November 24, 2010 - 3:59am — Impact
A long time ago a male deer was born in the forest. He was just an ordinary deer, and was out to make as many friends as he could.
Though he had a kind nature, not many other deer liked him. He was large and clumsy and he would often trip over or bump into others. He was not strong, or brave. He didn't have large antlers and wasn't known for any reason other than being annoying.
Because he was so lonely, he became friends with other creatures who were not deer.
A goat -- who lived in the blue bowl.
A snake -- who wove through the tree branches.
And a squid -- who swam in the pond.
These four were great friends, and they would often sit by the pond laughing and joking together. The deer cared about them very much, but he was still sad. The goat, the snake and the squid all had friends of their own from their own species, and the deer didn't.
The goat's friends all said, "Why are you friends with that big, stupid deer? He came to our blue bowl to eat our berries, but he crushed more of them then he ate!"
The goat responded, "But he's nice."
The others told him, "If you will be friends with him, then we will not be friends with you!"
The snake's friends all said, "Why are you friends with that big, stupid deer? He keeps rescuing all the rats we try to prey on!"
The snake responded, "But he's nice."
The others told him, "If you will be friends with him, then we will not be friends with you!"
The squid's friends all said, "Why are you friends with that big, stupid deer? He came to drink from our pond, but he almost bit one of our tentacles off!"
The squid responded, "But he's nice."
The others told him, "If you will be friends with him, then we will not be friends with you!"
The goat, the snake and the squid all got together, and they confronted the deer. "Why are you so big and stupid?! All our friends don't like us hanging with you, so we won't hang with you any more!"
Then the deer was alone again, and even sadder than he was before. That night he prayed to the Gods and he asked them, "Why did you make me like this? Why am I so big and stupid? Why don't I have any friends?"
But he received no answer.
Many days later, the deer was all alone in a dark corner of the forest. He had not seen his old friends since they had confronted him, and nobody came to comfort him.
Then he felt someone behind him, and he turned around to see a great beast standing their, with shrewd eyes and a orange pelt with black stripes.
"Are you here to be friends with me?" The deer asked him.
"No, I am here to eat you," replied the beast.
"Then fine, eat me, I have no reason not to be anyway." Said the deer.
Although what the deer had said had been brave words, the deer did not at all feel that way at all. As the beast approached the deer, slowly opening his maw and snarling, the deer's knees shook and he ran away.
He ran to the pond, hoping to find some deer that might help him, and the beast followed him all the way there. The deer was very large and very slow, and the beast caught him very easily.
"You said you wanted me to eat you, so you cannot change your mind. Even if you could, then I would still eat you anyway."
The other deer all ran away and they watched from a distance, and nobody came to his rescue.
The squid happened to be floating by, when he saw his old friend being attacked. Although he had said he didn't want to be friends with the deer any more, he still missed him and wouldn't want to see him go that way. The squid received a burst of courage from the Gods, and he floated to the top of the water and squirted ink at the beast's face.
But the beast wiped the ink away, and then tore the squid to shreds.
The snake had also been slowly crawling along on his belly, looking for a juicy rat when he saw his old deer friend being attacked. Although he had said he didn't want to be friends with the deer any more, he still missed him and wouldn't want to see him go that way. He had also seen the beast tear his squid friend to shreds. The snake received a burst of courage from the Gods, so he raced through the grass, and with his mouth open wide he bit the beast on the leg.
But the beast just raised his paw, and crushed the snake's skull.
The goat had been trotting along over to the pond for a drink, when he saw his old friend being attacked. Although he had said he didn't want to be friends with the deer any more, he still missed him and wouldn't want to see him go that way. He had also seen the beast tear his squid friend to shreds, and crush his snake friend's skull The goat received a burst of courage from the Gods, and he charged at the beast's behind to try to ram him with his horns.
But the beast had heard the goat coming, so he turned around and snapped his neck as if it were a twig.
The deer was outraged that the beast had killed his friends, even though they weren't his friends any more. They had sacrificed their lives for him, and the beast and torn them to shreds, crushed their skulls and snapped their necks.
"You said you would only eat me!" shouted the deer.
"I never said I would only kill you," the beast growled.
The deer was very angry, and he received a burst of courage from the Gods. The beast saw this and tried to run away, but the deer reared up and his heavy hooves collided with the beast's head, crushing his skull. He reared again, snapping the beast's neck. The beast fell heavily to the ground, and the deer bent down and with his sharp antlers, tore the beast's flesh to shreds, and crimson blood stained the orange pelt.
The deer panted heavily, tears falling from his eyes. All the other deer who had been watching ran over cheering. "The beast is dead, the beast is dead!" they crowded around the deer who had killed him. But the deer was sad, because his friends were dead too.
The crowd began to part, and the deer turned around. The Gods were approaching him, "You have displayed a great bout of bravery, dear friend. We are pleased, that tiger has been terrorising the forest for many weeks. What do you wish to receive in thanks?"
The deer told them, "I would like my friends back."
"Ah, but we unfortunately cannot do that. But we assure you, your friends will be remembered." So the Gods gave the deer the horns (and beard) of the goat, the ink of the squid, and the mouth of the snake in honour of their bravery and friendship. "They will forever live in you," said the Gods.
And the God's then rewarded the deer with the pelt and the stripes of the tiger. "And you will forever be remembered for how you helped this forest."
As all the other deer had watched all this, they realised that how they had treated their fellow deer was wrong, and they made a vow to forever be thankful to him, and forever remember to be nice to all deer, no matter how big and stupid they were.
And then the deer was forever happy, he never forgot his first friends, and he always had a smile on his face.
(This was going to have illustrations, but I'm lazy.)
This is really good. Bit sad,
(No subject)
Lovely story. I really like how you tell it with repeating elements. Very much like a traditional folk tale.
Thank you both!
Impact | Cyclops
omg i love this story
idk what to say of it
it is lovely.
lol i just wanna track this so i can read it when ever
if you dont delete it.
<3<3<3<3<3<3
Of course I won't delete it,
Impact | Cyclops
That's goregeous. It does a
What an amazing story. :'D
I read this a couple of days
Thank you all for your kind
Ryff - I'm not sure myself about the eyes, I think I'll just leave that as a little mystery
Impact | Cyclops