A More Worthy Opponent

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As the mid-autumn sun seared the land, a young boy sprinted, spinning half and full circles alike. While springing around the hillside, the young boy swung a short and stiff stick through tall, drying grass. Turning swiftly on his pivot foot, he took up guard against a menacing, ashy white, aspen poplar. It stood alone among the countless deadwood kin that blanketed the forest floor. After delivering several flawless killing blows, the young boy swirled around in search of a more victims.

In turn, his foot caught under one of the many brown masses that lay littered across the land. But this mass was different from the others, for it had a reddish hue and was soft with fur. The single strike from his foot that caused him to trip, triggered the brown mass to transform into a young moose calf. Startled, the sleeping calf beckoned for its mother.

A fully grown, Alaskan Moose, balked from behind the young boy with its head lowered and ears fully back. The grumbling bass of it's heavy balk froze the boy as if the very sound could turn matter to stone. He did not turn around nor did he want to. In his head, he could perfectly picture the giant beast behind him with its red eyes and frothing mouth.

The growing fear inside the boy manifested itself into anger towards these feelings of weakness. He pressed his lips together and clenched his jaw. Then, with a war cry, he twisted his upper body and whipped the stick at the demon moose. Flashes of red converse smeared through the long arching strokes of grass like oil paint. The thunderous pursuit of the mother orchestrated the continuous crashing of reality behind the boy. As fast as it had pounded, the thudding rhythm hiccuped before the animal stopped and returned to it's calf with a final balk of warning.

Heaving for the sweet oxygen his lungs craved, he made sure to be at a safe distance from the pair. Looking around, he picked up another stick. It was much larger and heavier than the last one. The young man now went off in search of a more worthy opponent.