“You know the multiverse theory right? Like there are millions upon millions of me doing the same thing, but not exactly the same way. Like, how does that happen. I can’t even think straight whenever I start to wonder about it. And you, man, you’re doing the same exact thing but differently then a different version of yourself. Isn’t that just mind blowing?

“Jimmy, what the f*** are you talking about?” Tom laughed hard and took another swig of his beer. “Is my twin brother from mars drinking Bud Light or Miller Light?” More laughing.

I sighed “You’re an asshole Tom.”

“Rather be an asshole than a little b****.” Tom laughed then threw his empty beer bottle behind him to the street, shattering to pieces.

The wind had picked up slightly and the sun was peaking over the hill top behind us. Winter was on its way and we could now see our breaths. Wanting to hunt was now something I looked less forward too more and more because of the cold.

“Ready to go kid, or are you not done?” Tom had gotten up by now, putting on his jacket and boots. He headed towards the truck and grabbed the rifle.

“Yeah, yeah i’m ready.” I dropped my head and walked to the side of the truck. I grabbed my rifle. Not as nice as Toms but it meant something to me. The same feeling of a little girl holding a teddy bear protecting her from the monsters that lurked in the dark. The feeling of a young boy and his toy action figure. Defending the city and beating up thugs are no sweat off its brow.

We trudged through the the damp grass, waving in the wind at our feet. A few twigs and dead areas in our way, but the terrain was simple enough. Two fallen trees, one giving us perfect cover. We dropped to a knee and looked out. It would still be awhile for movement.

“Ey, you see anything Jimbo?”

“Nah.”
A huff and a groan came from Tom. Discouraged, he moved up a path to the right. A small hill. I stayed in my spot. I prepared myself now, closing my left eye, right eye in the sight, left hand holding the stock, right hand index finger covering the safety switch. Starting on the left and going to the right, slowly examining the forested area.

A snap of a twig now. My head jolted to the right more, my line of sight hitting a doe. Not huge, but not small. A good kill nevertheless. The doe was sniffing the ground unaware of the target it painted for me.I turned the safety off. Checking my surroundings now before taking a shot.


The shot. the kickback of the rifle, and the smoke from the fire. I looked up from the sight and down the field to see if it was moving. Nothing

“Atta boy Jimbo!” I heard Tom yell from the hill, his voice boomed through the trees as I sprinted towards the animal. As I reached my kill and pulled out my hunting knife and wiped it down clean with the sleeve of my jacket.

I knelt down next to the creature, its still beating heart pounding at the side of its chest. Before I began to skin it, I looked in its eyes. S***, never look into the eyes!



Tears had begun to flow from its blood shot sockets. The breathing was quick and painful, each breath followed by wheezing. Capturing as much oxygen it could consume before the darkness came closing in. I started to clam up, my mouth dried and my eyes watered. I saw the hole that the bullet had made. blood oozing out from it. I put pressure on it, trying to stop the bleeding. Thats what you do, right? Like in the movies?

Tom had come over now, panting.

“Jim.... what the hell... are you doing?” His words chopped between breaths.aha

“I can’t do it! I can’t! Tom...” My cry to him did nothing. He swung at me, clocking me well across the face. Dazed, but alive, not the first time it has happened.

“Oh, I didn’t know I brought a little b**** of a brother out to hunt for the family today!” He pinned me down with his knee on my chest, then hit me a second time and then a third. “The hell is wrong with you?! You’ve done this more times than you can count and now you are going to be like this.” He pulled his knife out. “Skin it. Now.”

He got off me. Blood from my lip and nose were running rapid. My head felt like a blob and my vision was blurred. I sat up and crawled away from him.

“Why don’t you do it?” My words came out harsher than anticipated.

“You know the rule. You kill it, you skin it.”

“But it’s not dead! Tom, look at it!” I cried to him, trying to convince him otherwise.

He walked over to me, put the knife in my hands and glared at me, his eyes sharpening.

“You do a lot of thinking kid. Remember your stupid ass theory? What if it’s real and the Jimmy Dale on f'ing Krypton killed it and skinned it and took it home to his starving family because thats his job. To support a family that can’t fend for themselves. How do you think he is doing?”

Tom pushed me towards the doe, now with its eyes closed. “Be the Jimmy Dale that helps his family and skin it or i’ll skin you.” His threat rang in my ears and sat on a throne for the next few seconds.

I knelt down to the animal and began to cut its hide and dug out the meat. Tom placed the meat inside the bag of extra meat that we had collected earlier. As I finished, I handed Tom his knife and picked up my own. I wiped away any wet blood and tears i had left and walked back towards the truck. Tom finished up and walked behind me.

“Now, was that so hard?” Tom chuckled.
I wanted to scream “Yes!” at the top of my lungs, but that would result in another beating.

“No. No it wasn’t.”

“Good.”
We had reached the truck, the sun gone and the night had been on us. The drive back was going to suck. I got into the passenger side. I looked out the window, back into the woods from which my memories lived. Tom got in the driver side and started the truck.

“Why did you do it? Why did you beat me up?”

“What if you were the one being hunted? Do you really believe that the doe would not have skinned you and fed you to its family.”

“Deers are herbivores? They don’t eat meat.” I replied quickly

“Well, at least in this universe.” Tom said.
What an asshole.