The Night of the Moving Deer Head

It was sometime in December, I was five years old and deer hunting rifle season was well underway. One day during that particular deer hunting season, my uncle or my older cousin (my aunt and uncle’s son) had successfully gotten a buck. They shot the buck in a secluded field not far from their home.

And then they did what some hunters might do after successfully getting a good looking buck.

They mounted it on the wall in the living room.

I remember the first time I saw it. I stood looking at it rather perplexed. A head without a body. I don’t think in my five years of existence I had ever seen such a thing! The buck’s head was sticking out of the wall but where was the rest of its body?! On the other side of the wall was the garage, so I peeked out the door that led into the garage expecting to see the rest of the animal’s body. To my deep confusion, nothing!

I didn’t know what to think. I remember feeling fascinated and a little scared. I also remember being picked up and allowed to pet the buck on the head and stroking its antlers. I didn't mind the buck then. I actually thought it was pretty cool even if it was a little creepy.

The Night the Head Moved

It was a few days or so after the buck was mounted on the living room wall. I was sitting in the living room just chilling and watching T.V. Every now and then, I'd catch sight of the buck on the wall out of the corner of my eye. I still wasn’t used to the extra company. The deer head without a body still freaked me out a little. I saw its eyes glow in the dimly lit living room and then, I swore I saw its head move!

I wasted no time jumping off that couch and running out of the living room!

It sounds silly just thinking about it now. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe it was just my overactive five-year-old imagination. But I swore that’s what I saw. That buck's head moved!

My aunt and uncle had to keep a sheet over the buck for almost a month! Or at least until my fear went away!

That buck is still mounted on that living room wall to this day, and every now and then, when I visit, it’s existence reminds me of that wild and silly fear from my early childhood.

This story was inspired by Annie Kapur's Childhood Scares challenge: