In the Dark I stand motionless

Staring across the moonlit landscape

We are together but I am alone

My thoughts consume me

The silence and isolation comforts me

My heart quickens as the music starts

A solitary howl piercing the night air

A crisp baritone shattering the stillness

Then silence and again the night possesses me

My ears strain against the quiet

Anticipating another chord

Suddenly the symphony begins

Ecstasy fills my body as the music reaches me

Echoing from far across the countryside

At first the arrangement is slow and melancholy

Soon the tempo increases

Their opus lifts me up and

I soar over dew covered fields

Through tree tops that sway in the breeze

My imagination joins them in their chase

The harmony of their voices fills my mind

Then I am shocked back to reality

With the sound of my father’s battle cry

“Whoop…Hunt ‘em up boys.”

His companions reply in a union of voices

My blood flushes my face

Long drawn out howls begin to crescendo

Again my father assails the night

With a shout to his comrades

“Whoop…Tree ‘em boys.”

Willed by my father’s voice the hounds respond

A chorus of choppy barks pierces the blackness

My heart quickens its beat

My pace increases

Anticipation takes control of my steps

Guided by the sound of the dogs

Holding their pray at bay

 

We slip through dense underbrush

Over tree covered hills

We cross frozen streams

Through meadows of frosted brown

Our search lights penetrate the fog

Hidden in the shadow of a tree branch

Eyes twinkle like stars in the sky

A single shot rings out

A thud…

Snarls…

Rustling leaves and breaking twigs

The final gasps for life

It is done

We lead the dogs away

My heart pounding in my chest