Deer Hunter (Montezuma's Revenge v. Snapping Deer)

•••
But if I tell you will you take it
Will you shine it up to me
Can you be strong to let me go on
And set this freedom free
•••

And just like that, Benat was alone again.

He’d been cutting away at a few choices of meat, thinking that there was something to the way that they were managing to survive—even if the odds hadn’t been in their favor

[/color]—as a team. They were a strange sort of group: William was brash and bold; Elodie was mysterious and swift; Essence was sweet and sincere; and Benat… what was he? Silly and sound—a boy willing to cheer the rest of them up, even in the face of mortal peril, while never veering too far off the beaten path. Sure, he could have been more worried about what the rest of his life held for him—whether that be minutes, hours, or years (who could honestly know). As much as the rest of them may have stood on foundations of sand, Benat was certain he could weather whatever came his way.

His brothers had always wondered why Benat never showed many tears—none more than the normal boy: no weeping, wailing, or downtrodden looks. He was quick with a retort and even quicker to laugh. Could a boy from district eleven not know the misery the rest of the world faced? But he did and could—he buried this down, underneath the happiness that he projected for the rest of them. Why on earth should he waste so much time complaining or moaning about his lot? He’d been given the chance to breath and walk, to live and be; what sense was there in wasting any singular moment of it. His hands were red and bloodied by his task, and Benat took to wiping them on the tall stalks of grass around him. They’d gone away all too soon—probably afraid they’d come across another snapping deer, especially one that wasn’t so easy to take down.

Was it a cannon shot he heard from far off that sent the birds up into the sky? He wondered whose face would be up in the sky that evening. Sweat dripped down his brow and he moved to wipe his forearm across his face. It sure was hot here[/color]. They never said much about the ones that fell the first couple of days. As far back as his memory stretched, he knew that there weren’t any District Eleven Males that had made it this far—what did it mean that he was still alive? Dumb luck, mostly. Falling out of the way of a poisonous snapping lizard and dodging the terror of the blood bath were his only achievements. What should he have thought then, still breathing, still living, still a tribute and not a memory?

He could have believed that none of it was a miracle. Just pointedly the bad luck of other tributes, and admittedly help from his allies, that had brought him to this point. Who was left, spinning their wheels? The two scary kids from district one, Rocky and Green. Bendy legs. Buttercup. Water and snake-boy. Dizzy and Bunny, of course. Ember and… what was the other one’s name? Long-neck. Tree-thingy. Scout. Himself. Was birdy alive? Or slim? He could have said then and there that there were no miracles… nothing special, nothing pointed or observed, that all of this was just grinding along the way that it should have. After all, what miracles could there be, besides the occasional sponsorship floating down from the heavens? He tucked away the bits of meat he collected and wiped his hands on the grass.

Benat liked to believe there was more—he wanted to think instead, that everything was a miracle. From the smallest little gust of wind to his beating heart; the world was continuous with miracles. Maybe the rest wouldn’t understand his need to stay positive—to cloud the world with little nothings, with jokes—but he couldn’t see it any other way. The others could go on as much as they wanted about death, and killing, and all those terrible things, but not Benat. He’d do what he had to for survival—whether that meant blowing darts at those around him or tucking himself away—but to enjoy it was something else entirely. He zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He looked up at the setting sun and shrugged his shoulders, wondering if anyone was watching.

“I love you,” He said to no one and everyone that mattered, “And I haven’t stopped thinking about you. You better be good,” He said with the raise of his eyebrows. He started off into the reeds and searched for where the rest of his allies had gone.

[Benat has frolicked off into the sunset]

[first aid stuff goes here, and meat collection too. He also collects his darts]
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