecoming, and he knew it. He was a good leader, but this time he had lost the game, and that always hurts. Always. His stomach growled as he stamped off.
****************************
Upon extrication of himself from the mass of three which he had unwittingly become part of, Clubfoot began brushing himself off and looking around. Everything was quiet, and Sunman was nowhere to be seen. Then he saw the leaders spear upon the ground, and knew all was lost. The deer had escaped. His stomach growled too, and he peered surlily at the two boys as they clumsily made themselves aright. The twins were not happy either, and it looked as if foraging edible plants had become the agenda. Clubfoot was just about to make himself scarce, maybe take a walk down to the lake for a drink of water, when he heard a sound far off. He thought it might be Sunman, but just then Sunman came back into the clearing. The sound happened again, closer this time, and the boys and Sunman quickly made ready their spears, knocking them into the throwing sticks which gave them greater range and power in the event of a clear shot. All heads were cocked, listening listening; Clubfoot reached into his waist pouch and retrieved his one remaining sling stone.
All at once brush clattered loudly from the edge of the clearing and the four hunters stared agape. The deer, totally freaking out and still trying to escape, had made yet another traverse around the bowl of the lowlands, depositing its unlucky self directly across the view and range of the four hunters who stood transfixed for a second or two, but not for long, thats for sure, not for long. Three spears flew, along with Clubfoots heftily rounded slung stone, and it was as if the all the errors of the day were corrected in that one group effort, or as if the group together possessed a talismanic identity that none of the individuals, or other combinations of individuals possessed. The weapons, all of them, found the target. The deer, no longer confused, expired quickly. Sunmans spear had found the heart, while the twins spears both made excellent slashing blows at the rear legs. Clubfoots sling stone had arrived at the very same instant as Sunmans spear, and once again hit the animal in the head, but this time there was a resounding thonk, and the rock bounced off high, letting him know it was a good one.
Together they celebrated Life, The Game, And The Beneficence Of God.
Bill Gallagher
1995
Clubfoot waited in the lower fork of a tree near the lakes edge, and he was the first of the hunters to hear the animal approach. He had been experiencing some memory time, reminiscing is what it was, when he heard a twig crack nearby. His senses, heightened by hunger, spiked to alert. He sniffed silently, dilating his nostrils by squinching his nose hard, and his teeth showed when he did it. There was no quick scent on the air, and that would make it a deer. Probably. He shoved his daydreams from his mind and put all his concentration Here. His weapons were ready, an agate tipped spear notched into its throwing stick, and two sling stones ready for pouch when needed. Sling stones were better for birds, but used in all chase situations, along with anything else at hand when the situation warranted. Great Fun. Very Fun.
The Earth Against The Earth.
Clubfoot didn't move, and barely breathed. He felt himself needing to break wind, and suppressed it, as much for its odor as its noise. The others of his party were stationed nearby, and counting himself there were four members total. This was the first day of an indefinite adventure, a search for a stone quarry, and crude democracy ruled as consensus dictated the actions of the group. The strictures of undertakings such as these went something like this: Look Everywhere. Stop when you get tired. Drink when you are thirsty. Eat when you are hungry. Clubfoot was hungry NOW, and he was just beginning to think that the twig cracking had been a random noise from the jungle-like thicket when he saw movement within the leafy pattern. Sure enough, it was a small doe, and it must have caught a stray whiff of something to approach through the brush so quietly, instead of coming down the animal trail the hunters had found earlier. They had searched for a place where relatively high ground dropped quickly to the waters edge, and there it was. All worn down and droppings everywhere.
The animal must be very thirsty, Clubfoot thought, and that was good. A less than fresh animal was usually easier to bring down. Usually. He held his breath as the deer continued toward him.
***************************
The other members of this hunting party had strewn themselves in various places along the beaten path, as that would be the most likely place for prospective prey to appear on its leisurely, unsuspecting stroll for a drink of water. Heh. Heh. Hehhhhhh. The path looked well used and this spoke volumes. No one had hunted it for awhile, and the animals, the game, had become complacent again. There were places to hide too, the trees, on either side of the path. Ambush Central.
