by Christopher Welsch

Created on: September 17, 2009

On some beautifully forested mountains, in Southern Oregon, sat a quaint log cabin with smoke rising from the brick chimney. In that small house lived a little boy, only five, and his parents. During a gloomy autumn afternoon, the father, a hunter, brought his son on one of his normal hunting excursion. They trekked about an hour into the deep, conifer forest and crossed jagged terrain and little streams. Afterwards, they reached a small clearing in the forest.

"Listen boy, I got tons of traps out here. You have to be careful," he told the child.

Just then, the hunter heard a loud roar coming from a distance. He commanded the boy to wait for him as he dashed off northwards. The little boy thought the noise originated from the south, so after his father left, he began running southwards. He left the clearing because he was sure his father went the wrong direction.

After he passed many green trees and gorgeous flowers, he heard the ferocious roar again. His lungs breathed harder as he ran closer. The thought of his father's praise for finding the animal caused his mouth to water. All the excitement made him trip into a puddle, but he quickly regained composure and continued running towards the noise. Near a small boulder, he spotted a grey silhouette that swayed violently. When he moved closer, he realized it was a mountain lion. He sat on the boulder to wait for his father's arrival and praise.

"Help me," wailed the frightened animal as he looked into the little boy's innocent eyes.

"I can't. You're supposed to be our dinner tonight."

"But I'm going to be murdered!" he retorted.

The boy apologized and lowered his head from shame. His true underlying reason for denying the lion his freedom stemmed from the desire for praise from his father, not food. Several minutes later, the animal came into his father's view. His father could taste the creature's meat in his mouth. The joy of eating the cougar caused his mouth to drip saliva. It was the largest cougar he had ever seen, which excited him even more. It's massive body blocked the sight of his small son. And at a distance, he raised his shotgun for dinner. He let out a few bullets, and unfortunately, one of them strayed and tagged the little boy. It instantly made him die when it pierced his heart.

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