her that a doe like her could scare a male, but this was not a regular size male. This one was small.

“Who are you?” the male asked in a high-pitched voice.

“I am Gurri,” she said and slowly walked over to him. When she was closer, she asked him, “I do not know you. Please tell me your name?”

“I am Wesal,” he said meekly and bowed his head.

“I did not expect to find many deer out here. Most stay near the meadow,” she said.

Wesal bowed his head as if in shame. “I do not go to the meadow. The other deer do not like me.”

She looked him over. Granted he was small, but he was not deformed or had a bad scent. There was no obvious reason other deer should shun him. “Why don’t they like you? You seem alright to me.”

“I am small,” Wesal moaned. “The other deer push me around because they know I cannot fight back like they can. They tease me and chase me. I left the meadow to live out here. Not many deer here and no one bothers me.”

At least the other deer did not try to do that with her, but she was large for a doe like her mother. “Yes, I know other deer are cruel at times. They also do not like to listen. I got tired of it myself and came out here.”

Wesal looked at her. “Why would they not like you? You are not weak. You are beautiful, not like me,” he moaned.

She did not want to laugh. “Thank you,” she said. “You are not that small.”

“Yes I am,” he said. “I am small and weak and that is the only thing other deer look at. Nothing else to them matter.”

 

“Except for being a doe,” she told him. “The males will listen to other males, but never to a doe. You warn them of danger and they ignore you. If I was a male, they at least listen to me.”

“I like to listen to you, your voice is nice,” the small male said smiling.

“Thank you again,” she said. “She looked the deer over. Other than being small and not having the heavy muscles other male deer have, he was rather cute, but not for her. She wanted a male like her Father or brother, not something small like him.

That is when the idea struck her suddenly. What then was the difference between what other males felt about her and what she felt about this male? She wanted a big male because all doe want the best males to make their fawns. That was the way of the forest. The strongest always got the best doe. In the same way, all males’ respected strength, and doe and small males like Wesal were not strong so they did not respect them. This was also the way of the forest. That may not be right, but it was the way things were. To expect otherwise was foolish.

“Did I say something wrong?” Wesal spoke up.

That broke her concentration and she looked back at the yearling male who only came up to her eye level. “No,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.”

“You looked far away,” he said.

“I felt far away,” she answered, “But I am back now.”

Looking at the sky around her, she knew it would soon be light. She had not slept much yesterday and she felt tired. She looked at the small male just gazing at her as if she was something out of a dream. Inwardly she felt a sudden impulse.

“It will be light soon,” she noted. “It is time to rest. There are large animals around here I do not want to meet.”

“Like the bear,” Wesal said. “He drinks at the lake at dawn and just before night. I stay hidden at those times. So far he leaves me alone.”

So that is what she smelled yesterday. It was a good thing she ran. No deer can hope to fight a bear and live. “Thank you for telling me that,” she said. “I need to empty myself. You see that large tree that leans toward the water?”

“Yes, I sleep near there,” the male said.

“I will meet you there shortly,” she said and dashed off into the trees to empty out her insides.

When finished, she went back to the lake to take one more drink of water and then met Wesal by the tree.

“I will go with you,” she said. “Show me where you sleep.”

The male swallowed and led her on to an opening among some bushes. It was big enough for two. She lay down in the clearing and motioned Wesal to lie near her. He did so nervously.

“Other than my sister and mother, I never slept near a doe before,” he said.

“I have not slept near a male. Do not worry about it. The Season is still a long ways away,” she said. She put her head down and went fast asleep. She rather liked it.

For the next three days, they ate and slept together by the lake. Wesal was right about the bear, but the large black creature did not come any closer than the lake edge. She stayed close and found she liked talking to this male. She felt no wish to have him bred her, but it was nice being near someone who felt like her. No doubt, her parents would have a fit at her choice, but he at least liked her and did not look at her as if she was some prize doe ready to be bred. Nor did he boast about his power and influence. The main thing was he listened to her; for a male, that was almost a new experience.

On the fourth day, she was just going to go to sleep when she looked out toward the hill her Grandfather cave was at. Past the hills and saw it. In the distance was a cloud of smoke rising in the air. That meant there were more Men in the forest. She spent a sleepless day listening but could here nothing. As soon as it was dark, she left Wesal and told him to stay hidden and not to go out during the day. He moved quickly back to her mother’s thicket. When she got there, it was empty. Her family should be in the meadow with the fawns.

She went to the meadow and sure enough, she saw her Mother, her younger sisters, and her brother eating. Filon and her Father were talking. She moved over to them. As she got closer, they all stopped eating and looked up at her.

“Where have you been?” her Father ask sound annoyed.

“I have been out on my own,” she said flatly. “I was over by Grandfather’s old cave. There was smoke rising from beyond it. I think Man is in the forest again.”

Her Father looked surprised. “They are early this year?” her Father said. “They are not usually here yet. Are you sure?”

She tried not to get angry, but words just slipped out. “Go over and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

She spun in her hoofs and started to walk away. “Gurri, wait!” her Father commanded.

She took a deep breath and turned around. “Yes,” she grunted.

“I need to know for sure about this, that is all,” her Father explained.

“If Geno told you this, or Ronno, or even Filon, you believe them, but not your daughter. Why, because I am a doe and I do not know anything. Like I said, look for yourself.”

She turned again and moved away.

“Gurri Stop!” her Father yelled. She kicked her hoofs up and ran into the forest. She tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. At least there was someone there she knew who would listen.

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