[Edited 4/22 - ignore please; I had to fix a big mistake at the beginning]
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Jan. 19, 2009
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Before his eyes even opened, a flood of memories and emotions drowned Chenaniah’s brain. How many days had it been since he danced at the playground and ran through the forest with that mini-doe? He had really let her get that close…

And then… embarrassment. Had he really been so forward? Had he really nuzzled a complete stranger? And then… oh AND THEN. Had he really leaped and laughed through the playground while so many deer were watching? What had gotten into him? All those deer... those... deer. All around him.

Drowning him...



His eyes still hadn’t opened. He was slowly rising up from the pit of unconsciousness. The blue bowl. One of the best places in the Birch Forest. Birds loved it here. The warm colors danced. The sweet smell of…

Wait.

A different smell. Another deer had been her. Several deer in fact… but one had stayed longer than the rest. No… no it wasn’t the mini doe. It was… it was…


Bah. He couldn’t tell. All he knew was someone had lay in the bushes beside him. Watching him. Waiting for him to wake. He shuddered.

Maybe it was time he should get up. But to where? In a forest populated by deer, it was hard to avoid them. As of yet, the Birch Forest had been the best place for lonely contemplation. So why leave? Why not lay in these bushes his whole life and die never having known…

…



Chenaniah stood to his feet and looked around. Good. No one in sight. But he could hear many voices coming from the pond. A few from the ruins. The darker, cooler parts of the forest. The other deer liked it there.

He decided to trot off toward the playground.



Thankfully, no one was there but a sleeping fawn. And he had never minded fawns. He climbed to the top of a rock and slowly walked across it, head angled upwards towards the flitting birds. Robins, sparrows, doves, and the occasional caeruleus. Always the same…

Was he really getting bored of birds? No, never. Birds were playful and cheery. Sometimes feisty and rambunctious. Curious. Birds could fly and sing.

But a bird could not really play with a deer.

Today… today Chenaniah needed deer.

“No.” He shook his head, “No… I can’t. I can’t be with other deer. Not after… not after what they… did…”

His legs were moving. Subconsciously moving. Then he began to run.

As he crossed the border of the Birch Forest his heart began to pick up speed. He was leaving the warm, happy birds for the cold ground of the rest of the forest. For other deer.



Chenaniah slowed to a stop when he saw another stag in the distance. He looked almost exactly like Chenan… aside from the mask. But when the stag began to turn… Chenan bolted.



Then he came across a few more deer. Awfully close, they were…. One dressed like a peacock and another like a butterfly. The peacock seemed afraid of a stump. Chenaniah would’ve laughed at the situation. He would’ve been by that deer’s side and laughed and then jumped up on the stump and then ran and laughed through the forest with the other deer by his side, laughing… laughing…

He turned and continued running.

Imagine it. A full grown stag. With huge, intimidating antlers. With sharp hooves and strong legs. And he was running. Running like a cowardly fawn.

A cowardly fawn…

He shouldn’t be that flighty. Really… he was a generally happy deer. He was so enthusiastic when he played with the birds. He would jump and laugh. He played with fawns whenever he had the chance. And fawns would grow up to be deer, right? He played with Ialu, who was an adult… but he had known his little brother since Ialu was a fawn. So why… why did strangers scare him so much? It must be the memories… of the incident…

But that was so long ago…



A small herd of deer went trotting by as he ran. He began to veer away when…

That smell… where had he smelled it before?

A doe broke away from the herd and began making her way toward him.

It was a fairly recent smell… it wasn’t scary. Smelled like…

She was getting closer.

The Birch Forest! She had been the deer who had lay beside him while he slept! Waiting for him to wake…

She began to slow, afraid of scaring him. How did she know?

Before Chenaniah could control himself, he fled towards the ruins. The closest place for him to hide.




He began to frantically search over the tumbled walls and pillars. She would be here soon. He crawled into a deep pit and waited. And then his thoughts began to catch up with him.

He had run. He had hid. From a doe. A DOE! He really was a scared little fawn inside…



Dainty hooves clicked across the stone. She sighed. She knew he was here. Of course she knew… it was pretty dumb hiding place. Obvious. The doe would probably be offended...

Then her head peaked between two pillars. She could see him. Or could she? She didn’t seem to be looking… but she was listening… and smelling… and…

She was off! Her hooves scuffed the ground as she faded away. And then he was alone. Alone at last.

Was he happy about that? No…



Chenaniah waited there for a few minutes. The deer that had looked like him came through the ruins, sniffing around and kicking stones. A fawn came by and asked to play. No, little fawn, not this time.

And again he ran.



Past the deer and the stump. Past the fawn. Away from the sweet-smelling doe…

Chenan returned to the safety of the Birch Forest. Safety. Solitude…



What an idiot. Dumb deer. Stupid stag. Coward. He wasn’t really afraid of them, was he? They had never done anything to him. Not these deer anyway… strangers had done it… so many deer…

And hiding amongst the tall grass, Chenaniah slept. Someday… someday…

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lolwhut? Sweet-smelling doe? 0_o Lemon, you smell niiiicce. XD

Umumum. I think I know where I'm going with this now. And I'm still not sure if it's a story or a journal. A mix of both, I guess. :/

OHEMGEE AN INCIDENT WHAT IS THIS MADNESSSSSSS


Also, can someone please... tell me... how to... changethecolorofmywords? :C *noob'd*


Oh... AND... ALSO. When Chen is listing the birds in the forest he calls one a "caeruleus." Caeruleus is the species name for the Blue Tit, a bird that you can see in the Endless Forest but... I didn't... want to... write it in a... story that's supposed to be kinda' poetic. :[ "Blue Tit" just does become the bird well.

EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE AND BLAME THE DUMB SCIENTISTS WHO NAMED THE DUMB BIRDFFFKDSKFWIENF.