Flash Fiction: The Thanksgiving Hunt

It was so cold I couldn’t feel my toes. Or my hands. But my adoring boyfriend, Elijah, decided that to have an impressive first Thanksgiving at our new home, we had to hunt for our own turkey. With guns.

I wasn’t cut out for this life.  I’d rather go to the grocery store, but we lived in the middle of nowhere. No gas station for miles. Woods everywhere. And I’d be the first to die. No questions asked.

As I trekked through the woods, my boot got stuck in the snow.

In the distance, I heard rustling. “What’s that noise?” I huddled closer to Elijah. “It’s BigFoot. I knew he was real.” I whispered as Elijah put his finger over his mouth to quiet me.

His bright green eyes stood out against the massive snow that was falling in huge flakes. Elijah lived for this life. Me? I was a city girl through and through. But love was love and mine was a country boy who stole my heart and I’d do anything for him. Like hunting for turkey in the middle of a blizzard.

“Patience, Em.” He brushed a kiss to my cheek, instantly warming me.

“Look.” Gently he turned my chin to the direction of a turkey.  “You can make this shot, babe.”

“Nope, you do it.”

“Come on. It’ll get away. Just aim. And shoot.” He steadied my hands as I stared at him.

“You’re supposed to be shooting us a Thanksgiving turkey not looking at me.” He chuckled.

I steadied the gun and focused on the turkey. I could do this. Because this was my life now. A girl plucked from the city and transposed into the country, all because she fell in love.

With a steady hand, I released my finger from the trigger, the backfire sending me flying against Elijah.

“I got you,” he whispered against my ear.

“Did I get it?” I scurried out of his arms and ran forward. No turkey.

“Huh? Well, I guess he must have gotten scared.” Elijah shrugged.

“Darn!”

“Hunting isn’t always guaranteed. We might have to come back out tomorrow.” Elijah took my gun from me and pulled his jacket tighter against him.

“Nope. We are getting a turkey today!” I said loudly. Then the sound of clucking, or squealing, I don’t even know how to describe that sound, ended my rant.

“What the–?” The turkey I had just tried to shoot was coming at us at full speed.

“Oh, my god! He’s angry.” I hid behind Elijah.

Elijah pointed the gun at him, and the thing weaved like he was trained in special ops or something.

“I think we better run,” Elijah said, grabbing my hand and taking off at a sprint. Glancing back, the turkey was hot on our heels.

I couldn’t help but start laughing uncontrollably. My gravestone would read:

Here lies Emma Sampson.

Lover of handbags, high heeled shoes and all things sparkly

Death by turkey

“What the heck is so funny right now? That turkey is deranged.”

“We are running from a turkey!” Losing my footing, I fell right into a snowbank.

“I can’t get up!”  I screeched as I looked around for the killer turkey that was terrorizing us.

“I got you.” Elijah stopped and bent down, his knees sinking into the snow. He glanced around. “I think he’s gone.” Brushing my hair that was sticking out from my hat, he smiled down at me.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a ring box.

“Oh, god.” I covered my face with my hands. We had talked about marriage. A family. Which is why we bought our first home together in the beautiful countryside. So, Elijah proposing wasn’t the problem, it was the fact that my butt cheeks were getting frostbite and there was a turkey on the loose that wanted to kill us.

“I tried to think of a thousand ways to ask you to marry me, Em. I’ve carried this ring with me daily for the past month.  But seeing you get all worked up over missing the turkey, watching your cute self struggle to get out of the snow bank, this is us. A city girl and a country boy, trying to make it work when they’re so different.” Pulling out the ring, he placed it on my finger. So many sparkles.

“Will you marry me?”

Before I could even open my mouth to respond, which was a yes, the killer turkey came back, and this time took a chunk out of Elijah’s butt.

“The turkey just assaulted me!” Elijah danced around in the snow as he rubbed his injury.

The turkey just stood there, glancing between us, ruffling its feathers. The poor thing just looked a little mad. I kind of felt bad for him.

“I think he just needs a hug.” Elijah glared at me as I maneuvered myself onto my knees.

“Hey, little guy, I’m sorry I tried to shoot you.” I opened my arms.

My ring sparkled and happiness filled my heart. Everyone deserves love. Even a turkey. He waddled right into my arms, apparently accepting the peace offering.

“I just got my girl stolen by a turkey.” Elijah chuckled. “So, about that answer…”

“What do you think, Billy?”

“You named the turkey that was supposed to be our dinner?” Elijah shook his head.

“Don’t say those things around him. He’s sensitive.” I covered Billy’s ears. Standing up, I stood on my tiptoes, my lips close to Elijah’s.

“It’s a yes, by the way.” I smiled before crashing my lips onto his.

“Phew.” Elijah let out his breath. “Thought maybe you went and fell in love with Billy.”.

“Seems he likes us.” Elijah reached out his hand and Billy pecked him.

“Or just me.” I giggled as I touched Billy’s head. “Let’s go home, fiancée.”

Elijah and I walked through the woods with Billy trailing behind us. I got not only a fiancé today, but Billy the turkey who almost was Thanksgiving dinner and now a member of the family.

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