All of a sudden I was cold all over and I opened my eyes to see my mother standing next to me. I was surprised to see all of the things that surrounded me. Not long after, I stood up and wobbled around my mom. For the next few days my mother and I didn't go any farther than the stream that wasn't more than a quarter of a mile away. We never did stay long there either and I wondered why. I asked my mother and she said that there were many dangerous things that surrounded the forested areas. She told me many exciting stories, especially about encounters with the humans. The stories weren't very exciting for her, but they were thrilling to me. Later while walking through the forest I met many other moose. I also played with my friend Carlos who wasn't but a couple of days older than I was. One night my mom and I slept underneath a huge pine tree, with branches that nearly touched the ground. While we were sleeping I heard a "drone" in the distance. Curious, I woke up my mom and asked what it was. She told me that it was an engine, belonging to the humans and that they used it to travel around to different places. As the buzz went away I fell asleep again.

The next day was a long one. I had to walk for hours and I didn't know where we were going. The air smelled fresh and the newly sprouted grass was starting to grow tall. When we got to a stream I peered into the water and saw little stumps growing on my head. I wondered what they were and asked my mom. She told me they were called antlers and that they would grow bigger and bigger every year. Suddenly my mom looked up, and her ears went forward and her eyes began bulging. She told me to start running as fast as I could. Running quickly toward the big pine tree I heard a loud boom behind me in the distance. I didn't want to stop and check what it was, and when I made it to the pine tree I waited underneath its branches for my mom. But she was nowhere to be seen and I was frightened. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to go anywhere without my mom, so I stayed where I was. But I was lonely and tears slowly rolled down my cheek and dripped onto the ground. That night I slept cold and woke up hungry.

I was still sad when I awoke. After getting up and leaving the pine tree I saw Carlos and his mom nearby and told them what had happened the night before. They became as sad as I was and said that I could stay with them if I wanted to. I decided to do that and didn't feel alone anymore. I was a lot happier because I had someone to pal around with again. Carlos and his mom brought me with them whereever they went and I was really grateful for that. I knew someday soon I would have to go out on my own and Carlos would have to do the same. His mother talked to both of us about all of the do's and don't's of adulthood. The last couple of days of my stay with them were sad and I had a hard time leaving. They were sad too and didn't want me to leave. But, although I was scared, going out on my own sounded so cool.

That night I really didn't know where to sleep, so I slept in the meadow where Carlos and I used to play. I didn't really know what to do at first, since I felt as if I had all the time in the world to do things. So I slacked off and mellowed out for the whole day. Soon the green leaves of summer turned to bright yellow, orange and brown. Then the wind started blowing and the warm air turned crisp and cold. My mom had told me it was about this time of year when humans killed moose for their families to eat. So I was scared and paid more attention to where I was going, and I listened carefully for the sneaky humans. But there was really nowhere to hide and whenever I heard a bird fly from a tree I twitched. I finally got used to it, and I even thought that maybe I'd never see a human being at all. Then I started to get braver and go wherever I wanted to whenever I wanted. Many of the other moose warned me about how sneaky humans were, but I told them that they wouldn't be able to sneak up on me. Then, after thinking about what I said, I started to feel bad and walked off.

That night I barely got any sleep and flinched with every crack in the trees. Finally I fell asleep, but I woke up frightened in the early morning. There was a mist in the air and I couldn't see very far, so I walked to the meadow and munched on some grass and willows. Suddenly behind me I heard a whisper, but I didn't look around. I only listened carefully and waited for another sound. Nothing. The air was too silent and I began to walk out of the meadow. Right before I got into the trees I heard a loud ear-piecing noise and felt a sharp pain on my rump. Then I was down on the ground bleeding and aching terribly. I tried to stand up but a human came over and shot me through my heart. My body began growing cold and my spirit started leaving. I saw my meat being cut up into carryable pieces which the humans took down to their boat. They ate my kidneys and my liver that same night, and before I knew it the rest of me was in the freezer being stored. Then whenever people were hungry, they cooked my meat and ate me. Just as long as they always took care of my meat the right way, I was happy.