Miracles of the Forest

Part 1: Messing with Destiny

Ch. 3 "Close Encounter"

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She bounded carelessly through the trees, clumisly knocking about without the slightest bit of caution. The trees broke into the openess of the north meadow; the northernmost edge of Bambi's territory. The buckskin colored doe did not brake her pace. She didn't even bother to check the area for safety. She just marched in without fear like she owned the place.

Gurri had always been a bold hind, even at a young age. She had no fear of the unknown. A wiser animal knows to avoid anything strange and potentially dangerous. Gurri knew no waryness; only curiosity. And that is what got her into so much trouble.

She stopped in the middle of the meadow and scanned the area.

"Hey, over here!" A deep yet femenine voice called from the treeline on the other side.

Gurri turned and smiled upon seeing another doe; much larger and heavier muscled than herself. She trotted to the doe, her tail wagging.

"Hey, Syndi!" The Gurri greeted. "Sorry I'm late. I tried to get away sooner when everyone was napping on the western meadow, but my dumb brother moved the herd just as I was leaving. So I had to wait until everyone left again. My dad's got everyone so paranoid."

Just as she finished her sentance, two dark fawns tentativly approached Gurri's side. The large doe frowned.

"You have River and Raven with you."

Gurri sighed.

"Yeah, I tried to get out of it, but mom made me take them. Why? Where were you planning on going today?"

Syndica smiled. "There are these gorgeous older stags sparring over in Northern Point." She finished with a wink.

Gurri winced as though someone had struck her in the head with a rock.

"Ooh! Damn! Of all days mom has me watching my little brother and sister..."

"We could still go." Syndica cut in. "Just take them with us."

Gurri gasped in shock.

"Are you crazy?! My dad would drop his antlers if he knew I went to Northern Point with them! And my mom! She'll box both of our heads! No way, it's too dangerous."

"No it's not!" Syndica argued. "I take my little cousin there all the time."

Another fawn--smaller than Gurri's siblings--stepped out from the bushes and hid behind Syndica's leg. Gurri's little brother, Raven, flashed a huge smile upon seeing the lovely little doe fawn. The usually timid buckling strode past his sister and right up to the shy young female. Raven's twin sister, River, stood between her sister's front legs, glaring up at Syndica. The larger-than-average doe fawn bore the same proud, dominant personality as Sydica. They didn't like each other. At all. But the fawn's challanging glare went unnoticed by the adult does.

Gurri raised a curious brow at Syndica's last statement.

"You bring Gloria to Northern Point? Isn't dangerous? What about the..." She looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper. "What about the Man Trail?"

"Oh please!" Syndica snorted. "There's, like, a whole row of trees between the park and the Man Trail. Just stay away from the trees and you'll be fine. No real danger this time of year, there's only some Man-fawns running around whacking rocks with sticks. Now, come on! Are you coming with me or not?" Syndia turned away irritably.

Gurri lowered her ears and looked away. Boy, if Faline found out where she was going, all hell would break loose. But, then again, she didn't want to miss out...

"Alright." She said quickly, rushing to catch up with her friend. "Let's go. But we can't stay too long."

"Fine, fine. Oh, hey. You weren't followed, right?" The large doe inquired suspiciously.

"Of course not." Gurri shrugged.

Little did they know, a furry little spy had been watching them, and had readily sped off to deliver the news to Faline.

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Northern Point Baseball Park Sat near the Interstate 5 highway. It was springtime in the park, and young boys all over the neighboring town were trying their luck to be on this year's new Little League Team. Children were running all over the place, most of them being boys in full brand-new baseball uniforms. South of the park was the Nature Preserve, while north of the park, just across the highway, two homes stood facing the park and forest beyond.

One of the homes was a drab, dingy little trailer. There was no fancy lawn or even a single live plant on the property; just loose gravel and a large boulder at the end of the driveway near the mailbox. A lone doghouse with a chain attached to it stood in the shade of the trailer. Along the top of the doghouse was several names that were all crossed out. An ungnawed bone laying in the dry water dish completed the depressing appearance of the little gray trailer.

The other home was a much larger, cleaner manufactured home; a lovely tan house with rich chocolate brown trim. Bushes, a flower garden and several well-used but relatively new dog toys were scattered across the green lawn. Young peach trees marked the end of each side of the driveway. The yard was surrounded by a blue pickett fence. All in all, the little property was more than inviting to both humans and animals.

Back in the park, a boy, around 15, stood in the shade of a large elm tree. His jet-black hair and caramel-colored eyes glissened in the mid-day sun. And when the announcer's call fell onto his ears, the boy couldn't help but perk up and flash a large handsome smile.

"Next up to bat: Tommy Baxter." The voice echoed through the park.

"Yeah!" The older boy on the sidelines cheered. "C'mon, Tommy! Knock it out of the park!"

A younger boy no more than 8 approached the base with his oversized bat in hand. He looked just like the older boy, but with slightly lighter eyes. His baseball uniform was a bit unkempt and definately a lot more wrinkled than the crisp new uniforms the other boys wore. But that didn't matter to Tommy. All that mattered to him was being chosen this year. Taking his stance and gripping the bat tightly, he prepared for the first pitch. Miss! The young boy grumbled as he prapared for the next one. Miss again!

"It's alright, Tommy! Just keep your eye on the ball!" The older boy cheered once more.

Tommy nodded confidently, pulled his cap over his eyes and stood tall and proud, like a real ball player. He swung hard at the last pitch.

"Strike three!" The umpire shouted. "You're out, kid. Sorry, better luck next year."

About 10 minutes after the disappointing ordeal, Tommy sat at a picnic table, his head resting on his folded arms. He let out a sigh. The older boy approached bearing ice cream cones.

"Cheer up, little bro." The boy smiled, offering one of the cones. "You'll show them all next year!"

"You say that every year." The young boy sighed as he half-heartedly licked the ice cream. "I'll never get on the team."

"Ah, sure you will." The older boy took a seat next to Tommy. "We just gotta practice some more, that's all."

Tommy looked up at his older brother, his big innocent eyes full of questioning.

"We can't even afford a new uniform. All I got is your hand-me-downs." He lowered his head again.

The older brother sighed and scooted closer to Tommy. Again, the younger boy looked up at his brother.

"You're not embarassed by me, are you, Eric?"

"What? Embarassed? Of you? Never!" Eric put his arm around Tommy. "I couldn't be more proud than if you actually got on the team!"

Both boys laughed and for a moment, they blissfully forgot about the whole oredeal. Suddenly, Tommy jumped off his seat and pointed in the distance.

"Look, Eric! Deer!"

The boys looked up to see a small group of deer consisting of 2 does and 3 fawns walking through the park.

"Hey, yeah!" Eric gushed. "Columbian White-tailed deer, to be exact. Wow, those are rare. You know, they're the only subspecies of white-tailed deer still in the state?"

"Wow!" The little brother gasped in astonishment. He was always impressed with his older brother's knowledge of animals.

"Wonder what they're doing all the way down here with the fawns. That's unusual."

"Maybe they came to watch the Baseball game!" The little one thought out loud.

Eric laughed. "Yeah, Tommy! I'm sure that's it!"

Raven suddenly stopped and looked over. His eyes widened. It was Man! He blinked in wonder. He had never seen Man up close before. Come to think of it, no deer from Bambi's forest had ever laid eyes upon Man's face before. It was forbidden to look