Johann didn't want to pull the trigger.
He crouched low, following the movements of the glorious creature in front of him. The first bison to walk freely into Germany’s borders in 250 years wandered along the riverbank, unsure of which way it wanted to go.
Johann held his aim steady as the animal took a lazy drink from the water. The air was still. Peaceful. He breathed in the earthy scent coming from the large foreign tourist as it took a few more steps to claim a spot in the grass to lie down in.
Thomas would have given anything to be here right now. His son had fallen in love with the bison the last time they had taken a weekend trip to Poland, breaking away from the family to run up and touch one. Surely, there couldn’t be any harm in letting this one live. It wouldn’t even hurt a child.
Even Grete, always the overprotective mother, hadn’t been concerned with whether Thomas would be injured. She had only asked if he was allowed to do that.
Grete. How could he go home to her if he lost his job for refusing to shoot a wild animal? How could he expect her to support them on her own as he desperately searched for a new employer who would accept that mark on his record?
Johann sighed.
“Forgive me.”
The words were spoken softly, but they were enough for the bison to raise its head and look in his direction. Slowly, calmly, the animal began to rise to its feet as Johann pulled the trigger.
Written for Task #3 of the Second Creative Writing Challenge run by @steemfluencer!
This task was to write a narrative based on a news item, and my inspiration was this story that I found in this post by @valth.