“Watching Four Canada Geese”

An old oak toppled in the middle of the field after planting season. Corn stalks grew up through the ruins. With all but a few rows of corn cut, a woodsman hides behind the hulk and watches as four Canada geese approach from the south. Two small flocks landed well out of the trade gun’s range and made gentle, contented sounds as they fed unaware death lurked so close. Perhaps these four will coast overhead… Old Northwest Territory near the headwaters of the River Raisin, in the Year of our Lord, 1796.