Sunset or Dawn?
From: Important Things: A book of short stories by Helmut Fritz
“Kathump – kathump.”
Thankfully none of the herd moved when he carefully shifted, but all were suspiciously watching him. The camper commenced prayer as he hesitated. A small stand of pine woods stood close by but yet so far away. The camper took a deep breath and took one careful, oh so careful, tiny step. There was no way that he could outrun any of the nearby herd to get to those woods.
“Oh God, help me.”
He took another careful, hopeful step. The herd watched. Some of them seemed angry. One or two snorted. “Kathump – kathump” the camper’s heart answered. Cold reality has a way of overtaking the foolishly arrogant and that was the case here. Popular entertainment notions of humans dancing with wildlife based on idiotic presumptions had motivated this stupidity. Now the fact that the life around him was wild, therefore dangerous, came home to rest. The camper took another, careful step. One of the stags a bit further away, made a loud, inquisitive grunt.
“Kerumpf?”
The camper’s heart sank. He stayed frozen in place as the herd carefully looked him over. No animals were grazing. All were looking at him. “Oh God, help me” he prayed again. After what seemed like hours, when a few animals began to graze again, he took another careful, small step toward the saving stand of pines. Some animals still were most suspicious so this still was a most dangerous situation. The sun was definitely going down. It was slowly beginning to get darker around here.
In times like this, preset assumptions were most tested. The sanding grit of reality had a way of ripping away “facts” that he had held as truth moments ago. The camper didn’t realize that he was undergoing massive reprograming but then again, matters much more immediate such as saving his very life, were much more prevailing at the moment. He took another small, careful, oh so careful step out of the midst of the herd. Encouragingly, a few more, further away animals, lowered their heads to graze. It was a major task to acquire enough nutrients to maintain the huge bodies that were represented here, so grazing needed to almost be continual. Why did he just think of that? His life was in danger for God’s sake. “For God’s sake?” The camper took another careful, oh so careful, step towards the woods. The animals allowed it.
When personal beliefs and reality came into conflict, it was best that the inquirer ditched the beliefs and stuck with the reality and no matter the outcomes. “Everybody” believed in the notions of humans frolicking with nature that were just now, sand papered from the camper’s beliefs. He was able to take larger steps as the camper got closer to the woods. Still, he knew better than to run. The herd became ever more relaxed as he got further away. When the camper finally made it to edge of the woods, he flopped exhausted on a fallen log. The herd had become happy and contented once this stranger was gone, busily acquiring their “necessary nutrients.” The camper’s heart actually hurt as he looked out over the meadow from the safety of the woods.
“Thank you God.”
Occasionally a large stag on guard duty would suspiciously glance his way but otherwise the herd largely ignored him. The camper had a profound thought as he stared at the herd in the last glimmer of daylight. In the end this sunset had actually ended up being a most eventful dawn. After resting, the camper headed back to his fellow campers and their campsite. He told no one of his just completed education. Newly acquired wisdom sometimes needed time to be effective.
A large stag lifted his head and snorted. Suddenly the camper knew that he was in serious trouble, to the possible level of his life being in danger.
“Oh God!”
Notions of adventure, investigation and beauty were suddenly gone like mist disappearing in the heat of sudden sunlight on this wild, Wyoming meadow. Perhaps it was youthful naiveté that got him here. Maybe it was believing the idiocy of prevailing culture, particularly lessons from the usual fiction. Whatever the case, he had been stupid and now he needed to be wise, very wise. After all, right now he was one, idiot human, standing in the middle of a herd of wild elk. Even the smallest animals were tens of pounds heavier than he was. Pure reality overwhelmed the young camper as he stood frozen. Horrible and most discouraging thoughts crowded into the camper’s mind. Pictures of the ability of one these animals, let alone an entire herd, stomping him into pudding in this beautiful clearing, tortured him. He forced the idea from his mind. It was immediately replaced by a strange thought, front and center in his mind, even in this suddenly realized, extreme danger. An awe inspiring sunset peacefully overtaking Wyoming glory around the scene, whispered to him. Was it the reaction of the condemned with a noose already around his neck, taking a last look at God’s beauty before his body fell that last time?
Some of the now raised elk stag horns, (there were many massive sets,) glistened in the reds, yellows and oranges of the sunset. The camper slowly, oh so slowly turned. His heart beat so hard he was sure that the animals around him heard it.
Illustrated by Andrea Tonkinson