Tale of the Hawk

Hal doesn't live.

Hal's grip on the rock face was sure but a fault four yards back from the edge of the cliff had already formed years before Hal was even conceived. Time placed Hal's wiry hand on that rock at the same moment it was to break free.
The dry air was motionless in the entire land, except around Hal's body as he swung gently like a tiny pendulum in Earth's great clock. Then, time stopped.

With a deep, powerful crack, the fault stabbed through the solid rock forming a giant boulder of frightening kinetic potential. A hawk perched safely on a jutting edge far off to the right of Hal was startled at the reverberating boom and spread out his black wings. It could escape such a fall because the sky is his home. It belongs there. But it is not where Hal belongs. He will be evicted at this same moment he is forced to take flight in it. Hal's last words were,"It's not my time." For a second, there was weightlessness.

The mass of rock plummeted from the high precipice, taking Hal with it. It left his grip as it rolled forward on its axis. The butterflies in Hal's stomach were changed into a panicking man. He threw his left hand up to grab hold of anything that would save him but the boulder was falling faster than him. Seconds of gut-wrenching free fall seemed like minutes. The top of the boulder was in view now as he reached the half-way point of the fall. A blurry patch of greenish-yellow grass, the spot he was standing on just a minute ago rolled into and out of view as the boulder continued to spin below him. The rushing air filled his ears and pushed Hal around to view the sky fleeing away from him. A hawk soared, a boulder crashed and darkness crept in from the edges of his view.

The hawk circled about and caught a view of a truck sitting atop of the cliff. In the hot cabin of the old pickup, Brad lifted his hand to wipe his sweaty brow and a line of blood and jagged skin on the top of his index finger burned as it touched to his head. He started the engine and drove off looking in his rear view mirror. It seemed as if the world was fleeing away from him. A hawk soared, the grass fluttered and darkness crept in from the edges of his soul.

Reviews

[ChrisPwnface]

What if it was a Robin? Hawks are so 2013 man. Swag dope poem my child.

[Cupofwords]

You mean like, "Batman and Robin", Robin? You are quite the Joker. I think there was a Hawk Man in Marvel or DC Comics. But I truly loath those superhero, I am "the One" stories.

[Fellow Desperate Writer]

oh my. was this a tale of murder? ;-) interesting.

[Cupofwords]

This was another "at work" composition. I think I added that last paragraph to make the story something more than "Hal dies."

[Fellow Desperate Writer]

Hah. Well, it definitely changes the perspective of the story, that's for sure!