Genung, Paul

English

Digital Commons @ Butler University

MANUSCRIPTSIN NATURE'S EYES A HEROPam GenungThe minute he awoke on that April morning, Stephen Mills sensedsomething peculiar in the atmosphere~a strange silence in the valley,as if Mother Nature were holding her breath. After quickly pulling onthe same soiled jeans, old tee-shirt, muddy boots, and greasy jacketthat he had worn the day before, Stephen stepped cautiously throughthe doorway of his small cabin. The sun was seeping through the darkgreen roof of the forest in narrow, slanting rays that fell to the ground.Not a leaf was stirring, nor were any birds chirping; the only soundsto be heard were the twigs crunching beneath his heavy boots. Know-ing that animals often sense approaching danger, he wandered furtherfrom his cabin looking for signs of an upcoming storm or forest fire.Suddenly, he stopped short. A few yards ahead behind a fallen loghe saw two little pink ears standing straight up and a pair of fright-ened eyes staring at him. The animal remained perfectly motionless,and when he took a step forward, Stephen realized why. There, with itstwo back legs crushed in an old, rusty weasel trap forgotten by somecareless hunter, lay a baby rabbit. Nature kept silent, permitting deathto come in peace.Remembering the thirty-six years behind him, Stephen Mills feltthat he had neither contributed anything to life nor done anything thatcould give him a sense of worth or pride. In his younger days. theprofession of writing had intrigued him, but it seemed that the morehe wrote, the more critical became the ratings. His last book hadreally said something to America, he thought, but the publishers hadthought otherwise. Finally, out of sheer disgust with the way peoplehad treated him, he took a vacation in the wilderness of northernMaine to sort out his feelings and come to some conclusion about thedirection of his life. Because it was now nearly time for him to returnto New York City, and he had not yet found the answer to his dilem-ma, he had become rather depressed.When he saw the baby rabbit lying behind the log, Stephenmerely turned away, thinking of his own problems and why therewere no sounds in the valley. Before he had gone far, though, histhoughts returned to the baby rabbit. He saw the utter cruelty of thesituation. Why should the poor, defenseless rabbit have to die because2930 MANUSCRIPTSof a human being's carelessness? It had just as much right to life asdid he himself. Turning around again, he saw the frightened eyes ofthe animal still watching him. Approaching the log very slowly,Stephen tried not to excite the rabbit into attempting to free itself,making the damage worse. Kneeling he pried open the blood stainedtrap with one hand and very gently lifted the baby rabbit out withhis other. Nestling the rabbit into the crook of his arm, he slowlymade his way back to the cabin, being careful not to move the delicatelegs. As Stephen Mills crossed the threshold, he felt a breath of windupon his cheek.

In Nature\u27s Eyes A Hero

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3049&amp;context=manuscripts

In Nature\u27s Eyes A Hero

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