Dialogue

He stands in knee-high grass
A dry brushing sporadic breath of air
Trees
Like the air itself creeps
In the clearing and on low-grass some way forward
A deer
Bending its head
Pause
Then lift
The slow rolling of the jaw as it chews
Move the head
Ears circling
The contraction of the throat beneath short, uniform fur
Pan again
Seeming to look at nothing in particular
Bend slowly again to the grass
He pans his own head
At the tree-line a figure kneels on one knee
Rifle horizontal
It slowly moves minutely up
Then down
Up again
Down
Slowly up, much deeper
The deer raises its head
Rolling of the jaw
The figure exhales
The gun still
Contraction of the throat
Yet it does not bend
Stillness
Ears unmoving
Crack
As the rifle tilts back in recoil, there is a thin spray of red from the neck of the deer
It stumbles twice
Then falls to the ground

He stands in knee-high grass
In the clearing before him a deer lifts his head
The rolling of the jaw
It seems to face him, yet not see him
He turns his head, twisting at the waist, to look behind him
Trees and darkness at his back
As he turns, he feels the weight in his hands
Turns back, looks down at his arms
Cradling a rifle
He looks up
The deer’s muzzle brushes over the ground
Raises its head
Turns as it chews
Ears rotating
He releases the hand that supports the barrel
Allows the weight of the rifle to drift down and hang by the hand that cradles the stock
Exhales
Crack
And a spray of red
The deer stumbles twice, then falls to the ground
Farther into the clearing a figure straightens to emerge from the grass
As it stands, it points at the deer with the barrel of a rifle

He stands in knee-high grass
Before him a clearing and then a way ahead, a line of trees
A deer stands in shorter grass
Lowers its head
At the tree-line a figure kneels on one knee, holding a rifle
He raises his arm, begins to shift his weight forward
Then feels a hand on the other arm, restraining him
Begins to turn his back to see who it is
Crack
Turns again to the clearing
The deer lies on the ground
He turns back again
The woman stands behind him
She opens her mouth
Inhales

He stands in knee-high grass
A deer in the clearing
A figure at the tree-line ahead, rifle levelled
Then another figure emerges from farther along the tree-line
It walks to the deer
The deer bends its head
Raises
The rolling of the jaw
As the second figure reaches the dear, the first exhales
Crack
The second figure snatches at the air in-front of the deer
It chews
The figure opens the hand, and in its palm is a bullet
With its other hand, it takes hold of the back of the deer’s neck
The other hand closes around the bullet with the tip protruding
It presses the bullet to the deer’s neck and cuts across
Blood spills from the throat
It staggers twice, then is released by the figure
Falling to the ground

In-front of him is a deer
Moving its head slowly
Then pausing
Moving again
It bends at the grass by his feet
He hears the teeth tear at the turf
Lifts its head
The rolling of the jaw
He twists at the waist
Looks behind him
A stand of trees
And nothing
Turns back to the deer
The Beast stands on the other side of its flanks
He stares at the blue discs
The ropes of black flowing silently about his body
Glowing eyes turn down to the dear
The Beast reaches a hand forward and places it on the back of the deer’s neck
Then he turns his body and begins to slowly walk
The deer walks
Feet slow and irregular as it is led away, dull thudding on the turf
The man turns around and faces the tree-line
A figure kneeling on one knee
It holds a rifle with the barrel pointing down at the ground
Raises it level
Exhales
And stills
Crack
The shot splits the air
There is a sharp tap at his sternum
He sets a foot behind him
Momentum carries his body farther, the other foot stumbles back
Then he falls

At his back he feels moisture and sharp points of contact
Lying on cool floor
Open eyes
The woman standing over him
Her mouth is slightly open as if she is about to speak
She stares
The man lies in the kitchen by the counter in a small pool of water and broken glass
He lifts himself to sit upright
Then straightens, standing in the water
Looks down at the water and glass
Then at the woman
Her face frozen in neutrality
She looks down at the water, fragments of glass and his bare feet
Then up at his face
Exhale
Closes her mouth
He shifts his weight
Lifts a foot and sets it down closer to the counter
The skin at the outer corners of her eyes tightens sharply as he crushes a piece of glass
He takes one of the unbroken glasses from the counter
Fills it with water
Turns and offers it to the woman
Her eyes shift to the water
To the broken fragments
To the face of the man
She reaches forward and takes it