[GK]Moby Dick - chapter two

Dawn broke, and with it came the first light, gradually filling the sky.

The night was brief, lingering in a murky shade. The clouds had gathered, now a dirty and menacing mass with sporadic lightning swimming through them. To any keen nose that could catch the metallic scent of ozone, an approaching storm had announced itself.

At first, the wind only rustled the leaves. The branches then began to tremble perilously, and soon, the entire tree. Yet the man hiding in its limbs refused to come down, for the danger might still be lurking nearby.

Ogata had waited, and until the sun sank below the horizon yesterday, his target had never reappeared. That earlier shot could be fatal, but he doubted.

The train had fled as soon as the commotion had died down, while the wilderness offered no shelter except for a few solitary trees scattered across the plain. Under the cover of darkness, he hauled himself into one. The sparse branches were barely enough to hold him, and a single misstep would send him plummeting to the ground. So he kept his vigil through the night, muscles taut against the groaning wood.

In his growing fatigue, Ogata assessed the vantage point from the tree. With the upcoming daylight, he would need to take action soon.

—or so he thought, before the first thunderclap exploded like a cannon shot.

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