172. Hunters

172.

At midnight, rain begins to fall. My cave is not waterproof, so before I get too wet, I light a candle, pack up and hike through the dripping, shadowy trees up the zigzag path to a stone shelter I noticed earlier.

Under the shelter’s dry and cozy dome I spread my blanket and immediately fall asleep.

Very early next morning I am fixing coffee on a little campfire at the shelter when two hunters appear. They seem surprised to find me and I am surprised too because they are the first humans I have seen in the valley. They are soon banging away at birds in the olive trees. Soon five more city dudes in shooting togs arrive and start blasting away at the birds in the trees near the shelter.

I suppose maybe they are not just hunting, but trying to scare me away and they’ve sure got the firepower to do it!

I pack and scurry back down to my cave and the shooting soon stops.

...