He stands tall upon a hill, admiring small fawns play. He stares past them to see their families happily doing the same. The joy in the forest brought a smile to his face.

As quickly as the smile appeared, it faded. The happiness of the forest seemed to bring back thoughts of his past. Oh, how his past haunted him. No matter how much he tried to forget, the images still rushed back into his brain. Well, what exactly did he see? Let's take a trip down memory lane.

6 years ago, Kai met a beautiful doe. She had a soft, golden pelt and a gentle disposition. She would move gracefully and loved to groom others. Kai grew feelings for this lovely doe and eventually won her heart. What could possibly be so terrible about that? Just wait, we're getting there.

Along the road, Kai and his mate grew closer. Kai's mate eventually got pregnant, which was possibly the happiest day of Kai's life. He told everyone in the forest about his upcoming fawn. His first fawn! How incredible! Kai knew it was an honor to produce a fawn and cherished it. He would protect his mate at all times. He barely slept. He would stay up all night keeping watch. He would also travel further distances to get to the best grazing areas. He took her everywhere.

All of his efforts amounted to success when, early one morning, his mate made a small distress call. She was going into labor and Kai was extremely excited but also kept himself in state of high alarm. Nothing was going to harm his mate or his first fawn and he made sure of it.

He encouraged her with small nudges and licks. He could tell she was in intense pain. She must have been tired, he thought as he saw her head slowly lower. It was taking up all of her strength to give birth. But then he began to notice her become very still. Her breathing was almost unnoticeable and faded as the seconds passed by. Kai began to panic, and released a high pitched honk. She didn't move. He nudged her and blew air at her face. She still did not budge. He lifted her forearm gently and let it fall. The sound off her hoof hitting the ground beneath him was enough to make him realize that his mate was no longer with him. The realization sent him pacing in circles around his mate, in hopes that what ever had happened would fix itself and she would regain consciousness, but this never happened. She remained there, lifeless.

He sunk down beside her, laying his head gently on her belly. He could do nothing more. She was gone. His first and only fawn was taken along with her. What was he to do? He could do nothing. With all of the noise he made for the past 20 minutes around her body, predators were bound to be on their way. The thought made him cringe, but he had to leave and head for safe grounds. He licked her forehead one last time, took a few steps back and bolted. He was afraid to turn around. The sight of his dead mate screamed at him. It screamed, "failure!" He believed that he didn't do enough to keep her healthy. He believed that he did not succeed in properly protecting his mate. He even believed that he was a failure as a stag.

His thoughts roamed wildly as he galloped through the forest. He tripped over a tree trunk, almost falling. Recovering from his stumble, he glanced up to see the largest tree he had ever laid eyes on. He circled it and found that it had a hallow entrance. He took a step inside to find it was completely empty. There were no signs of life. He laid himself down inside. He believed that making the tree his new home was his punishment for losing his family.

He lived in that tree ever since. He can still be found there today. He'll occasionally come out to get a drink from the nearby pond, but mostly stays near the tree. It is rare to see him far from the tree. As of today, he is a calm stag. He is independent and even stronger. He watches the forest even more. Seeing everyone's smiles was the medicine to his pain and overtime, he got over his depression.

So, as he stood at the top of hill, he thought of the terror he faced 6 years ago. He did not get upset, but he did hoof the ground in recognition of his mate's last fight before her life ended. He slowly turned around and headed back for the tree. A strong wind blew at his white-grey pelt as he walked. His large antlers swaying to the rhythm of his hooves. The black and red markings on his back began to fade as he entered the darkness of the tree.