Crisp, cool, and perfectly placed leaves overlap one another. They’re like an extravagant thousand piece puzzle but yet so breathtaking as each step I took a small portion of the brittle leaves, cracked and fell apart. Just like if it was your heart being shattered.

I slowly walk up to my ground blind which is covered with the surroundings of the habitat. Now that it’s fall and the leaves are swirling down from the trees they place perfectly in and on the ground blind. I swing my legs one at a time over the fallen logs and tree branches and step in. Then I slowly set down my compound bow to set up a firm yet short seat that rests about three inches off the ground. I sit… and the waiting begins. I slowly tilt my head back so I can see the clear blue sky. Soon, it seemed as if an artist began painting a magnificent sunset right before my big brown eyes. I watch as the top of the tree I am leaning my back upon sways back and forth like a paint brush on a blank canvas.

As one small, yet beautifully colored, fragile maple leaf falls from the sky, I watch as it ever so slightly touches the ground. My ear twitches. I look directly in front of me as if now I am a deer in headlights. I keep my eyes focused on what looked like a shadow in the distance. With only a few ridges over, my mind starts to wonder. As my heartbeat rises each thud goes with the crisp and crunchy sound of leaves and twigs shattering in half like a baseball being thrown at glass. My ear twitches once more, and again, and again, and again. As my heart beats faster, I can feel my warm blood circling throughout my body. It’s out of control, but yet trying to keep me warm from the frigid temperature of the open outdoors.

As my mind wanders, it tries to solve the mysterious puzzle in which lies in front of my eyes. As the dark shadow moves closer, the puzzle becomes clearer. I start to see thick dark black, but yet so fluffy fur as it lightly shimmers in what is now moonlight appearing out in the distance. I tighten my hand harder and harder around my bow which gently lies in my lap. With every step this four legged black creature takes towards me, in my fresh but yet satisfying ground blind, I hope it doesn’t take another step.

As it turns and growls a deep dark tone it fades into the darkness as the moonlight shines and takes over where the beautifully painted sunset sky once was. As my heart rate lowers it slows down the warm blood flow throughout my body. Unable to move, I sit there staring at where the bear came in at in total shock. My mind now so blank, tries to figure out what had actually just happened.