( TOO CHAPTERS IN WUN DAE?!?!?)


Several days passed. More and more deer kept going to the Twin Gods statue to keep the illness away from them. It seemed like the entire forest was afraid of the disease. Siki shrugged it off after a while. He felt just fine.

One day, very early in the morning, Siki decided to take a before-dawn stroll. He was getting close to the pond, when something called to him. He wheeled around to see who it was. A dove with a tiny pictogram landed on a low branch in front of him. Siki's eyes, blurred with age, couldn't quite tell what the pictogram looked like.

"What do you want?" He queried, squinting at the tiny bird.

"That boy of yours... What's his name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I think I know where his mother is."

Siki looked at the dove in dismay. And then retorted, "You can't fool me. You're his mother." The dove gasped silently. "Yes, and it's rather unfortunate that I can't make out your pictogram. I'll have you know, I'm not giving up my son."

The dove looked down. "I thought you wouldn't... Listen, I don't want you to think of me as a horrible deer. I never wanted him to be alone, but I had no choice. You must understand."

"I understand. But what I don't understand is why you were so careless."

The dove sighed again, "I don't know... I was confused and hurt. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Well, you have to live with it now. Sooner or later, you'll want to face him. And when you do, I hope for you sake he'll understand."

Siki walked away from the dove, but stopped and looked over his shoulder, "By the way, his name's Skokey." He walked away, leaving the dove speechless.

***

The next day, Skokey and Siki sat somewhere in the Graveyard. Siki was dreading this day, but he had to talk to his son about what happens after life.

"Why are we here, dad?" Skokey asked, looking around at the old ruins and graves.

"Well.. Today I'm going to talk to you about death." He sighed.

"Death? Oh, dad I don't want to know about that..."

"It's alright, Skokey, it's really not a bad thing."

"Okay... So what is it?"

"Well, when a stag or doe gets very old, the gods decide they've lead their full life. Death is when a deer's spirit is taken from their body and put into the afterlife."

"The afterlife? What's that?"

"It's a place where every spirit goes. A place without pain or suffering. Only peace."

Skokey looked on in amazement. "So.. Afterlife is better than life?"

"Yes. And it lasts much much longer than life. So there's always something to look forward to. And you get to be with everyone you knew in your life, and spend all the time you want with them."

"What causes death?"

Siki sighed, and thought for a moment. "Well, many things. Some are peaceful, some are painful. You could die of old age, which is nice and peaceful. You normally don't feel anything. But you could die of physical ailments, like disease or wounds. Those aren't normally very nice, unless you're asleep. And you don't always have to be old. You could die today, actually."

Skokey seemed a little afraid. "I could die at any time?"

"Skokey, it's nothing to be afraid of. Death is a natural part of life. When something dies, another grows. It's an eternal cycle. And there's the afterlife to look forward to. There's really nothing scary about death at all."

Skokey seemed to calm down. A few moments passed. Without looking up, he asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

Siki looked at the fawn. His ears lowered, "Well... I just wanted you to be prepared. You see, Skokey, I'm not very young. You already know that. My time is probably near. But I don't want my death to hurt you at all." He nuzzled Skokey, "I'll be in a better place soon. And by that time, you'll be able to live on your own. It'll be hard, but that's how life goes. It's natural."

Skokey nuzzled back, "I understand, dad. I won't get down, now that you've told me."

Siki smiled at him, "That's good. And don't just apply it to me, apply it to everyone you meet. And always expect the unexpected."

***

Later that day, they were at the pond taking a drink. Frola and Fraalch, along with their daughter, came up to them.

Fraalch nodded to Siki. "Afternoon, Siki. Hi Skokey."

"Hi Uncle Fraalch!" Skokey shouted. "Who's this with you?"

"This is my mate, Frola."

Skokey giggled, "Auntie Frola!"

Frola chuckled. "Well, Skokey seems to be having a nice day."

Siki shrugged with a smile, "Yeah well, we just had a long chat today. He gets a little hyped up after that."

A little fawn hid behind Frola's legs. Skokey crept up behind her and scared her half to death. He laughed hard when he saw her face.

Siki laughed, "Boy, she's kinda antzy today."

"Oh, she's just shy. You know, she just started to walk a couple days ago. It's probably the first time she's been to the pond." Fraalch nuzzled her to calm her down.

"Have you decided on a name yet?"

Frola shook her head. "We just can't decide. I don't like the names he thinks of and he doesn't like the ones I think of."

Fraalch spoke up, "Maybe you could name her, Siki."

Frola shot him a look and shoved her front knee into his chest. Siki gave a chuckle. Their daughter scuttled back behind her mother's legs and Skokey trotted over to his father.

"Well, I wouldn't want to impose. But if you really want an opinion, I'd say-"

"Raku?" Fraalch smiled warmly at his friend.

"Exactly."

Siki smiled at Fraalch, then at Skokey. "So, how's everyone been feeling?"

Fraalch sighed, "Perfectly fine. Nobody's been feeling at all sick. Hey, I haven't seen you at the statue, are you sure that's wise?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. If I start to feel funny I'll go over there as soon as possible."

Fraalch nodded. Frola looked over at her daughter, "Uhh, we better go. She's looking a little sleepy."

Siki bid them farewell. He looked up at the sky. "We better go too, Skokey.It's getting late."

Skokey nodded and trotted off with his father. They had a nice sleep that night.