damned be the hills

jebidiah never took his squinting eyes off the spotted yearling as he gently removed the lead ball from his hip sling and carefully slipped the projectile down the nose of the long lander’s smooth bore. “slow your breath jeb…don’t blink.” his thumb found the grooved hammer and he slowly pulled it back sending the sound of the heavy click reverberating across the rugged landscape. and with that, the yearling dashed. “damnit!” jeb leaped to his feet and followed the young deer over the long iron barrel as it sprang behind the red pine and into the weathered scrub thickets and it was gone. the phone rang. jeb let the heavy barrel of the brown bess drop to his side and he let his eyes fall across the immense colorado horizon. the pale blue white caps in the distance reminded him that winter was coming on fast and he needed pelts. the phone rang again and this time he sat halfway up on the couch and opened one eye and looked at the phone until it rang again, as if to make sure it was real. “hello?” he managed in a half choke. “what are you doing, sleeping on the couch?” his wife said over her crackling cell phone. “um, no…i’m just straightening up the dishes.” “yeah, you’re sleeping on the couch again! i’m on my way home!” the phone went dead. he laid his head back down on the couch cushion and closed his eyes. “okay, i need to get up and do the damn dishes.” he told himself flatly. he sat up and slowly stretched his arms then grumbled and rubbed his eyes. the embers of the night’s campfire were still smoldering as the morning sun painted the distant mountains with a rich golden brush. jeb picked up the metal pan and poured the black coffee into the tin cup. he didn’t hear the grizzly behind him at first, it must have been tracking him for days. the beast’s heaving breath sent chills up his neck and he slowly reached for his bear rifle. his wife kicked the corner of the couch and he sat up with a start. “so this is what you call doing the dishes asshole?!”