fewer  or 1449 days

with the refreshing rains and punishing winds of this California winter he made of it a fond habit of walking down to the creek that bisected the town to witness its tumultuous flow take in its mad free churning appreciate it as a force of Nature

at one of the four crossbridges he visited however while luxuriating in the sight of the fast water he recognised with some dismay that the colony of feral cats which usually peered up at him from the overgrowth and vines the downed trees and fallen limbs on either bank were absent

it unsettled him 

crossing back to the east side of the suspension bridge he saw a homeless man making his way out from under it

no one ever looks up(though he often did)

the man was oblivious of him

the wary way he winded reminded him either of two things  he walked picking his way carefully so as not to catch his foot and fall   or he was hunting

it recalled to him when he walked across the frozen Des Plaines River as a boy  a risky shortcut to take to the bowling alley on Milwaukee Avenue his heart beating in his ears distracting sliding his feet listening to the ice whisper if he was only heavier that it would buckle snap and drag him down and under glassy sheaves under crystal panes of broken ice 
but also when he was a young man and hunted elk in the Bitterroot Mountains keenly aware of the winds direction that it would reveal his scent give him up to the bulls  but also the deliberateness of hunting with a Remington chambered rifle whose accuracy he honed to one hundred yards  a bush rifle

several in the party he hunted with had Weatherbys sighted to fourhundred yards

where was the skill or sport in that hunt

the old Nez Perce Indians hunted the Bitterroot with bows and arrows  stealth was their wary companion

he had no companionship with these men and wasnt fool enough to believe he did or ever would  that was particularly set when returned to the chinked cabin one evening they admitted to throwing shots at a fleeing elk and where the animal had stumbled they found blood  not a carcass

they quit their hunt then rather than track the wounded animal

endurance  elks were known for their wild endurance

he was appalled

his first season he shot an elk in the skull  a head-on shot

it was hiding in a copse its antlers angled distinguishing themselves from the upright stalks of the brush 

he quietly went to his hip then the ground and sighting the elk between the eyes he squeezed the trigger 

its head and the copse bucked

excited he strode the seventy yards to the animal but as he neared it he was downwind he smelled rot  and upon the animal he realised it was gutshot and crawled off into the brush to die 

the rented tangle of branches held up its head after it drew its last tormenting breath

the unknown hunter dishonored the bull and dishonored and disgraced themselves   

he watched the homeless man suddenly paused  then he squatted to something at his feet

from his vantage point it appeared to be a scrap of mottled cloth

he fingered it briefly  then standing wiped his hand on his pantleg

then he kept walking  picking his way as he did

after a bit the man stopped this curious manner  he came across an animal trail that backtracked up the wash to the street and took it

he didnt move as he watched him 

the man remained oblivious to his presence

when he made the street he turned left and headed up the cross street that would take him to another bridge downcreek

he walked to the corner and stood awhile watching the homeless mans receding back  then he went down the animal trail and close to the brown water he worked his way upcreek towards the bridge  the scrap homeless fingered had made him curious for some untold a fierce untoward reason

when he squatted  and looked   he recognised what he feared it might be

a skinned out pelt attached to the head of a cat

homeless was eating feral cats 

there were other tatters about him  but he averted his eye knowing where there was one there would be others

he didnt want more of this horror in his day 


while some might ruthlessly applaud his initiative  though those cunts would never dine on cats  he had a feral cat indoor and one outdoor that he Cared for

he doublebacked to the trail and up to the side street 

he would track homeless in short order

he was downwind

conceived 1529,  Twosday,  24  1. 17

1321,  Sunday,  29  1. 17

1144,  Tuesday,  31  1. 17