Traveling through the forest had slowed to a snail's pace. After an illness survived endurance had suffered a bit. Building up had been a problem since the weather kept blanketing the ground with the white frost. Feeling one's hooves sometimes becomes difficult. Cloven hooves have to learn to dance across crystals rather than stomp. It meant slower progress. What else is an ancient deer to do?

Finding sunbeams or a warm body to snuggle up to helped much. Warm springs often helped till one crawls out into the chilled air. Where to go depends on where the sunbeams fall. More light allows one to see the path and warmth makes the legs nimble once again. Decisions on how far to go depend on how soft the ground would feel in a thud. Napping too long may mean not enough strength to get up again.

The ancient deer picked a spot that if fallen had plenty of fresh greens to munch while rolling around in the vegetation. Crawling remains an option. Young fawns coming over for stories of long ago always helped. Nothing wrong just well used parts wearing out slowly, reviving a bit in a sunbeam and then back to the inevitable.

Where do ancient deer go when all is said and down? No bones have ever been found in the forest. Not even a hint. Does the sexy swag coat deer come out of the altar and take you there where ever there is. Do you just dissipate into thin air and become part of the forest once more? The doppleganger deer seen with a sign or not is that a shell left of some ancient deer's embodied spirit visiting a favorite glen or sleep spot once more?

Never a dead deer in the forest. Deer have disappeared into thin air. Others lay upon the ground in a deep slumber never to wake. Which is better? For me it would be slow travel of any kind rather than sleep. Always challenges, each day a new one. Ancient deer get challenged but instead of another it is their own body that and energy level that makes the daily challenge. Do I breathe or chew? Do I walk or eat? If I play in the glade how many hours do I have to sleep to recover? Somehow wandering around at night nibbling, picking, rolling and playing seems easier than in the younger years. Does wandering around in moonlight have a meaning rather than dancing in the sunshine? Once a deer disappears no answer comes back. No whisper in the wind. No hoof prints to follow just someones memory of a good time playing in the forest and once in a while a stone shows up by the ruins.