Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/742011
M y hunting rifle, leaning up in the corner of my office, seemed to snicker at me. If only I would once again put it to good use, it must have been thinking. But like so many nights and weekends before, I was stuck, rather by my own accord, at the office. I was only kidding myself to have even entertained the notion of getting outdoors. Law—the firm—was my life and I obsessed over it morning, noon, and night. Hunting, anything non-prosperous for that matter, had begun to feel like such a waste of time. I had sent out for a second wind in the form of a ham on rye and coffee. Lately I had become aware of the slightest bulge of belly beginning to appear over my belt, and while a sugar rush would have served me well, I passed on the dessert. In fact, I had become increasingly aware of my aging: lines on the forehead, bags under the eyes, softness in the biceps—the usual telltale signs of fleeting youth. Still, I wore a suit well, and the gray edging into my hairline, in my mind, only made me look more distinguished. Someday, A man gets too old too fast. If not careful, his life runs away from him and he can miss the mark all together. Walter had been living life as if success and money made the world go round. Then one day fate flipped the calendar and decided enough was too much. fiction By Ryan stalvey