First!!!Vulture culture is a term used to describe acommunity of people who are interested incollecting, preserving, and studying animalremains, particularly bones, skulls, and othernatural artifacts. This subculture is oftenassociated with a deep appreciation for the naturalworld and a fascination with the life cycles of livingorganisms. Chapter 1: Our beginningThe sun hovered low in the sky, casting a goldenglow over the sprawling landscape. Around him,the world seemed to breathe in a rhythm all itsown, a gentle hum of life that only he seemed tonotice. It was a world of endless possibilities—aworld Milo desperately wanted to understand.At fifteen, Milo was caught in the in-between, nolonger a child yet not quite an adult. The smalltown he lived in felt both too big and too small, aparadox he couldn't quite unravel. The peoplearound him bustled about their daily lives,seemingly content in their predictable routines, butMilo craved something more. Something beyondthe confines of hisMilo had always been drawn to the unseen, theforgotten, and the discarded. It was thisfascination that led him to the peculiar subcultureknown as "vulture culture." To outsiders, it mightseem odd—an interest in collecting bones,feathers, and other remnants of the natural world—but to Milo, it was a way of connecting withsomething timeless and profound.His room was a testament to his passion. Shelves lined with skulls of small animals, each onecarefully cleaned and polished, nestled beside jars
filled with delicate feathers and stones. Thesetreasures, as he called them, were not justobjects; they were stories waiting to be told, andMilo had taken it upon himself to be their author.Yet, beneath his fascination lay a deeper quest—asearch for identity. Milo often wondered where he
fit in a world that seemed so neatly categorized.Was he the artist, the observer, or something elseentirely? The answers eluded him, dancing just outof reach like shadows in the twilight.School was a place of contradictions for Milo. Hewas both a part of it and apart from it. Hisclassmates didn't quite understand his interests,and while they were not unkind, their puzzledglances reminded him of the chasm between hisworld and theirs. He longed for someone who sawthe world as he did, someone who wouldunderstand the beauty in the things othersoverlooked.On this particular evening, Milo ventured to theedge of town, where the fields stretched wide anduninterrupted. It was here, among the whispers ofthe wind and the rustle of the grass, that he feltmost at home. The familiar call of a red-tailed hawk echoed in the distance, a reminder that thenatural world held secrets he was eager touncover.As he wandered, Milo's mind drifted to the storieshe had read about explorers and adventurers.They, too, had sought something beyond thehorizon, driven by a need to discover what laybeyond the known. Perhaps, in his own way, Milowas an explorer, charting a course through thecomplexities of adolescence and the mysteries oflife.With a deep breath, he raised the camera to hiseye, framing the world in a way that felt uniquelyhis own. The snap of the shutter was a promise—apromise to seek, to question, and to discover whohe was amidst the swirling chaos of the universe.And so, with the setting sun painting the sky inhues of orange and pink, Milo took his first step onthe journey to finding himself, guided by the call ofthe unseen and the whisper of the vulture culturethat had captured his heart.