The Last 7 Days of My Life: Nils Stylus Diary

A Hunter's Creed Part 2

"What if I put two of the legs over my shoulders and you put the other two over your shoulders?" Rowan asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Can you fit the head and front legs on your shoulder like this?" He tried to show me with his gestures. "And you would walk in front and then I'd carry the back legs and the rest of the weight like this so that the deer would lie elongated like this." He gestured again with his hands. "So you could be like a prop, or anchor or something like that, like the reinforcement in our homes that holds up the roof..."

That seemed laughable considering how I was now and how I was going to be in the future.

"I get it Rowan." I said, quickly to shut him up. "We can try it out, I guess."

He hauled the front part of the deer over my shoulders and I tried with all my might to bend my elbows to grip the deer's legs. It was uncomfortable like hell, but I eventually gripped the deer's legs.

Rowan then hauled the rest of the body weight over his own shoulders, walking behind me. With my pace leading the way, we barely moved six feet in twenty minutes.

Okay, that was an exaggeration, but you got the point. The slow pace and the dead weight of the deer made the walk extremely tedious. We would never get home in time at this pace.

"This isn't working." Rowan stopped. I stopped too. "Count of two drop the deer." he added. "One, two."

We dropped the deer to the ground, and I inhaled deeply. I said, "There has to be another way. I mean, if we could get to Joel's wheelbarrow that would be amazing."

"That's a great idea. I'll run and go get it. Where does he keep it?" Rowan asked.

"Out back."

"Okay. Great. Can you stay here and watch the deer?"

"Sure?"

"It'll be fine. If anybody comes and tries to steal our dinner? Shoot them."

"What?"

"In the leg or something, you know?"

I never shot at villagers, and I was not starting now, hopefully. "Just hurry back please." I said, shaking my head.

"Okay," he said as he took off, leaving me with the deer.

I watched him run off, exhaled and realized that I was by myself, like truly by myself, for the first time in a long time.

Nice, I looked down at the deer. Those eyes bugged out at me, and I shivered. My hands came down and slid the eyelids close. It seemed at peace now, like it was sleeping.

I took a life today. My life was going to change in a short time itself. It felt like I was gaining a deeper understanding of life and what it meant.

I smiled at that thought. My back was laid in the grass. The pressure left my body. I watched as the sunset moved into the twilight of the night.

Maybe it's the changes in my body, but I was so drained I nodded off to sleep.

"Nils...Nils!"

I jumped up, my back arched, ready for battle or action, whichever came first. "Huh?"

"Seriously dude, anybody could've taken our food."

"Did they?!" I looked around in panic.

Rowan laughed. "Nah. But I got the wheelbarrow. Let's get going."

"Yay! Great." I got myself to my legs and held the wheelbarrow in place as Rowan hauled the deer into the wheelbarrow. Then off we went.

We approached Bella's home, and she came running out with a look of impatience on her face.

"What took you so long?" She asked in a huff. Bella had not waited for us to answer though and went on. "I'm so hungry and it's about to get dark soon. How are you going to get home when it's dark? And I wanted us to surprise the adults when they got back, now we're not going to be-"

Rowan stopped her. "Calm down."

"Yeah, we're back now." I added with a smile.

Her eyes narrowed before she twirled in a strut back into the house. Bella froze at the door and had not looked at us. "Sorry, it's just that I'm just soooo hungry."

We reasoned. "Yeah, me too," I said.

"Me three!" Rowan said.

"Is it cut up yet?" Bella asked us.

We looked at each other. Oh, we supposed to do that right? A hesitation set in when she turned around back to us. "Uh, no," Rowan said.

She took a deep breath in and out. "At least cut it up enough so that I can handle it, please. I'll do the rest."

Bella walked in. Now that I thought of it, my sister never had cut up the last meal we prepared. We cleaned it, but it was already cut up.

Right, Joel must have done that. Guessed hunting was the simple part. The hard part was what we had to do right now.

It showed I had a long way to go.

Rowan's head turned. I followed it. It was then that we heard a large collection of murmurs in the distance. A confused mess I could not decipher.

All three of us looked in the direction of the voices. We saw people with torches to light their way. Villagers returning from the festival, it seemed.

It was close tonight, but I had expected the festival to go on for a little while longer.

Bella headed back in while we got to work. Rowan did the cutting, and I carried in what I could of all he cut to Bella.

She got to work right away, washing the meat and seasoning. Both Rowan and I got washed up one at a time to cleanse ourselves of the bloody mess that was all over us.

Yes, this part of the process I would never get used to or like. Joel had my respect now.

I got to the sitting room. The floor was a lovely place for a nap, and I needed to get some more rest. Rowan tired too, and he allowed himself to take a break in as well.

Sleep never came, but the closing of my eyes helped to settle my nerves and eased the lethargy.

The smell of Bella's herbs had my stomach growling in anticipation of the hot venison entering my stomach. I knew she was seasoning the steaks exceptionally well.

It was like my stomach was an angry troll ready to trample anybody who got in its way just for a piece of the steak and he wasn't happy I was making him wait. He had a lot to say about it, so had I.

"Same," Rowan said, startling me. I thought he was asleep.

"Hm?"

He laughed. "Same. My stomach's giving me a piece of its mind right now." Oh, he must have heard my growling stomach.

We laughed.

Bella's distant yell surprised us. "What's so funny?"

I said, "Just our angry stomachs telling us off, that's all."

"Oh!" She laughed. "Well, yours aren't the only ones. Mine has a few choice words to say to you guys as well."

We could tell when the meat was being cooked in the cauldron. The sizzle was heard as it burnt on the stone. A screech that shrilled into the stillness of the house, for the scents warmed the house.