suzanna-kollinz-acliq-oyunlari-1-hisse-eng

That was the first time I ever saw him smile. It transformed
him from someone menacing to someone you wished you
knew. But it took several months before I returned that smile.
We talked hunting then. I told him I might be able to get
him a bow if he had something to trade. Not food. I wanted
knowledge. I wanted to set my own snares that caught a belt
of fat rabbits in one day. He agreed something might be
worked out. As the seasons went by, we grudgingly began to
share our knowledge, our weapons, our secret places that
were thick with wild plums or turkeys. He taught me snares
and fishing. I showed him what plants to eat and eventually
gave him one of our precious bows. And then one day, without
either of us saying it, we became a team. Dividing the work
and the spoils. Making sure that both our families had food.
Gale gave me a sense of security I’d lacked since my father’s
death. His companionship replaced the long solitary hours in
the woods. I became a much better hunter when I didn’t have
to look over my shoulder constantly, when someone was
watching my back. But he turned into so much more than a
hunting partner. He became my confidante, someone with
whom I could share thoughts I could never voice inside the
fence. In exchange, he trusted me with his. Being out in the
woods with Gale . . . sometimes I was actually happy.
I call him my friend, but in the last year it’s seemed too casual
a word for what Gale is to me. A pang of longing shoots
through my chest. If only he was with me now! But, of course,
I don’t want that. I don’t want him in the arena where he’d be
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