I was sitting on the front porch of the Gallia County Farmhouse with my step-grandfather Clarence. We both had guns and were planning on practicing with them.
Symmes Creek, which runs along the bottom of the hill in front of the Farmhouse, looked more like a large lake than a creek stretched out in front of us. As I looked out over the water I saw what appeared to be a peninsula and running along the peninsula two large, black dogs.
Clarence jumped up and said those were the dogs which had been killing some of his
cows. We both ran to the bottom of the hill to the bridge in front of the house and intended to shoot the dogs. But they began running away.When I was able to see the animals better, I saw they were actually large orange tigers. Aiming my gun at them I got one of them in my sights. I pulled the trigger but the gun wouldn't discharge and the tigers ran away. Clarence walked back up the hill but I remained in front of the bridge trying to figure out why my gun hadn't functioned.
I looked up from my gun and was startled to see one of the tigers had come across the bridge, was standing in front of me and was preparing to pounce on me. I began trying to fend it off with my gun but it came right up next to me. Finally I stuck the barrel of my gun in its mouth.
I hollered to Clarence for help. He heard me and turned around. He began running toward me and hollered to shoot the tiger. I said, "I don't have a bullet."
I began fumbling around in my pocket and finally found a bullet. I stuck it in the gun and finally pulled the trigger. The gun discharged and the tiger fell over dead.
I could see other tigers across the bridge, was afraid they were going to cross the bridge and ran back up to the House to find more bullets. I felt safer when I reached the top of the hill. I looked back down and saw the dead tiger lying there.
I began thinking about the tiger, about how beautiful it was and about its orange color. I remembered I had several times had dreams in which the color orange had appeared. I had never been able to understand exactly what the color orange meant. As I looked at the tiger I realized the color orange for me meant danger. I felt if I would examine my former dreams which had the color orange in them and realize it meant danger, I would be able to better understand the dreams.
A car drove up and stopped beside the dead tiger. I thought someone might be trying to get the tiger's skin and ran to it. I saw the man in the car was a game warden and I told him I was the person who had shot the tiger. He grabbed my right hand and began walking with me. I told him he didn't need to hold my hand but he said he did because I had shot the tiger. Apparently he was going to arrest me. But I didn't think it was anything I wouldn't be able to get out of.
I thought that we would be able to prove the tigers had been killing Clarence's cows and that we had only shot them to protect his property.
Copyright 2002 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com
