The Welkin 2014 | Page 39

ground. A pool of blood soon surrounds the deer. The once beautiful untouched forest is now scathed. How could I have done this, destroyed nature’s beauty and her creatures? Some say that hunting is part of the ritual of being a man. I thought how could this be true? I often thought to myself how can it be mans purpose to destroy. The only reason man should kill is to survive, not for sport. I dragged the deer back to camp my head hung in shame leaving a trail of the fresh kill’s blood behind me, further touching the once untouchable beauty of the forest. The beauty of nature is that it always finds a way to heal its wounds and so the next morning it would look perfect once again, but I’ll never forget about how easily its beauty can damaged. Since then I have never killed an animal for mere fun. Instead I now take peaceful walks through the forest enjoying its magnificence and I embrace the cold winter’s grasp. Photo by: Emily Soley