Tim Gardiner
Manhunt
The hunters’ count has finished. Innocent mouths whisper. We scatter into the dark vacuum beneath pine trees. I scout around the edge of the campsite, tripping on a tent rope and flattening a couple in a flimsy tent. I run for the cover of gorse bushes before they discover who crushed their fragile frames. The game has progressed, and several teammates have been captured. Torch beams dart between trees, driven by the over-excited hands of the hunters. The clearing’s edge is ideal for an assault on the base, a tree trunk in the open. I have one shot at this.
cut down by torchlight’s anonymity my flashback clear as the hay moon
About the Author
Dr. Tim Gardiner is an ecologist, editor, poet, and children’s author from Manningtree in Essex, UK. He has been widely published in journals and anthologies. Former co-editor of the tanka prose section of Haibun Today with Tish Davis.