The anthare muscles start tensing up, its gaze glues onto me. It readjusts it positions slowly, seeking to gain an advantage. It's looking at me intently waiting for me to open up. Its antler starts growing like a sword being unsheathed. Its eyes sharpen like that of a hunter, and Its ears twitches.
It digs its hind legs into the ground, generating as much force as it can. Its muscles are bulging out. Any moment now, it can pounce. In a moments notice, it lunges, almost too fast for me to see. I narrowly manage to avoid its thorny antler, my left cheek getting scrapped. If I dozed off even for a millisecond, that would have been severe, it darted towards me like an arrow. I shouldn't let my guard down.
Just before it exits my reach, I extend my arm as quickly as possible and grab the beast by its antlers. Holding it is causing deep cuts to my palms. I grip its antlers as hard as possible and slam it towards the ground, making sure it doesn't die. I feel its antlers grow in my grasp.
At this moment, I wonder about the balance of nature. The anthare is just trying to protect itself, like all creatures do. I think of how we humans often complicate our lives, and I wish for a simpler life, like the one I see in nature. But here I am, in this moment, trying to gain what I need for survival.
There's no point in breaking the cycle.
I can see its eyes widen in fear. I'm sorry…