An unloyal companion

   It was widely known throughout the forest that as a fawn you are expressly forbidden to leave the mountainside. The farthest you could travel was to the brook that ran across the ravine that separated the dense, wooded forest from the meadows beyond. As a young fawn just beginning to walk, I remember y parents telling me about the predators outside the safety of the village, especially the humans. They never told me exactly what was beyond the meadows, only that once you leave, you never return.

   It was spring of the second year from which I had been born. As the flowers began to bloom and saplings once knee-height started growing into thick-trunked trees, I could feel myself growing stronger with every passing day. What were once two small pedicles protruding between my ears had now become large magnificent brown antlers. With the antlers came a new sense of purpose: to attract a doe. With mating season approaching, the forest was filled with young males sparring to jockey for position to secure a mate.

   There was only one doe that caught my eye. Her name was Zoe. She was energetic but down-to-earth. She had a slender body, a lush reddish-brown coat and snow white ears. I remembered when she was half his size, still being cared for by her mother. He alone saw her grow from a newborn fawn barely able to stand to a rambunctious lass who had a passion for life that was infectious.

   One day in late spring, as the sun was beginning to descend below the horizon and darkness was setting, I was admiring her beauty as she drank from the brook at the edge of the forest so much that I feigned to notice the mountain lion approaching Zoe and the other two does nearby.

   Before I could make a sound, the white mountain lion leaped from a nearby ledge onto the smaller doe to the right of Zoe, instantly bringing the deer down. I bleated from behind a massive elm tree as I saw the doe flailing wildly as it tried in vain to dislodge the big cat’s mouth from its tender neck. The other two does had immediately darted off, leaving the smaller doe defenseless as the large mountain lion began stripping away the flesh from the bone as the deer lay on the ground with its life escaping it.

   I went around the dense foliage along the creek, careful to make no noise so as not to attract attention until I found Zoe looking worried with her head up and eyes alert. She was in the middle of a cluster of saplings that covered her well.

   I came up the rise to where she was standing. I could smell the fear being emitted from her body as she looked at me, then immediately darted her head toward a bird flying into the trunk of the biggest sapling to feed its young in the nest.

   “Gordon” she said to me, gasping for air.

   I looked at her intensely. I needed to get her out of harm’s way but I was mesmerized by her beauty. She represented everything I wanted out of life, and I couldn’t lose her.

   “Come on, we need to get out of here before its too late.” I pressed on, walking around the cluster until I reached a path. I could hear her timid footsteps behind me. I pushed aside a wilted dead branch with brown leaves to the right of me to reveal a shortcut through the thickets, a narrow beaten path that met the main path we had been trampling over for some time. Far away, the path would lead to a group of boulders that, once cleared, would reveal a spaceious open space with one large magnolia tree that served as a meeting place for their species. The two bolted down the worn path underneath the overgrown vegetation like their life depended on it, fleeing an unseen assailant unbeknownst to them.

   After a few minutes they slowed down to a trot. “Gordon, do you think that mountain lion is following us?”

   I turned to look at her weary face. “I don’t think so.”

   “I just can’t believe what happened. That has never happened at the creek before.” She hasn’t lived long enough to realize that predators always come to a water source for food, I thought to myself.

   We had made our way to the boulders, when a coyote came into the clearing. She backed up and I lowered my antlers. The coyote leaped and I grabbed the animal with my rack and threw it aside. I quickly turned to her. “You have to get out of hear!” I yelled.

   He instantly scaled the largely boulders, vanishing from sight. By now, the coyote had regained composure and was getting up, but I was already moving toward the first boulder, keeping an eye on it, when another coyote came down from a tree branch, landing only feet away.

   The coyote snarled at me, displaying a row of sharp teeth that could cut through metal. I turned around to find the other coyote lunging at my calf, making impact with the lower half. I shrieked as the pain shot up my leg.

   I had to get out of there. I dragged myself to a thicket filled with sharp thorns. The coyote yelped, releasing its grip, and I ran for it through the path from which I came, while the two coyotes followed closely behind. The thorns slowed them down, and I thought I could hear them howling from pain behind me.

   I finally found myself near the brook. I turned around. My pursuers were no where in sight. My throat was parched. I ambled over to the creek, bent over and drank the cool water. I heard the panting of a dog, and turned to see a german shephard next to me. 

I froze, not sure what my next move was. The dog looked perturbed. I walked slowly away from the water's edge and saw why.

There were two coyotes within ten feet of me. The german shepherd snarled, showing its teeth. It was now dark out, and all you could see was its red eyes shining as it glared at the coyotes. They both approached, and the dog lunged at them. One of the coyotes went at the dog's neck, but I stepped in and thrust the coyotes five feet in the air to land on its back, while the dog vicious bit down on the other's throat, immobilizing it while it gasped for air.

With both coyotes down, the dog turned to me. "Come with me, I know a place that is safe." You should never trust strangers, even if they save you, but what choice did I have. The dog ran full speed alongside the brook until it got to a bridge that crossed the creek. I had never known that there was a way across before.

I could hear howling behind me, and knew that I couldn't turn back now. I followed the dog for another hour until we reached a clearing where a large building with a gambrel roof and only one large wood panel door left slightly ajar. The initial throbbing pain in my leg became a dull ache that made me lightheaded. We went into the building and collapsed onto a pile of comfortable hay. "We can rest here for now, we are safe here." said the german shephard. I rested.

When I awoke it was still dark out. There was no blood on my leg anymore, just a scab. My leg still felt weak, so I took it easy, walking slowly outside.

It was a farm with the most delectable vegetable. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. I started eating the cabbages when I heard the dog approaching. It barked at me and asked me if I felt ok. I replied that I still needed some rest, but was definitely recovering.

That day, I stayed just outside the farm beyond the fence and behind the sagebrush. I had fetched carrots, lettuce and sprouts, and was snacking all day as I recovered. As night came, I quickly moved back to the barn, while the dog kept watch to make sure no one was coming.

The following day, my calf had completely improved, and I was able to go home. I couldn't stay in hiding here.

At daybreak, the dog led me out of the farm. It was quiet on the farm. No one was outside tending to the crops.

After leaving the farm, I swore to myself that I must come back here. The food was not like anything I had ever eaten before, and must be shared. Me and the black canine reached the cobblestone bridge, when I saw a doe not more that 100 feet away on the other side of the brook. I walked over the bridge and headed toward the deer. As I walked along the bend in the creek I saw that it was Zoe. She started rushing over to see me, but it was too late. A shotgun rang off in the woods, and the doe fell, leaving me alone in the woods. I fell to the ground, as if the bullet hit me, watching the hunter walk over to the fallen deer, then got up on my hind legs and slowly walked back to the bridge.