Things that go 'bang' in the night

Sounds of gunshots from the west. Never heard that here before. Two in quick succession: they sounded quite close -- the echo followed on almost immediately. Then a pause of about thirty seconds. Then another (single) shot...the same sort of distance. Now I'm listening intently, and feverish stories are assembling themselves in my head...murder (no screaming yet, though, after the stunning shock of the violence), hunting (lampers out after deer, rabbits, Oxonian big cats). Another long pause, then two more. And again...getting further away now.

Funny how that kind of sudden, unusual noise can set you tingling, and switch on all your senses, and let all your fears about death step a bit closer to you. They nudge you, don't they?