[RECLUSE] {Flash Fiction}

I aimed my pistol at the wolverine. He had his back towards me. I liked it that way. One shot through his head would kill him instantly.

     One moment he would be chewing the stems of a thicket of fireweed; the next would be complete unconsciousness, a dreamless sleep. He wouldn’t feel a pinch. I always thought that would be the best way to go.

I found his head in my sight. I steadied my hand, held my breath. Then, without prompting, as if sensing the inherent danger of my presence, the wolverine’s spine straightened. He turned his body just enough to see me. I saw his eyes through my sight.

I had built a simple cabin in the woods an hour North of Fairbanks. On one wall hung seven hides, four of which were from wolverines I had killed in the past month. I would get fifty-five dollars a pop, selling those hides to shops in the lower forty-eight. It would be just enough to keep the heat going until the spring.

     Alas, no justification would cure the concentrated paralysis, keeping me from pulling the trigger.     

            I lowered my gun. His fur was black and white, with a little bit of brown around the shoulders. I wanted him to be green.

     I tried to clear my mind. I gazed at the range to the East and thought about home. I wondered what ever happened to those kids who’d called me a faggot in high school. I pictured a leased Audi and a box of wine.

     I saw the wolverine dart in my periphery. Quickly, without aiming, I fired a shot. I didn’t lead enough. The bullet found his rear, above his left leg.

He shrieked and collapsed, but didn’t die. I slowly approached him. My mind was finally cleared as I shot him in the back of his head, killing him.

His carcass was heavy. I knew I’d bagged a big one. This hide would bring in more than the others. Sixty. Maybe seventy. I dreamed of a new chainsaw to cut firewood for next winter.

It took a couple hours to dress and skin him and another hour to clean up. I hung the hide from a beam on the porch for the night. It was dawn and the temperature had gone below zero.

I went inside and cooked a cut of deer meat from the freezer for dinner. I stared at the cut on the plate. The woods were silent.