Today it is cloudy and looks like it will rain soon.  So my father decided that we should go fishing earlier than usual.  Every Sunday we take a break from fishing because we fish every day from morning until just before dinner.  I don't go with him every time, but he takes my brother sometimes, but today is an exception, because yesterday my father did not catch much to suffice us for a few days, and the chickens we have are not enough.

So I will go with my father to help him fish.  I opened the door of the store, which is located next to the large chicken cage, and took out some tools necessary for hunting, such as traps, knives, the most important of which were the bows and arrows that my father made himself, and I, in turn, made my own.

Qussi is made of yew wood because the quality of this wood is strong and withstands tension.  The arrow was made of dry wood and as straight as possible, and the string of the rubber bow was made of silk

This bow has been with me for years and has never been damaged or harmed.

I heard my father's voice behind me calling my name, so I quickly ran to him to start hunting.

 

"Did you bring everything?"

My father asked after he took his sack and knives.

 

I grabbed the knives in my boots and on my waist, then I put the snares in the bag on my back and the scissors in my hand, after which I answered

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten anything."

 

He smiled at me and then pointed his head at the forest in front of us so that we could enter it and start our hunt for the day.

Before I could move, he stopped me with his bow-bearing arm and said

"Be careful next, I don't want to remind you of the danger around us every time we go into the forest. But just stay by my side and don't leave me no matter what happens. Animals are more careful than us, especially predators, they won't wait for anyone to attack and fill their big bellies. Are you  understood? "

 

I nodded in understanding and then we slowly and carefully took our steps into the heart of the forest.

The forest is called apiro, which means no end in Greek, because no one has yet discovered its end.

For some people, it only took them halfway through the forest, about four months and five days.  Even some kingdom scholars say, it's only the beginning and not half of the forest.  Why does it have no end?  Nobody knows....I think we go round and round every time we go in.  And I think that people who took four months and five days to reach the middle may be lost and no longer know the Imam from the back and the East from the West.

Or maybe it is really a forest that has no end like the sea, all sides seem like a beginning.

This is the only forest where you can hunt a lot in one day if you are lucky.  Because it is full of strange and wild animals.  So we have to be careful every time we hunt.  My father was injured several times when hunting because of dangerous animals, and he always survives thanks to God and thanks to his strength and intelligence.

My mother always worried about him, but she used to see him full of blood and wounds when he came back after a long hunt.  I still fear for him, and feel sad every time he comes back.

 

"Let's start from here. It's a good place and there are fruits on the tree there."

Dad said after we got to the place where we will start our hunting.

The animals save the position of the hunters every time they hunt in different places.  When they are in groups, the animals that escape when hunting, save the place of the other animals that they hunted and died there, so they do not always return to the same place.

Today we chose to start with fruit trees such as: apples, peach and grapes.

I looked around and admired the beauty of the forest and the flowers of which there is only one in the Aberu forest.

Green, green, everywhere and huge trees covering the sky and sunlight.  Long grasses that reach above feet.  Large flowers and colorful petals in beautiful colors to behold.  The sounds of waterfalls and little rivers everywhere, the birds chirping to each other, the buzzing and squeaking of insects.  And finally, the sounds of the rumbling of the leaves of large trees, when a breeze passes, make them move and strike other leaves. 

If I could live in this forest, I would agree and live here forever, but it's impossible because it's dangerous and we don't know what will happen to you if you close your eyes for a few seconds.  We moved behind the bushes to hide until a deer came that my father had seen on our way to this place.

"How do you know he's coming here? I saw him go in a different direction before we got there."

I told him anxiously.

He smiled at me and said confidently as usual

“Yes, right, he went in a different direction, but he would take another way to find food. He was walking with his head spinning in all directions looking for something to eat.”

He took his arrow out of his backpack, put it in its place on the bow, and then continued his speech

“It is close and there is nothing nearer than these trees here, so he will have to look elsewhere.”