Sunman took first position as he was the best hunter of all, and it would be good if he got first shot because he was most likely to hit. The other two hunters were stationed behind Sunman, though nearby: two young twin brothers, Spark, and Air. Though only 13, the twins were nearly full sized and healthy, and came from a family within the tribe well known for its affinity to stone. The boys were always well equipped and welcomed on hunts. Sunman had included them in this endeavor because of their families stone magic, and because they were able to carry their respective loads, and then some.
The final member of this band was, of course, Clubfoot. Clubfoot was out on the lakes edge. Sunman had directed him there, casting him out as it were, and Clubfoot, the older by 15 seasons, had complied. Sunman was just twenty seasons, but any argument would have been moot, because Clubfoot was not called Clubfoot for nothing. The top outside of his left foot, including the two outside toes, had been cleanly chopped off when he had been about the age of the twins. It had happened while mining stone; a small slide, weighing only several hundred pounds, had chopped off part of his foot, and it had bled profusely, and most members of the tribe had thought death was it for him. That he had NOT died gave him something of a mystical and nearly legendary identity for the rest of his life; this stemmed from the groups realization of The Beneficence Of God.
Which any nitwit could plainly see.
A sign for all, was Clubfoot, but he was not whole, and though well adapted to his deformity he lacked noticeably in the physical arts. His left leg had shrunk somewhat too, over the years, atrophied slightly, but however handicapped, Clubfoot was luck, and everyone needs that.
Sunman, sitting his perch near the game trail, was the first to realize from whence came the sudden and screechingly cacophonous racket which sundered the heretofore silent afternoon, and he jumped from his perch, dart knocked in its throwing stick, and took off toward the lakes edge. The twins, startled by the noise, gawped for a few seconds as they watched Sunman run through the woods toward the lake. They could hear his waist pouch clacking as the spare flints and sling stones within were jostled by his flight. Then they seemed to awaken, running quickly behind Sunman, toward the lakes edge. It was Clubfoot, they realized now, who had hollered, and was still bellowing by the sounds of it. They heard brush crash off to their right, and went that way.
***************************
Clubfoot had been overjoyed as the deer kept coming toward his perch. It really had no idea he was anywhere nearby. La-di-dah. Here deer, here deer. As if responding to this attitude, this mental summons, the deer did come closer. Clubfoot, with what he considered to be perfect timing, hopped down from his low perch in the tree, a twisted rictus on his face, right in the path of the animal painstakingly making its way to the lake. Clubfoots actual descent from the tree, with the knocked dart in his right hand and a sling with stone in his left, was miraculously quite silent. But as he hit the ground the air he had retained in his bowels while up in the tree, ejected itself explosively, and would one day, in the far far future, be duplicated exactly by a little boy stepping barefooted on a wet rubber ball. Squo-ROINK went the sound. The deer looked to its left, AWAY from him, and froze. The sound of Clubfoots rectal eruption had obviously echoed around, fooling the beast, and it was clear to Clubfoot the animal STILL knew nothing of his presence. Clubfoot himself froze, and just stared dumbstruck for ten long seconds or so, him and the deer in a little forest tableau. Then, because of a tree blocking his spears trajectory, Clubfoot hauled off and whipped his sling stone side-armed. It hit the animal with a satisfying thunk, but in the meaty part of the head, back toward the neck; the angle stunk. After an expression of utmost horror, a kind of "OHMYGOD THERES SOMETHING HERE THAT WANTS TO EAT ME" look, off went the deer, galloping away from the lakes edge, skipping here and there, confused and badly shaken. The chase was on, and Clubfoot, with his clubfoot and all, was bellowing as he moved, which was surprisingly fast considering his deformity. He marveled about it as he ran, and it became a mantra to himself, in time with his strides. "Heads HARD, he thought; HeadsHARDHeadsHARDHeadsHARD..."
