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Today had been a rough day. You finally come home, doing your daily routines and finally slinking into your favorite chair, kicking off your shoes and socks and relaxing. You usually reach for the remote to the television, but instead, you close your eyes and rest.

Opening them, you sit up and notice you're not in your room anymore. This seems familiar, you realized that you have returned to the dream world you had been to before, but it was much different than the first time.

You are on a beach, and you notice your chair had come with you as you were sitting on it. Standing, you feel your feet sink into the sand. It feels nice to you, feeling the individual grains fill the spaces between your toes. You try to walk, and find it a little difficult. The sand is soft and white, almost blinding you as you look down on it.

Looking off in the distance, you survey the surroundings. The beach seems to stretch for miles - to your left, the beach climbs up a rock wall, and you notice strange etchings in the rock; to your left, the ocean laps constantly, making lovely sounds with each wave that hits the beach. You look to the horizon - it flattens and you cannot see any other islands other than a few close ones near the shore.

You decide to look at the etchings on the rock wall. There are strange symbols that seem very familiar to you. In fact, you begin to recognize them - they are the pictograms of deer you know, your friends' deer. One by one, you start to say the names, and it seems so strange that they are carved here. What were they doing here? You look for your own deer's pictogram, but you don't seem to spot it.

You follow the beach then, taking slow strides as you enjoy the sand and sun. You notice something in the sand - a few hoofprints seem to point to one of the close small islands close to the shore. There must be something out there, so you decide to swim to it. It doesn't take long, and you actually enjoy the swim. The water is a clear blue, so you can see the bottom of the beach floor. Strangely, you notice the pictograms continue to appear under the water.

You easily climb upon the little island. Stepping onto the ledges on it, you find one more pictogram there - your deer's pictogram. It is etched into the rock on the island, and placing a hand on it, you notice it begins to glow.

You see it shoot a small beam of light toward the beach, and then the glow fades. "That was odd", you think. Slowly you climb off of the little island and swim back to the beach. Your clothes seem to dry very quickly, so you are never uncomfortable once you were back on the sand.

Walking, you notice more hoofprints leading you toward the direction where the pictogram signaled. You look up and notice a silhouette on the shore, sitting, enjoying the place. Your deer is there, and they already know you are coming.

You slow your pace, remembering last time that your deer ran from you when you approached. Before you do this time, you say to them, "I won't hurt you." They look to you, a soft smile on their face. You think they understand.

Slowly you approach, watching them carefully. They could get up and run at any moment if they wanted to.

...But they don't, they just watch you as you come closer. You soon are close enough to them where you can actually touch them. "Please don't be afraid.", you say.

The deer gives you a little nod. They understand, they do want to get to know you, and this is the first step. You outstretch your hand and finally get to touch their fur. Your deer is very soft, and they even give your hand a little nuzzle as you pet them.

You and your deer savor the moment. Both of you have the same reaction, the same connection of human and deer that rarely either experience. The sounds of the beach around you seem to disappear as you pet your deer.

The deer gives you a slight snort, looking off to the beach. There you see that they are looking at something.

A chair, but not just any chair, your chair. How did it get all the way here? Your deer looks back to you, giving you a slight nod as if they are saying, "Go on, go sit."

You do so, sitting back into the chair, leaning back as you watch your deer smile at you. Then without warning you fall asleep.

Opening your eyes, you are back in your room. You notice that your clothes smell faintly of saltwater, and you notice a few grains of sand on your toes.

...Was it real? Was your deer real?