Family...


This was the hardest thing to leave behind. In life I had just managed to father a fawn before taking ill. My faithful companion Fila had persevered and chose to name him Finata after a close friend. The name I was not so pleased with, but I couldn't have been prouder. I was looking forward to overseeing his upbringing. Of all the things I miss it will be him most of all. I can no longer face my child in fear that he will flee from my very appearance.

I implore the other deer of the forest to adopt him. He is so naive to the ways of the forest and even basic communication is a strange and foreign concept. I cannot express the guilt that I feel when I reflect on this sad happenstance. During the long nights I sometimes pray that I will not wake up in the morning. I spend time with the rest of the youth of the forest and try to teach them what I could not teach my own flesh and blood. I try to teach them compassion and friendship yet I see my own blood rejected by these same fawns and fear for his health. What would be produced from an upbringing of heart break and coldness? I pray the candles I gave him in passing will continue to warm his heart in ways that I no longer can.
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Another Latin title. Today’s means “a son is part of the father”.