February 7, 2009
.
.
.
.
.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chenaniah awoke to warm sun and chirping birds. The night was over. The fawn was gone.

He hadn’t remembered falling asleep. And he hadn’t had any dreams this time. Thankfully. He knew the dream that would be coming soon.



The Blue Bowl was a short distance away. There was no fog hovering over it now. Chenaniah breathed in the sweet scent and trotted over the flowers. The cool petals caressed his side. He lay among them and rested, closing his eyes and concentrating only on the beautiful smells and the warm sun and the singing birds.

Days like this were always the best.

After resting in the shelter of the blue flowers for quite some time, Chenaniah felt the urge to wander. He stood to his feet, shook the leaves and debris from his back, and trotted off.

He was in a pretty good mood, but not good enough to go seek out company. He was just content with seeing where his legs would take him.

He ended up at the playground.

There were two deer there. Twins.



Quince and Uno! The twins of dance! He had heard of them back when he was a fawn. The two loved to dance, and often put on small shows for other deer. Wow, ever since he was a fawn he had wanted to…

Chenaniah snapped back to reality. He was a stag now. And things had happened since then.

But still…



He crept behind a small rock, keeping distance between he and the twins. He wasn’t sure if they knew he was there, but they started to dance anyway. Rearing and spinning and often singing with their beautiful whistling voices. He smiled.

Often he would glance over at the two deer sleeping on one of the playground rocks. A stag and a fawn. They were probably asleep. Or they were watching the twins dance. He wasn’t sure.

Eventually, the stag and fawn got up to watch. Chenaniah shifted his hooves nervously, but stayed in place. Running away would have only ruined this beautiful day.



The stag and fawn jumped down from the rock to get closer to the twins. But when they started getting closer to Chenaniah, he backed away and ran around the playground. He climbed up onto a rock and looked around quickly, knowing he’d be able to see everything from up there. As he scanned the horizon, a blue deer with trumpets for antlers caught his attention.



It wasn’t moving, just standing there. For a minute, he was curious, then his attention snapped back to the sound of hooves on rock. The stag and fawn were right in front of him!

He made a frantic spin and slipped off the rock, thudding on the ground.



He scrambled to his feet, and raced off. He wouldn’t have minded the fawn, of course. But the grown stag was too much.



As Chenan ran, his legs began to feel a bit weak. Today was not a day for running. Hadn’t he learned enough from his mistakes during the foggy night?

He stopped.



Amidst the tall grass of the Birch Forest, he stopped. He thought.

I am a grown stag. What happened has happened. I can’t change the past. I can’t run from it either.

I am a deer, Chenaniah.

I need other deer.

There’s no denying it.

There’s no running from it.

So STOP running, you fool. Stop hiding in your little corner. Stop regressing back to those days. It’s over. Get over it.

Chenaniah turned around, head low. Where were the birds? Why weren’t they chirping?

He noticed a deer laying against a large tree. He crept closer and saw that it was a fawn, hugging the tree for comfort. Hiding from the world.



He stopped. He stared. That fawn was him. Hugging the trees. Hiding himself away. Stuck in a constant state of irrational fear.

The perfect picture of his past.

He collapsed against the tree, his whole world in slow motion. He was dizzy. Tears were wetting his cheeks. Why am I like this?

…

Alright, gods.

I’ll change. I can be with deer, you just watch. I’ll show you. I’ll show them all.

He turned from the fawn and galloped back toward the playground. He was going to find that fawn and stag. He would find the twins. He was going to dance with them.

There! On a hill... three deer…





Another deer had joined the stag and fawn. A doe… a…

The doe.

Since then, he had learned her name. And her story. Lemon. She had been a shy little fawn, hiding in the shadows. Running from other deer. Like him. Probably not for the same reasons, but like him all the same.

And there she was, dancing beside that dear little fawn and the scaly stag.

He stood at the bottom of the hill and breathed slowly. They were all dancing and laughing together. They were having fun. Maybe he shouldn’t intrude…



Chenaniah turned and began to walk away. Those deer didn’t need him.

But… he promised the gods.

He turned and looked back. The fawn was making her way down the hillside toward him.



Lemon hurried to the fawn’s side and the stag followed slowly behind.

They approached slowly. He stood, locking his knees, breathing smoothly yet forcefully. He knew Lemon, right? He played with fawns all the time. He didn’t know the green stag that well, but… that was only one extra deer, right?



Yet, as three deer made their way towards him, his heart began to beat faster. His head grew light.

No, Chenaniah. You can do this. Don’t be such a…

Lemon stepped forward and bowed. The fawn and stag followed her example. They began to tiptoe slowly toward him.

For a minute, Chenaniah felt a twang of anger. They were approaching him like an injured bird. He was a deer, for goodness sakes!

Then, the anger turned and hid back in the recesses of his heart. He was a big, morbidly shy stag again. He bowed in return, and strode confidently toward the group. Well, he thought he looked pretty confident at least.



The fawn was the first to approach. She cowered, though, timid of the big deer. The fawn sniffed him, then quickly returned back to Lemon’s side, nuzzling against her soft, gray fur. Chenaniah smiled, almost jealous of the relationship between the two.

He stepped forward, keeping his eye on the green stag. He knew the stag was probably friendly, but he just couldn’t help inching away from his curious gaze. He nuzzled the fawn softly. Odd, her ears never twitched…

Another deer came galloping toward the group.



Immediately, Chenaniah felt fear flare up in his chest, but he did best to stand his ground. Just another well-meaning...

The deer suddenly surged forward at a run. It quickly stopped itself, accidently sliding into Chenaniah’s side. He grunted at the impact.

Suddenly he realized that he was surrounded. Lemon and her fawn at the front, the green stag to his left, and this new deer was circling around behind him. There were deer all over the place.

HOOVES.

SPLASHING.

DANCING.

LAUGHING.

ANGER. ANGER. ANGER. GET OFF HIM!

FEAR. SO MANY DEER. SO MANY HOOVES.

GET OOOFFFFF.



Run.

Run.

Run.



RUN.

RUN.

RUN.



RUN.RUN.RUN.

HIDE. LEAVE THOSE DEER.

NEVER AGAIN.

NEVER AGAIN, LITTLE FAWN.

NEVER AGAIN.

WERE THOSE NOT YOUR WORDS?



Hooves behind him!

Oh gods, they’re following me!



Chenaniah ran through the Birch Forest, weaving his way around trees and leaping over rocks. THEY WERE CHASING HIM.

No.

NO.

THEY’RE MURDERERS.

“Wait!” The deer called out. Chenaniah continued running.

He slid to a stop amidst some tall flowers and glanced around quickly. He curled up in a fetal position, legs tight against his chest, ears flat against his head. Hide. They’ll never find you here. You’ll never have to see deer again.

As his world dimmed, he heard footsteps approaching. A deer sniffed him.

“Are you alright?”

It was an accident. They’re just deer. They were just deer.

No.

They were murderers.

Chenaniah fell asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------

UM. This came a little sooner than I wanted it too. :/ If you didn't understand that bit on the end, just... keep reading my blogs and it'll make sense soon. >.<

To Lemon, Peppa, Seed, and the butterfly-pelted deer whose name I don't know, I apologize on behalf of Chenaniah. He's dumb. T_T