Running After Antelope

1963

The hunt begins at dawn, my brother pulling me out of bed onto the floor. “C’mon, c’mon.” I’m tying my shoes. And he’s out the door. Outside, the fog is lifting off the grass. I’m looking for my brother. But I can’t even see the car in the driveway. Then he comes running from the backyard. I jump and run and catch up with him across the street in the Manders’ backyard. And he says, “Some animals sleep in the daytime and go out at night to eat. If we hurry, we can catch them before they go back in the ground.”

I believe him. I have no idea how he knows these things, but he does. He goes out and runs through our neighbors’ yards and catches wild animals with his bare hands, mainly lizards, turtles, and snakes. He wraps them in his shirt and brings them back to the cages in our basement so he can study