Allow no sleep to your eyes [if you have been ensnared by the words of your mouth], no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler (Proverbs 6:4-5).

The muted browns and grays of the November forest were hushed and still.  The fiery orange vests of Ben and Jake -- invisible to the colorblind eyes of the deer but easily distinguishable by other hunters -- were the only interruptions to the bland, late-autumn landscape.  But the two brothers were not talking.  They were not talking for fear of scaring away the deer, and for fear of scaring away the uneasy peace that rested between them.

Things had been awkward between the two of them ever since Jake had asked Ben if it would be all right for him to ask Tina out on a date and Ben had emphatically denied the request.  Ben and Tina had once been sort of interested in each other -- though the extent of their official relationship was limited to just two or three informal dates.  But that had been over a year ago.  And when Tina started intimating to Jake that she was interested in him -- a feeling which Jake very much reciprocated -- he just didn't know how to approach the subject with his older brother.  So he had just blurted it out directly one evening, as they were riding in the truck together, naively hoping that his honesty and candor would earn him points that would allow his brother to grant him the opportunity to see what he and Tina might be able to make of things.  But Ben was adamant that his brother should do no such thing, never betraying the bond between brothers by going out with an ex-girlfriend.  So Jake had backed off immediately, coalescing to his brother's wishes.

But his feelings for Tina had never gone away.  If anything, they'd only intensified.  Jake-and-Tina seemed to be such a better match than Ben-and-Tina had ever hoped to be.  They just clicked, naturally.  But after Jake had promised his brother that he would not make a move, out of respect for the bond of brotherhood, he found himself twisted up inside from the tension between his word and his will.

Jake was thinking about Tina when Ben nudged him and pointed to a tall, strong buck in a clearing, about 40 meters away.  The brothers were careful not to move too quickly, but they positioned themselves for a better shot.  The deer was still too far away, obscured by too many tree trunks; but it seemed to be moving in the direction of the hunters.  As Ben and Jake watched, two other does wandered into the clearing, close on the heels of the larger male.  And over the next few minutes, they slowly moved closer and closer to the hunters' position, foraging for food in the forest.  But even as they moved, they remained stubbornly concealed by a thick stand of trees -- which allowed no shot on any of the three animals.  So Ben and Jake relaxed, exercising hunters' patience, sitting back for a time and waiting for the deer to come to them.  Jake wasn't really in that big of a hurry to bag a deer.  He didn't really even like deer meat all that much, only coming out because it was the brothers' tradition.  But as he watched the stony resolution on the face of his brother, watching and waiting for the right moment to shoot at that trophy buck, he realized that he was going to have to be persistent and direct if he was going to ever make a dent in Ben's resolve about the Tina situation.  It had been three weeks, and the attraction between Jake and Tina was not just going away.  If anything, it was intensifying.  But Jake knew that to go behind his brother's back would be unforgivable.  So he decided that he was just going to have to bring the subject up again.

"Hey Ben," Jake whispered.  "We've got to talk about Tina again."

"Shh!" hissed Jake.  "They're almost coming into range!"  He held his index finger over his mouth and motioned with the tip of his rifle in the direction of the deer.

"No man, I'm serious," Jake reiterated.  "We've got to talk."  His voice increased in volume and intensity.

"Later, Jake!" said Ben, keeping his eyes locked on the deer instead of looking towards his brother.  "I don't want to talk to you about Tina and your stupid feelings for her.  You said you were going to leave her alone, and I expect you to do that.  Now shut up and get your gun ready for some action."

"C'mon, man," Jake shifted his weight and raised his voice another notch.  "I don't care about the deer.  I've got to talk with you about Tina."  The buck lifted his head and stood stock-still.  He sniffed the air and perked his ears.  Ben didn't say a word but gave his brother a look of angry incrimination while lifting his rifle into position.  It was clear that Ben was planning to ignore the issue until he had his deer.  And so Jake's blood rushed hot through his ears, his temples.  His anger bubbled up like a geyser -- incensed at his older brother, who was intent on denying him the opportunity for happiness.

At that moment a shot rang out.

Ben whirled around, completely taken aback by the sudden discharge from Jake's weapon behind him.  He started stuttering, asking what Jake was doing -- shooting so casually and so suddenly, a look of fear on his face betraying the thought, slowly dawning on him, that Jake might be capable of re-enacting the crime of Cain.  But instead of a look of murderous anger on Jake's face, instead of staring down the barrel of a smoking gun, Ben saw a look of hope on Jake's face.  Ben whirled around again, looking back towards where the deer had been.  And instead of a nice, tidy target or a successful kill, Ben saw three white tails bounding through the woods, now impossibly out of range.