Saturday Memory
May 3, 2025

I was on a hunting trip with my dad. It was my first. He had bought me a .22 rifle. I think I was about 10 years old. Nothing much happened for quite a while as we tramped around looking for things to shoot. Then, on the path in front of me, I spotted a rabbit. It was sitting upright and seemed frozen to the spot. My dad said to go for it. I looked through the scope and yep, the rabbit was quite still. So, I aimed, pulled the trigger and shot at the rabbit. As I looked at the scope, I could see I had shot the rabbit through the ear. It was still frozen in place. But I was stunned by what I had done. I handed the rifle to my dad and said, “I can’t do this.” When I looked again down the path, the rabbit was gone. My shooting days were over.