I have said before that my father is intelligent, and sometimes I think he speaks the language of animals and thinks like them.  I also took out the arrow and put it on the bow, ready.  We took a squat position so that the deer would not see us if it came.

I suddenly began to feel something strange, my heart fluttering strongly, as if there was a bird trying to fly, but something prevented it.  I even started to sweat from my forehead and back

I felt that someone's eyes were watching me...I turned my head to the side, trying to see if someone was behind me, but there were only more little bushes.

 

Don't be afraid...just focus on the next deer, you're just hallucinating again.

I said to myself.

I closed my eyes and opened them to get rid of the fearful feeling inside me, but I still feel these eyes.

I touched my father's arm so he could look at me, but he said without looking at me

"What's with you next? Don't let me lose my focus, the deer is coming."

I shifted my gaze to the place where my father was looking at him, and I saw the deer walking with careful steps, looking to the right and left to make sure that no one was there to obstruct its path.  Then he made his way to the apple tree and then took a bite of an apple that made it fall to the ground and roll a little.

My father moved his arms and placed the bow and arrow in front of his head to shoot the arrow precisely at the deer.  Before the arrow was shot, I heard the sound of bushes moving quickly behind me, from the intensity of fear I stood suddenly, I screamed and shot the arrow at the place from which the sound came, and because of that I made my father shoot the arrow at the trunk of the apple tree close to the deer.

 

The deer saw the arrow and heard the scream, so it ran away from us.  My father cursed under his breath and looked at me in fear

"Next, what's wrong with you? Look, the deer ran away from me."

I pointed my hand behind me and then said to him nervously

“I heard a voice behind me, I thought an animal or something was going to attack us.”

He breathed forcefully from his mouth, then said softly

"Don't be afraid, I would have heard the sound too if an animal came, I would have known, but your scream made my arrow hit the tree instead of the deer."

My father took a knife from the bag on the ground and then told me as he moved away from me heading for the way the deer took when it ran away

"Stay here, don't ever leave until I come. I'll go after the deer, I won't be late, I promise."

  

"But dad, what if..."

He didn't listen to me and ran quickly.  My legs couldn't stand me so I sat on the floor in frustration.

What did you paint me today?

I put my hands on my head and messed up my hair even more because I was angry.  Because of me the deer ran away, and now I'm alone in a forest full of creatures that see everything that threatens them.  I stood up again to go to the bag and get the water bottle, as my fear made my throat dry as sand and my face feel cold.

As I walked to the bag, I heard the sound of an animal behind my back, a little far away, but it was strong and resonant.  I slowly turned around to see what other misfortune awaited me, and was surprised by a large lion of strong build, yellow in color and thick chestnut hair.  His frightening yellow eyes looked at me.  His head is at the level of his giant body and walks with steps far from each other. 

I grabbed the bow firmly and tried to pull the arrow off the ground without him feeling my fear.  So the eyes of this lion are the ones I felt before.

But why didn't he attack us when we weren't paying attention?

When my hand reached the ground, I couldn't find the arrow!  I moved my eyes to the ground and no arrow!!

 

"Fuck you next"

I said in a low voice the arrow is at the bag, and the bag is far from me, I will not be able to reach it until this lion devours me and cleans its teeth with my bones.

 

But I have no choice but to run as fast as I can in the bag and take out an arrow to kill him with.  Before I take the first step towards the bag.  The lion quickly attacked me with his voice ringing in my ears, this moment passed very quickly, and from my fear that I could no longer suppress, I screamed the last time and put my arms in front of my face thinking that this would ease my fear of him and I closed my eyes.

Why didn't I go after my father?  Why did you come with him today?  Why would my end be like this?  What have I done in my life to deserve to die on the jaw and fangs of this stupid lion?  All these questions revolved at the moment of his attack on me.

  

I tried to think of any way to escape from him or even to get him away from me...... but there is no, he is faster and stronger and his sharp fangs won't let me live if they are stuck in my body.