March 17, 2009
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Chenaniah awoke slowly.

Rain was falling heavily from the sky, and the large stag was soaked to the bone, laying in the muddied soil. It took a while for him to register where he was.

Chenan hadn’t been in the forest for a while. A long while. He had retreated deep into the land of dreams, attempting to regress back to his years as a happy, naïve fawn. It had been hard, for the dreams had all been fuzzy and chaotic. Months ago he had been given clear, realistic dreams. Dreams supposedly from the gods. He believed they had been leading up to a particular memory, but as of yet, the gods had not concluded his dream chronicle.

But he knew it would come. It would come.

As for now, the stag had to return to reality. He had to figure out the forest once again.

Chenaniah stood, wobbling, on his legs. He was soaked. He was miserable. It hadn’t poured this hard in a long time. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much shelter in the Birch Forest. There was the playground, but it was common ground for other deer. And Chenan just couldn’t deal with seeing deer today.



So what was there to do? The birds had all taken shelter in the trees, so there weren’t any to hop about by his hooves. They were up there, happily warbling the same old song. He glanced up, and was met by a raindrop in the eye. He jerked and squinted, then shook off all the water gathering in his fur.

Ugh. Nothing was worse than the smell of wet deer.

He ran for a while, as if he could outrun the rain. But it fell all the harder and soon Chenan realized he had to find shelter, no matter what the cost. And that meant going to the playground.

And who knows? Maybe the deer were taking shelter in the Old Oak?



Chenaniah's heart sank when he saw the deer running around on the slippery stone. He ran back into the woods. But he wasn't going to give up his shelter just yet.

He ran around the playground, fading in and out of the trees, hoping he wouldn't be seen. They were still there. But he'd wait them out. He could wait.

The rain fell harder. Torrents of water seeped through his fur, seeming to soak to the very bone. Oh come ON.



Finally the last deer, a big red one and a little fawn, lay upon the rock.

Chenaniah tiptoed past, taking shelter behind the smaller rocks.

Finally, he had secured for himself a spot beneath the rock that always leaned on the other.



Chenan sighed. What a day to return to the forest.

He shook the water from his fur. Wow! He laughed to himself. Had he really collected that much?

He stretched his legs, one at a time. With one last shake of the head (to dislodge some unwanted water from his ears) he lay down on the ground. It was damp, but at least it wasn't a puddle of watery mud.



A few birds hopped around under the rock. They twittered and flapped their wings, their feathers all fluffed up against the cold. Chenan smiled slightly. What he wouldn't give for a warm covering of feathers right now.

He stirred as the sound of hooves scuffing the ground grew closer. Nervously, he craned his neck to peek around the rock.

A fawn came trotting happily up to his shelter. She cocked her head and bowed.



Oh no, fawn... don't make me get up now. I can't play today.

Odd, Chenaniah had never had an aversion to fawns. What was happening to him? Had his absence affected him this much? Or was it just the weather? Had to be...

Suddenly, the fawn bowed her head and lights shone around them.



Chenan stiffened. He used to love spells. But recently he had felt uneasy whenever one was cast. Another odd change...

After the affects of the spell began to wear down, Chenaniah realized how different he felt.

He... he had no mask! Chenan's eyes widened. His heart began to beat wildly. How long had it been since he hadn't had a covering over his face? Oh... oh no...

The fawn backed up, waiting for the stag's reaction. Chenaniah just sat there, stunned.

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with his face... in fact, Chenaniah hadn't looked at his face in a long time. It was just that suddenly he felt... exposed. Like the whole forest was looking at him.

The fawn waited, and then shrugged off the stag's seeming apathy. She bowed, and then trotted off.

Chenaniah stumbled to his feet. He bowed... but the fawn was, of course, long gone. Eventually, he had the sense enough to sneeze off the spell, and his mask was secured back on his face.

He sat back down, slumped against the rock.

Gods, what has happened to me?



Chenan lay by the rock for a long time, thinking. Sometimes daydreaming, sometimes perhaps drifting off into real dreams. The rhythmic beat of the rain on the ground and rocks was a comforting lullaby. As long as it wasn't drenching him.

Eventually, the stag began to hum to himself, then to sing. The rain drowned out his voice, so he knew other deer wouldn't hear it. At least, he hoped other deer wouldn't hear it.

His song developed into a poetic rhapsody. About the rain and the dirt and the washing away of old leaves so that the flowers could grow. Or maybe it was about birds... or the gods. He was never sure where these songs came from, and very rarely could he repeat, if not remember, what he had sung. They were moments shared by only him and the forest. Only the trees and the birds heard them, for they were reserved only for their ears.



Off in the distance, the little fawn danced with two nameless deer.

Hm. How long had it been since he had danced in the rain?

...how long had it been since he had danced?



Eventually, his solitude was interrupted and he was compelled to run.

He no longer scolded himself for running from other deer. It had become routine. True, he was still disappointed with himself... but he just didn't try to change anymore.

Had he given up?



Chenaniah circled the Birch Forest, looking for some other sort of shelter. He knew it was a fruitless attempt, but he ran anyway.

After many sprints from tree to tree, he finally stopped. He stood, out in the middle of an open field. The rain poured down... and he let it. What was the use? He was going to get wet anyway.



But... no. He needed to walk. He needed to have somewhere to go.

See, deer are very diverse. Some stand in the rain and let it fall. They tolerate it, but they're miserable. Some deer hide from the rain. Some deer try to fight the rain, knowing deep down they won't succeed. Some deer walk, because they know where they need to go... and a little bit of rain isn't going to stop them. After all, the rainfall will eventually subside and the sun will rise again.




And, of course, when the rain comes...

...some deer dance.

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After a semi-long absence, I'm bringing Chenaniah back to the forest. I have been in the forest over the past... month. I've just been using House and some of my mystery deer. :]

Oh BTW, House is all grow'd up now. I'm not sure yet, but I think I want her to have the starling pelt, pronghorn antlers, and no mask. Or the long mask lol I'm not sure. D8 So if anyone sees her around, please help her get un-naked at least. C:

UM. ALSO. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, I really do LOVE the rain. Chenaniah seems to dislike it a bit, but I usually can't wait for a big thunderstorm. lD I love running around in it and getting my clothes and hair all soaked n' such. :3 BUT SINCE I'M BEING ALL METAPHORICAL TODAY I decided not to add any a' that.

House likes the rain, though. :]

LAWL THE RAIN IS NUMMY. *puddlesplash*