Member-only story
The Survivors
A Philosophical Allegory
This work of short-fiction was written in response to a British philosophy publication’s call for writers to produce works pertaining to the subject “Stuff-Things-Possessions” as it relates to human life and experience.
David focused through his high-power spotting scope as the fading daylight began to flood the horizon with ambers and golds. His son, Carter, lay beside him with his rifle in the cover of the wet Junegrass, quietly fidgeting with his camera.
Their position overlooking the meadow was no instance of coincidence or luck. They’d begun scouting months prior — devoting a few of their summer weekends to running up and down the overgrown fire roads on their 4x4 ATV’s and using their GPS to locate new hunting accesses. They had set their HD trail cameras up here in July and had since been monitoring a resident elk herd that frequently drank from the meadow’s pond.
The mountain’s cool, sinking air had lulled the hunters into a state of comfortable half-vigilance when the afternoon’s silence was pierced by the reedy call of a cow talking to her calf. Not a minute later, the first elk emerged from cover with her calf by her side. The rest of the herd was following close behind and soon more than fifteen elk had come into view.
