41: Montana
- population:
- 967,440
- households:
- 358,667
- housing units:
- 435,533
- square miles:
- 145,552
- paragraphs:
- 4
- graphemes:
- 436
- narrator:
- 1st person
The wolf is dead by the time I reach it, its eyes already going glassy, its tongue lolling out. The bullet hole is a spot of lichen, spreading. A thin red line runs down from its mouth like a riverbed.
I breathe in, deep. There’s a chill on the mountain air, sweet to the tongue and clear.
I sling my rifle and kneel down, run my fingers through the matted fur. I taste the blood that coats my hand, rust red.
I throw up on the rocks beside the body, then sit down and watch the clouds. The world spins. Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?
I breathe in, deep. There’s a chill on the mountain air, sweet to the tongue and clear.
I sling my rifle and kneel down, run my fingers through the matted fur. I taste the blood that coats my hand, rust red.
I throw up on the rocks beside the body, then sit down and watch the clouds. The world spins. Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?
October 11, 2010