It all happened so fast. I was out hunting in the forest, the winter had left snow all over so just mustering through that was difficult as it was. The caress of coldness on my nose and cheeks made me stop for a moment, I buried my face in my gloves to keep warm. I continued on, looking for all the signs of deer here. They were all present, too – fresh hoofprints in the snow, gnawed bark off of the trees, and so on. The deer was close. I knew it was close.

It all happened so fast that I had little chance to even react. I crept past the trees, thinking I would see my trophy buck. But I heard something close by, and before I realized it, there was a grizzly bear so close to me that I could smell the fresh salmon in her breath when she roared. The cubs were so close, I didn’t see them until it was too late. Before I could point my rifle at her, she had already struck me.

It all happened so fast that I thought I was dead, one bear paw into my side knocked the wind out of me, throwing me to the ground. I was lucky the snow was there to take some of the impact. But the mother bear was slowly approaching, ready to tear my face off. I braced myself, and at that moment my rifle fired on accident. It wasn’t pointed at her. It wasn’t pointed at anything. But the sharp discharge was enough to start an avalanche.

It all happened so fast that I was ready to give in. The snow caught me, I was at Mother Nature’s mercy. I saw the bear and her cubs escape. They were quicker to react than I was. I tumbled down the side of the mountain, until I hit softer snow and was almost buried alive. But I could not move, I was in too much pain. I…I began to see my life flash before my eyes…

It all happened so fast. It was the first glimmer of luck I had this night. The stag had pulled me out of the snow, he sat by me to warm my nearly frozen body. I got a very good look at him as his warm breath soothed my face. He was a blackbuck antelope, quite odd to find here in elk wilderness. But it didn’t matter what he was. He had saved me.

It all happened so fast that I thought I was hallucinating. He comforted me, he let me rest my head on his chest. And here I thought I heard him speak to me. ”Our world is a dangerous place, there are challenges far too often. But it is when we are given another chance after nearly losing it all that we truly see what our lives are worth.”, the blackbuck said. His words were soothing, his voice was angelic. I could not even describe this miracle.

It all happened so fast that I was astounded when I realized I was in the hospital. The nurse said I was brought in through a helicopter. She said I was alone when they found me, and that it was my cell phone that had somehow sent out a call for help. I told her what had happened, but she didn’t believe me. As she walked out, the TV was playing the news, and I saw that it was Christmas Eve. But something else caught my eye.

It all happened so fast that I realized how much I took for granted. As I watched the news, I listened to each story, and took in the pain and suffering of each person. The hungry, the sick, the poor, the dying…I started to wonder what I could do for them. And then I remembered what the antelope told me. My life was worth something. I could make a difference.

It all happened so fast. When I was had recovered, I did everything I could to help those who I saw on the news. I volunteered, I donated, I went out of my way. I was given a second chance at life, and now I finally saw that I mattered, I really could make a difference.

It all happened so fast that I never got a chance to thank the blackbuck who saved my life…