*************************
Clubfoot, after flushing the animal, began the chase, which headed away from the lake. Sunman, coming from the opposite direction, now ran through the high reedy weeds of Floridas Early Archaic lakeside Savannah, directly toward that pair of animals, man and deer, all the while zeroing in on the audio signal of Clubfoots howl which was still coming from the scrub forest down closer to the lakes edge. Well behind, but closing fast were two more animals, the twins.
The first group encounter in this earthly drama occurred between Sunman, Clubfoot, and the deer.
The deer, thinking it was being pursued from the rear only, chanced a darting look backward as Clubfoot crashed and hollered after it through the brush. Sunman came upon the animal, or, more correctly, it came upon him, as it was peering thus, and, dropping his weapon, Sunman just reached out and grabbed the animal hard by its skin as it tried to rush past him. Sunman was able to hold on pretty well as new horror overtook the deer, making it jump all around with what seemed to be boundless energy. It dragged Sunman a few feet, but he had it good, it wasn't going anywhere far. That is until Clubfoot, not far behind, and running blind, came upon the scene literally. Repeating an achievement of Man unparalleled in its historical continuity, with the most recent example being the Game of football, Clubfoot speedily and strenuously collided with Sunman and the Deer, upsetting everything.
Like an energized electron escaping to a more positive place, the deer shot out of the interactive few square feet which it had just shared with Sunman and Clubfoot, ignorantly heading straight for the incoming twins. Another collision event constructed itself between the deer and the two boys, and one of the twins was able to land a beautifully executed hammer-fist blow to one haunch of the animal as it raced by, point number three. Immediately following this came Sunman, looking harried and concerned, but with spear knocked and ready in its throwing stick. Clubfoot was flagging to the rear and his spear drooped somewhat, which said a lot. The boys let Sunman jump ahead and those three quickly pursued their dinner on the hoof, while Clubfoot, his age and mis-shapeness showing, hurried along too, though lost to the pack proper, straggling. He could hear cracking branches occasionally and once Sunman shouted something unintelligible. Clubfoot moved haphazardly toward these sounds as they happened, turning this way and that, becoming quite disoriented, and not really caring.
**************************
Sunman chased the deer round and round. The land formed a kind of bowl, and alternated between scrub oak forest and high pulp weed thicket. The two boys flanked him either side and well behind, for what that was worth. Sunman was becoming perturbed, he could never remember an animal eluding him as well as this one was. Terrified, the thing made plenty of noise as it attempted to escape the geo-coliseum of the low land near the lakeside, and Sunman was able to follow those sounds without a problem, but only once did he actually catch a view of the deer, and that too short for a shot. It had to be getting tired, he thought, and then as he ran forward he saw it cross his path to the left. He gave one quick Hup! with his voice, and the twins, trying hard and doing well for their age, closed ranks and ran towards his signal.
*******************************
Clubfoot had come into a small clearing, and was taking a short break. Suddenly the chase sounds got a lot closer, and it is precisely at times like this when some animals are able to experience an extra sensory prescience, a very distinct feeling of SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN AND I MIGHT NOT LIKE IT A LOT. Clubfoot felt exactly that for one short instant before the blurry fur of the pursued deer erupted out of the brush in front of him, moving for all the world as if he was not standing there, right in front of it, blocking its way.
