The Fawn
It was a cold winter morning, as I walked slowly to my deer stand. I tried not to startle any animal's when i moved my gun behind my shoulder. Only to make it easier to climb when I got to the stand. I moved swiftly to the faded camoflaudge boat seat, once at the top I layed my gun accross the front bar of my stand. I strugled with the pine tree growning anoyingly close to the the tree I was in. I reached out to break off the limb, when I lost my balance! I clawed desperatly trying to steady myself, finally i regained my balance thanks to an old dry rotted safety harness that had been abandoned above my stand a few years before. After nearly plummeting to the earth, I gave up on the limb and sat back down in my seat. still black outside i squinted to see any movement that may have been in the undergrowth beneath me. nothing, nothing moved at all, nowhere. The early bird started a few minuts later on its morning song, beautiful. I thought to myself, pondering on anything and everything that ran accross my mind.
I leaned my head back and drifted off into an unconsious sleep. Suddenly I was in a strange place. a place of solice dead dreamylike darkness.. when a trophy ten point moved vastly over the dark medow toward wich i was standing. with nothing but my gun and a single bullet I looked around. there sat the morning bird singing beautifuly... although I couldnt hear it. i only seen the movement of the birds neck. i turned to put my only bullet into the chamber of my gun silently lifted the action to a close, flipped off the safety and lifted it from the ground. I carefully aimed at the deer, and squeezed the trigger. i felt the recoil jolt through me, startling me from my deer stand slumber,
I drew in a ice cold breath of the morning air sending shivers down into my stomache. I froze, realizing it was all a dream, and I was twenty feet in a tree, quickly I searched the ground for any movement after realizing I fell asleep. still nothing, when out of no where i saw it, A single flicker of white. I strained my eyes to find it, it was a small doe, and a larger doe; they grazed along the medow. I wached despratly hoping that they werent alone. when suddenly i heard him, everything froze, even the morning red birds had silenced, a covey of quail ran from the woods towards me. There it was again, a deep chest ratling buck grunt, and it was getting closer. I new where he was coming from. In the woodline about seventy yards from me I seen a massive set of antlers. He strutted out accross the medow over to the larger doe who he seemed to draw intrest in. my heart was racing, this was all happening so fast. Slowly but quietly I picked my gun up, closed the bullet in the chamber and put the gun on fire. I looked through my scope searching for the ten point, my breathing was ragged, my body was trembling. The scope fogged with my nervous breath. The sun spilled light into the medow spreading colors as far as I could see. I took a deep breath, and put my finger on the triger when I was sure I would shoot to kill. I heard something, very faint, but i heard it. then out from underneath the largest doe stumbled a tiny fawn. I could tell it had just been born when it triped over its own lanky legs. He clumsily gained speed when it caught the eye of the buck, the buck ran over to the fawn deffensivly at first, and then playfully he nudged the young deer with his nose. The fawn licked the masive buck. meanwhile my heart faught my prides selfish desire to see the ten point hanging over a fireplace somewhere. I knew I couldn't kill the deer, not now. As bad as hated to, I put my gun back on safety and quietly sank back into my stand. I wached for a few hours untill the small heard of deer layed dowand, and fell asleep in the warm grass of the medow. I softly crept out of the stand, and started back toward the house, but i stopped. I turned around and looked at the deer one last time. He picked his head up and looked at me, making eye contact with the beautiful animal, he lowered his head and snuggled the tiny spotted fawn. I smiled as I turned back down the pathway and wispered "maybe next year".
