The crumpled skull contained in the camouflage cap stained Olivia’s memory. She knew she had been right, but wrong. She should have merely stood and shouted and scared the crane and diverted the shot. Then there would be no wrong . But some force had overtaken her. A lifetime of frustration at men who would destroy things that were so fragile with weapons that were such overkill. The worst thing about these men was their egos. Their bragging about being able to kill a defenseless creature in a completely unfair fight. She ran into these men in the bars and restaurants in the little towns that were her home when she was working in the field. Lately she’d begun to run into them at the fundraisers that SWF held. Their lust for killing had be slightly diverted into doing something good by preserving wetlands so there would be more birds for the hunt.
Seeing that man in the camouflage with his gun worth thousands of dollars with the calibrated sight and custom ammunition about to kill an endangered crane had just pushed her to a place that was elemental. She’d acted before she could think. Now she couldn’t get the picture out of her mind.
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I love how you make Olivia's logic so clear and plain here - and so justifiable. We are so with her. Yes, she's done something horrific, yet you make it completely understandable - including her guilt, showing us how this action will haunt her. Terrific!
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