As a boy
I was nurtured by my mother
But raised by my father
In the ways of the hunter.
My papa raised me to be strong
Taught to be a predator
That stalked my prey
Even into the hottest
Part of the day.
One time
When I was on my eighth year
I faced a terrible monster
Pitted against the beast
I fought alone as papa looked on
Shivering in fear, buckling knees.
The beast paced back and forth
Determined to wear me down
But I never took my eyes off her
And when she thought I was tired
That's when she pounced
Mightily, swiftly through the air.
Her large fangs in a thick round skull
Bore down on me
As the female sabertooth
Snapped at my neck
But she was taken back
With a tinge of pain in her eyes.
The wild beast had landed
On my sharply pointed rod
It had gone through her belly
And punctured to the other side
She could no longer breathe
Nor put up a fight.
The beast was dead!
I became a man in that eighth year
Long before the other boys.