Congratulations to February 2021 second prize winner, Linda Doyle! Thank you for participating! Your work is valuable!

When greeting, he never overlooks a firm hug, never. I’m folded into a warm, cushy body, encircled by strong arms. There is no six-pack on his medium-frame body, but it is trim. His calves and thighs are thick and muscular like a warrior’s, his skin is bronze. Full and shapely lips part in a friendly smile revealing even, white teeth with a quarter-inch space between the two front ones. This is the only physical part of him I can claim he got from me. Surrounding these full lips is a scraggly black mustache and a chin with a wispy beard.

The almond-shaped, chocolate eyes have it all, though. They reveal every emotion in him. Above these expressive eyes are two half-moon, mildly bushy black brows. They work in tandem with his eyes to reveal his emotions. Above these expressive eyes is a smooth high forehead, followed by short, cropped black hair with a smattering of gray throughout.

White clothing, shoes, and exposed skin, covered with sanding dust and stained with dried paint reveal his occupation, but at home Hawaiian print surf shorts and T-shirt are his comfort attire.

He is one with the mountains. Silent, invisible, camouflaged, blending with the trees, branches, and bushes. Carefully breathing in cool damp air fragranced with eucalyptus, decaying leaves and a hint of ginger. Cautiously exhaling, releasing tension in a dissipating white fog. Stepping as softly as his prey and alert to all sounds around him, he stalks.