It had only been months since I lost my sister. I was depressed and feeling all alone when I reached out to a friend.

He suggested I get out and go down around the Amulgi, I think I'll pronounce that right,

Okmulgi, maybe that's a river or a swamp. I'm not sure.

And he wanted to scout for hogs.

We planned on going on a hunt soon, so I decided he was right

that it might be good for me.

I took my dog, a cocker spaniel named River, and we headed out.

We'd worked our way down to the famous bass fishing lake through the woods for about a mile

when I got a whiff of something that could have knocked a buzzard off a poop whack.

I love the way you guys right. I can't even describe it. It was just bad. I started looking around for it thinking what I smelled was something dead. I thought coyotes might be a concern, but I had my pump-action

Mossburg loaded with buckshot and slugs, so I wasn't too worried. About that time, River disappeared somewhere and I started seeing water through the trees, so I knew I must be getting close to the lake.

As I got closer to the water and rounded a little thicket, I immediately saw something standing to the left of me.

I knew this is what I must have been smelling.

Admittedly, I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't see every minor detail, but I knew what this

thing was.

I noticed his lips for some reason.

He wasn't quite showing his teeth. I noticed his lips for some reason.

He wasn't quite showing his teeth,

but he wasn't not showing them either.

It was more like a relaxing moment,

kind of like after you brush your teeth.

But what surprised me the most was when he saw my shotgun.

...