The Less Dangerous Game


I know I swore I would never kill another man purposely but this was different. Zeroff was a cruel man, insane some would say. That’s why I killed him.
It was like killing a hummingbird. Every time you think you’re going to get, it darts of and surprises you. I had a good sleep that night, most peaceful one since I arrived on the island. By the time I woke up it was about two days after the murder. I decided I could not stay on the island any longer. It brought back too many haunting memories. I figured the best way to contact civilization was by lighting a fire. Now came the hardest part. What can I burn that would be big enough so that someone would see the fire clearly from far away? Suddenly the idea came to me. I know! I can light the jungle on fire! It was filled with the blood of those who didn’t deserve to die. So why should it stand?
I went to the kitchen to find something to start it with. I figured gasoline and a match would ignite the flame and pass it on to all the trees in the jungle. I easily found the matches in the drawer. But I couldn’t find and gasoline. I looked in every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen but there wasn’t a single drop anywhere. The only place left to look in was the basement. Walking down the old wooden stairs, I was frightened. Knowing Zeroff, I knew anything could be in the basement. When I stepped off the last step I could feel an odd vibe in the air. When i flicked on the light hundreds of eyes greeted me. Mounts of all different species of animals covered every square inch of the walls. There were deer, bears, turkey, antelope, even an otter head. I knew Zeroff was a hunter, but this went beyond hunting. Zeroff must have been insane, murderous plus he had a lot of spare time on his hands. I searched through that basement until I had no more energy left. It was useless, completely useless! I was never going to get off the island at this rate. I will most likely die in the forsaken place I became I murderer.
Where could there be any gasoline? Where? I know a devil like Zeroff would have a simple weapon of gasoline. I had no idea of what I should do. I needed to get off the island more than anything I have ever needed before. Getting away from this place is more like a necessity. Then suddenly, the idea came to me like a raging bullet. I was the one pulling the trigger to fire the metal. Gunpowder! That’s all I need to make a fire, gunpowder! If I didn’t know anything else about Zeroff, I knew he had an unlimited supply of gunpowder. I ran out of the basement, up the stairs, but stopped in my tracks when I came to the doorway of Zeroff’s room. I stood there just thinking about all that had happened in the past couple of weeks. The memories were rushing back to me, all of them bad, haunting thoughts. Ughhhh. I shook off the pain along with the gruesome thoughts and focused on what I came up here to do. I open the walk in closet and see all the guns. I did my best to empty out every last bit of gunpowder into a larger barrel I found in the back of the closet. After every last puff of powder was in the barrel, I rolled it down the stairs. Then I rolled it out the door and thought about how I should go about my plan.
I sprinkled it all around the jungle. It went in and out of the trees, bushes, shrubs, everything would burst into flames. I was ready, so very ready to get out of here. I decided to say a poem that all the hunters used to say after a good hunting day.
“Easy come, easy go
I remember those who fought so
Against their will
Against there might
They will rest in peace tonight”
I used it in remembrance of those who were killed by Zeroff’s cruel game. Then with the strike of a match, I lit the gunpowder and watched the jungle burst into flames.

“Then what happened grandpa?” “Did you get out okay?” Of course I did little ones, how else would I be here if I didn’t. “Is that why you don’t hunt anymore Papa Rainsford?” Yes, that is correct. I learned a very valuable lesson while stuck on that island. Don’t kill an animal until you; yourself have been in their paws. It’s all fun and games when you are in control, but when you are the one being hunted it changes the whole game. I learned that the hard way. When I was a hunter I would just hunt to kill animals that were hard to catch. I didn’t hunt because I needed the animals for anything. I just did it to say that I killed it. That is one of the reasons I survived Zeroff’s game. To change the way people see animals. To teach them that you don’t need to kill lots of animals to be a good hunter, it is all based on the skill of how you hunt, that makes you good. To show people that no game is as dangerous as humans. For they, are the most dangerous game.