**********************************
Sunman, following closely behind the deer, entered the clearing just in time to see the next few links in this chain of events take place. The deer was about twenty feet in front of him, and had already made its way into the shadowy open space created by several larger trees. Clubfoot stood in the middle of the clearing. The animal saw him almost too late, and it was Clubfoot who stood frozen this time in surprise, wide eyed, with an unknocked spear in his right hand, and with his left hand on his crotch. He had been scratching himself when the noise of the chase suddenly came much closer, then burst at him with all its might. As the animal veered by him, its mouth foaming copiously, and eyes fairly popping out of its head, Clubfoot made a half hearted attempt to turn and throw his spear. It led the animal by a pace or two, but bounced up a little when it hit the ground, and the deer, unable to slow, ran right over it, and tripped a good one. Down now, and sliding on leaves, one of the deers front hooves pedaled air slowly: the illusion was one of crawling, but the illusion took on aspects of the macabre seeing as the deer was boogying along at a speed which must have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 mph, for a short time anyway. As the deer finally skidded to a halt it righted itself with no apparent damage, turned to the right, and ran, nay, SLAMMED, head-on into a medium sized oak tree. The force of this shook both the deer and tree, and Sunman, after a withering glance at Clubfoot which translated into something like "Oh You Are Sooooo SORRY...." closed on the injured and confused animal, presumably to finish a badly begun job. But this too, was not to be.
*************************
Following the action, Clubfoot turned to view Sunman and the deer, not thinking about the twins who were energetically charging toward what their ears told them was a site of some disturbance. As first Spark, then Air burst into the clearing, in perfect single file, they came across this violently confused milieu as it ensued. The first of the twins saw Clubfoot standing with his back to him, and let out a loud squeak as he made an effort to stop, but his brother, on his heels and ill-afforded a clear view, rammed him from behind, and together, as one nearly solid mass of flesh, they crashed into Clubfoot from behind.
The pre-collision shriek of Spark distracted Sunman, who was almost upon the quivering deer, and he looked back over his shoulder, hoping hard that he was not going to see a hastily thrown spear heading his way. He took a longer look than he had intended though, because its not often you get to see something like that. The two boys nailed Clubfoot hard, and spit flew from the old cripples mouth as his head whipped back, and the three went down together in a heap.
When Sunman finally looked back to the deer, it was gone. It had recovered from kissing the tree, then run like hell, and Sunman could not make the other members of his party shut up in time to hear which way it went. He stood there glaring at the three for a minute before throwing his spear down and stalking off into the woods. Had he stayed with the group he would have found it impossible to control the urge to box some ears, and that was unbecoming, and he knew it. He was a good leader, but this time he had lost the game, and that always hurts. Always. His stomach growled as he stamped off.
****************************
Upon extrication of himself from the mass of three which he had unwittingly become part of, Clubfoot began brushing himself off and looking around. Everything was quiet, and Sunman was nowhere to be seen. Then he saw the leaders spear upon the ground, and knew all was lost. The deer had escaped. His stomach growled too, and he peered surlily at the two boys as they clumsily made themselves aright. The twins were not happy either, and it looked as if foraging edible plants had become the agenda. Clubfoot was just about to make himself scarce, maybe take a walk down to the lake for a drink of water, when he heard a sound far off. He thought it might be Sunman, but just then Sunman came back into the clearing. The sound happened again, closer this time, and the boys and Sunman quickly made ready their spears, knocking them into the throwing sticks which gave them greater range and power in the event of a clear shot. All heads were cocked, listening listening; Clubfoot reached into his waist pouch and retrieved his one remaining sling stone.
All at once brush clattered loudly from the edge of the clearing and the four hunters stared agape. The deer, totally freaking out and still trying to escape, had made yet another traverse around the bowl of the lowlands, depositing its unlucky self directly across the view and range of the four hunters who stood transfixed for a second or two, but not for long, thats for sure, not for long. Three spears flew, along with Clubfoots heftily rounded slung stone, and it was as if the all the errors of the day were corrected in that one group effort, or as if the group together possessed a talismanic identity that none of the individuals, or other combinations of individuals possessed. The weapons, all of them, found the target. The deer, no longer confused, expired quickly. Sunmans spear had found the heart, while the twins spears both made excellent slashing blows at the rear legs. Clubfoots sling stone had arrived at the very same instant as Sunmans spear, and once again hit the animal in the head, but this time there was a resounding thonk, and the rock bounced off high, letting him know it was a good one.
Together they celebrated Life, The Game, And The Beneficence Of God.
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