The Whitetail Deer: A Short Story

It is almost dark. Taj is standing near his fallen prey, a male whitetail deer. He watches it for a while so that he can be sure that the deer is deceased. Because he sees that it is, he does not cut its throat. He looks for a slope so that he can position the deer in such a way that the intestines spill out easily. Not seeing any slopes nearby that he can drag the deer to, he decides to stick with the spot the deer lies. Taj walks over to the deer. He then kneels down, removes his pack, and searches through it. While rifling through it, Taj removes his hunting knife, a large drop point blade as sharp as a razor. He also proceeds to search the bag for his elbow length plastic gloves that protect his hands from the deer’s internal fluids, but …show more content…
He feels for the lungs. When he finds them, he grabs them and starts pulling. The first time he pulls on the lungs, he only removes a little chunk. He, therefore, goes back in again and pulls out a large hunk. The next round finishes off the lungs. Entering the cavity again, feels for the heart, and when he finds it, he starts to pull on it. Remembering he needs to cut the heart out, he releases the skin and muscle he had been holding on to and grasps the knife. Removing his right hand from the chest cavity, he inserts the knife. Then carefully sticking his other hand inside, he clutches the heart again. Tugging on the heart, he cautiously uses the knife to cut off the arteries and veins coming from it. After he pulls the heart out, he removes the knife. Having removed all of the major organs, he utilizes the knife to trim little bits and pieces still clinging to the abdominal wall. Noticing the blood pooled up on the lower portion of the abdominal wall, Taj pushes down on the wall to let the blood flow out. With all of the blood out of the abdominal cavity, Taj can see more leftover pieces and removes them. When he is satisfied with the cleanliness of the abdominal wall, he puts the knife