When I shot the mule deer dead, it fell straight into the snow like it was taking a nap. There was no blood. Something smelled sour. Daddy clapped my back and whistled me a song.

“Dying’s only the beginning for muleys,” he said. “Field dressing’s next. Then cooling. Then supper.”

Oliver Cubillos is a writer and filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. He holds a BFA in Media Arts Production with a minor in literature from Emerson College. His work is published or forthcoming in Heavy Feather Review, BULL Magazine, Free Flash Fiction, and elsewhere.