30/04/2024

<aside> 🕸️ With great EMOTION comes a great STORY - Daniel Parker

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To read the Part-II, please Click here

*****Part-I begins*****

“We used to live in a small town named Madsville, on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina. It is nearly 2-3 hours away from Asheville, North Carolina.

Madsville is a town that has good proximity to nature including beautiful lakes, rivers, and wildlife like White-tailed deer, foxes, coyotes and rarely one might find black bears and wolves because most of them were hunted and eliminated in the early 20th century.

My father used to take care of the family business of maintaining a diner which I vaguely remember now. He worked there for few years, rented it to a couple and started his own power supply company for the town through which he met a surprising person who moved in from the other side of the country. Years later they got married, and I was born then my sister Hailey.

Me and my sister used to play for long hours every day right from the moment the Sun shone, she used to call me ‘Willy’ after watching my mother calling me like that every time rather than my name Will. She is very fond of Wildlife, Nature, and Calm places. There used to be a small toy that was not anyone’s strength to get separated from her at all costs, she used to take it with her everywhere and a small notebook just to draw or write about various animals she saw.

We used to play with her friends in the deep layers of the trees and used to rest among large rivers that used to go far and far away. Hailey was my father’s favourite they used to make small cards related to animals and play with them for hours every night. He had great hopes for her same as my Mother.

I used to go to the town school just to wait for the last bell, it would be me and the friends who me and my sister used to spend time with, out of all my sister used to look at animal pictures, fall in love and used to lose time at school.

When I reached High-school and she was still in Elementary she started making notes of every animal she got to learn about and always admired doing. The bond between My sister and wildlife grew increasingly, which was always a pleasant topic to discuss as a family while making jokes. Months disappeared, and the unexpected happened which might not have been imagined by anyone in the wildest dreams possible.

It was a full moon night in the town of Madsville; I was 16 then and was up on the rooftop looking at the sky and thinking about the solutions for a Math-Physics problem which I was so much into at that time, even now but a jumpstart is required to get back into that flow. Meanwhile, my sister who recently turned 11 and my Father were on an exploration in the Forests of Madsville. They were about to return the next day. It was in November so most of the town was covered with fog on the grounds too. At the camp where they were staying, Hailey found a small rabbit and started chasing it, meanwhile, my father followed and when the rabbit started running even she started meanwhile my Father realized they were near the Highway. He shouted for Hailey to stop but she didn’t, she chased and finally saw the rabbit end up in the middle of the road. She went and grabbed it and a second later she was no more in front of My Father’s eyes. A large truck suddenly appeared from the smoke and hit her.

My mother received a call from the town police regarding what happened, she came onto the rooftop with shaking hands and crying. She was in shock and able to say nothing but a minute later said “Your father will be fine”, I asked “What happened to dad? And where is Hailey?” then she started crying holding me in her arms.

The whole town was devastated and stated their feelings for Hailey on how wonderful she was.

A day later during her funeral, I gave the eulogy, and that day I made a pact to myself, becoming the person she always wanted to be.

I could feel her as a memory whenever I’m in the wild, learning and saving it. I’m Doctor Will Sullivan, Anthro-Zoologist.”

“So that’s Me and My past. I believe I bored you with all the details right?” Will says to a Korean-American girl whom will just met in a small diner where he was writing his research paper on his recent findings on the way wolves behave in the presence of humans in various conditions.

“No, Will you didn’t bore me, I’m sorry for your loss” Anya says

Will sighs and nods his head lightly opens his lips slightly trying to say something keeps his coffee down on the table and says “Thank you”. Anya takes a pause and says “I believe science exists through every person and I like to see that more when getting to know people I’m…interested in”