Friends

I was tired and worn out. I had spent the day doing chores, being around people, and I just had to get away for a bit. This old barn was my favorite hideaway. Found on the back part of our acre property, it totally looks like it doesn't belong in a suburban area. Mom liked the house and lot because it was on a street lined with similar houses. Dad liked it because this acre lot was odd shaped with this old barn far in the back near the boundary of our property. The lot was almost a rectangle with chopped off corners. From the sky, our lot looked more like a diamond, with the biggest corner lining the street.

I liked the old barn because I could escape from all my sisters for a little bit. They didn't really like the place. My youngest sister thought it was creepy, too spider-webby, with light shining in from some of the broken slates. My oldest sister didn't like it as she thought it was too dirty, too rural for her. She wanted to be liked by all, and fit in. I knew I didn't fit in; I was too quiet, and just wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.

Sometimes I would hide a book back there. I kept it in a metal container so it wouldn't get ruined. I knew I couldn't leave food back there; I knew I had to bring my snack that day. I would subtlely check with others when I would be needed, finding out if we having company or if we going to go somewhere at some point, and then slip off.

This day was a sunny, beautiful day. Cool for a typical summer day, and not really even humid. A great day for disappearing.

Walking to the barn, I saw a fawn hiding, sleeping near a rock about 10 feet from the door. I didn't want to bother her, so I snuck in quietly. I knew her mom would come looking for her, and didn't want to scare either of them off.

I sat down on the rock-and-dead-grass ' blanket upholstered' chair I had made and started reading. I must have dozed off because next time I looked up the mama deer and her fawn were looking at me. I sat up a little and smiled, and quietly said hi. The fawn looked at her mom and hesitantly came toward me. I looked at her mom and hesitantly put out my empty hand for her to look at and sniff. I had nothing to offer either of them as far as food went, but I didn't think that is what they were interested in. As the fawn came closer, Mama moved away slightly toward the door, watching me and watching her babe, maybe a week or two old - tiny but strongly walking. Mama knew I wouldn't hurt her young, maybe because she had seen me before, as I walked away from people, like she did. She wanted to help her young become independent.

As Mama nibbled grasses near the door, the fawn came over to me and butted me a little, like she was trying to play. I petted her a bit, but pushed back a litte too, like she had done. With my book on the ground, I kind of fell over toward her. She shied away a little turning toward Mom to make sure she was still there. She turned back to me, and fell into me. I caught her, and hugged her a bit. She nestled a little and rolled on her back. I rubbed/ tickled her tummy. She got away but came back at me, taking her front leg and pawing my tummy. This went on about fifteen minutes or so. She nuzzled my head, our cheeks touching and then ran over to Mama. The doe nodded her head toward me as the fawn suckled a little before they strode off.

No one would have believed me if I told them that story, at least I didn't think so. My sisters would kid me saying now I was talking to animals as if that was crazy. I thought of telling my dad. He would believe me and understand.

I saw both deer a couple more times, maybe once or twice a week for a while. Sally, my name for the baby, and I would nuzzle with each other. Sometimes it was playing, sometimes she would lie down near me for some quiet time together. I usually saw Mama nearby grazing, but there were times when I didn't see her. Especially when the fawn would lay down next to me, I wondered if Mama thought it was ok to leave the fawn while she foraged a way off from us. She usually showed up after fifteen minutes or half hour. I felt more comfortable knowing Mama was around, even though I knew there were times she would leave her baby alone in a safe place.

Two months later, I was walking around the back ard, not going all the way to the barn. I had had a fight with my older sister and mom had taken her side. I was feeling angry and sad and confused, and needed to get away from everyone for a bit. The fight had been about my going off on my own, where I couldn't hear them shouting for me. I was being careless blah, blah, blah. Going all the way to the barn would prove them right, so I kept going in circles. Heading toward the barn, realizing I shouldn't do that, not today, even if the deer might be there.

Finally, I sat down with my back to the house. I didn't understand why I couldn't do what I wanted, when it wasn't hurting anyone. Suddenly, I felt a little nudge on my shoulder. I turned around and there was Sally. She had grown a bit since I first saw her. I leaned my head toward hers and we kind of hugged. I looked at her, and smiled. I looked around for Mama and saw her nibbling on a bush watching her young and me. I nuzzled up to Sally. She to me. She could tell I was unhappy and was trying to make me feel better. Sally walked around to my front and started pawing my tummy. I laughed and did the same to her. We played around a little, me rolling around - as I was a bit bigger than she was, and she trotted around me. She allowed me to give her a hug, before she trapsed over to her mom. This time, they both walked quickly away glancing back at the house.

I turned around and there was Dad, watching. I wasn't sure how much he had seen, but he came over and sat down. He looked at me quietly at first seeing me glancing at the disappearing deer family. I looked back at him, and began telling him about my adventures with Sally and her mom.

He had heard about the argument and wanted to come find me to see if I was alright. He had first seen the doe and something about how she had looked at him and then me, made him hesitate. That was when he saw the fawn playing with me. He didn't want to interupt the unusual, yet fascinating scene.

"I know this sounds weird, but Sally initially came over to me, when I was in the barn, wanting to play. I don't know how I knew, but it was like the doe and I understood each other, and the fawn and I understood each other. We kind of played, like you saw us doing this time. But, Dad, just now, Sally knew I was unhappy and came over and nuzzled me to make me feel better. You may not have seen that part, but having her do that made me laugh. Made me get over my myself. Its like we're friends!"

Dad and I walked back to the house together, talking about how special all this was. It was Dad who said, that if she knew I was sad, that meant she understood sadness and felt empathy toward me. We were both very lucky to be part of such an encounter, and I was so lucky to have a deer for a friend.