Unknown Animal
October 2020,
In a small village, there is a pair of a spouse who lived in a tiny house. They are blessed with a son ten years ago. They give the son's name Elias.
Elias has a gift that they don't know, Elias's gift is a birth talent and often Elias uses it for jokes and small matters. But, along in time, the gift becomes more potent.
For example, today they need to go to the forest, Elias heard them and asked to join even if he was in another room when they discussed it.
"Anyway, I think we need to bring Elias along with us," the father said.
The mother looks at the father with a weird look before she kneeled in front of Elias and puts her hand on Elias's chin.
"Son, do you truly want to go with us?" she said " The forest is full of dangerous beings, if you asked because you are bored alone in the house I will ask father to play with you"
Elias put his hand on top of his mother
"No, I wanted to hunt too," he said. He shrugs his mother's hand and puffed his chest several times.
"I will become the strongest hunter in the world, stronger than father"
Elias looks at his father with a smile on his face, his mother replied to him with a face, and so does his father.
"As expected of my son, He will become the strongest hunter in the future. I am his father after all, HAHAHAHA"
Mother's smile goes away and she shakes her head in disbelief,
"Then, promise mother to not go away from us. Okay?"
She raises her pinky, "Promise?"
Elias raises his pinky and put it on his mother's pinky,
"I promise mother!" he said with an ear-to-ear smile.
His father carries Elias with his hand, Elias sits on top of his father's hand, while the other hand picked up a sniper rifle gun.
"Elias, look at this gun"
His father shows the gun to Elias. The Gun is longer than his hand but shorter than his height, the sharp and round muzzle is the world unknown to Elias.
"This sniper rifle gun is called Steyr Scharf- something 69." he said with a mumble, not knowing the full name of the gun "It is called SSG-69 for the Republican, and I have just bought it yesterday from the town. How is it, isn't it cool?"
"SSG-69, father?"
Elias looks at the sniper rifle gun, the silver gun is shining in the eyes of the young Elias. This is the first time he has looked at something he wanted to have.
"Yes, The Finnish Empire has imported the gun from the Austrian Republican with a hassle, after a few weeks it has arrived at Ilomantsi yesterday."
His father's eyes are in a fierce fire.
"Because the supply is limited, I come to the town and become the first customer to buy this gun."
"Wow, you are so intent, father"
"But, thanks to that, our funds have decreased to near zero. Now we need to hunt our daily necessity with ourselves." Her mother joined the conversations.
His father raised his hand and put it on top of his head and replied with a smile.
"At least they give a free iron sight"
His mother let out a breath of air, she wears a jacket and carries a wooden basket on her back looking in him and his father's direction with a stare.
"Are you ready?"
Ellias and his father nodded their heads.
She puts a beanie on top of Elias's head and gives one to his father. She walks to the wooden door and opens it.
She looked back at both of them.
"Now you are ready"
She turned and walk toward the outside, his father stiffened for a few seconds and walks outside after.
He puts Elias on top of the Wooden Cart, and Elias's mother put the basket beside him. Both of them pull the cart toward the forest. The sniper rifle gun is on his father's back, tightened with a string strap.
Soon after, they arrived inside the forest. His father and his mother stop pulling the cart and begin to do their job.
His mother began to search for wild plants, meanwhile, he and his father start to hunt the forest animals. His father scans the area surrounding them. He squats down and looks at the ground.
He picks the soil from the ground and observes it.
"Rabbits around here"
Elias who heard his father walk closer to him,
"How do you know that father?" he said, his eyes shaking and his hand trembling.
His father raises his forefinger and put it closer to his mouth,
"Rabbit feces, and spoils of the eaten plant."
With only one soil his father picked up, his father knows much information. As expected of a veteran hunter, Elias creates an imaginary note inside his head.
All of a sudden his father raises the sniper rifle, pointing at the east of their location. Elias looks in the direction with his great eyesight.
A family of 4 Rabbits, two big rabbits, and two small rabbits. His father pulls the trigger and puts in five bullets before closing it again.
He aims at the Rabbits family, and Elias looks in the rabbit family's direction. His father shoots the first bullet, a headshot to one of the big rabbits. With a fast speed, his father reload the rifle and aimed at it again.
The three rabbits became aware of the hunter, they increase their awareness to the maximum. The bigger rabbit shields the smaller rabbits.
The second bullet hit the big rabbit, and his father's headshot of the two rabbits made them die on spot. His father reloads the rifle again and aims but the smaller rabbits have left the place. It can't be shoot because they are running away covered by the trees.
"Only two rabbits, huh? I need to increase the reload speed more." his father said letting a breath out of his mouth.
Elias looks at his father with star eyes, his father and the rifle gun are shining in his sight. He is one step forward to reaching his dream.
"Wow, wow, wow, so great father"
Elias put both of his hands together, clapping, and walk closer to his father's face. His father sweeps and carries him with his hands.
"Father is great, right Elias?"
"Yes, father. You are the best!"
They walk closer to the prey they have hunted, his father picked up the rabbits from their ears and walks back to the wooden cart.
His mother gives his father appreciation before they went out again to hunt another target. A few hundred meters away from them, there lies a wild boar.
The body is hairy, with two tusks growing out of its mouth. The board is eating a small rabbit on the ground. His father's eyebrow raised after seeing the small rabbit.
"A prey who hunted my prey couldn't be forgiven. Look at this hunt Elias"
He puts Elias down and aims at the boar with his rifle. He lets out a breath of air and pulls the shooting trigger.
Elias looks at the Boar, the bullet hit it back. The board didn't die yet and it is scanning it halts the feast and scanned the surrounding.
His father reloads the rifle and aimed again. This time, he aims at the head of the Boar. His father shoots the Boar, it hit the mouth but didn't make it die yet.
The boar knows where it got attacked from, it gnashes its teeth and dashes toward Elias and his father. Elias's body sees the intuition of the boar getting pushed back and frozen.
But before the boar arrived closer to them, his father shot its head and make it fall to the ground. The fall of the boar made the surrounding ground shake.
His father turns his head toward Elias, carries him up, and swings him.
"This is the power of 7.22x51mm bullets"
His father grips his hand.
"How was it? Did your father become the best in your eyes?" his father said turning his head and with a smile on his face.
Elias sees the smile on his father's face and responds to it with a smile as well.
"Yes father, you are always number one in my eyes. Except for mother"
His father's smile stiffened, he puts Elias back to the ground and walks at the prey he has hunted.
But, at this moment.
A shudder came up to Elias, he is thrilled, and his body is shivering. He observes the surrounding area to find the source of it.
From in front of him, far away from the boar. Another boar walks toward them, but strangely the size of the boar is the same as the one his father has hunted.
But he sees it from a far distance, so that means.
A sense kicked him in the gut, he turns his head toward his father who is close to the dead boar his father has hunted.
"FATHER, RUN AWAY FROM THERE IMMEDIATELY!"
His father turns his head, glancing at Elias and smiling at him.
"NO! RUN, FATHER! RUN!"
But, all of his efforts become wasted. The Huge board dashing toward his father made the area shaken up.
His father thought an earthquake happened and become frozen, but from in front of him, a boar come closer. He expected the boar four times higher than him.
He turns his body and runs away as fast as he can, his father follows behind him, but unfortunately, he is late by a width second.