My cousin and I were sitting on the wall that ran atop the dam that formed a man-made lake in the crevices of the hills. This was the beautiful backyard to the home she and her family got to live in because of her dad’s job.

We had straddled the wall, facing each other, and were chatting like we always did. We heard a loud “THWAACKK” above our heads that made us flinch. As we looked at each other in confusion, a duck dropped out of the sky and landed about 6 feet from us. We stared at the duck as it tried to gain its footing. As we began to wonder what might be wrong or how we could help, a hawk dove from the sky and snatched the duck and flew across the lake as we stared with our mouths agape.

We watched as the hunter and it’s prey, still struggling, grew smaller and smaller against the bright blue sky.

I looked at my cousin, horrified. She roared with laughter and I couldn’t help but join her.

While we may have been unwilling witnesses to the circle of life, it was one hell of a thing to see up close and personal.