He had been wandering through the forest (quite aimlessly), taking his time as he went. But as the buck continued onward, the forest grew more dense. The wide open paths and choices soon diminished, leading to one narrow pass. The close trees had almost blocked out the sun. Something told him to continue onward, and so he did – hoping to find an exit.Hours passed by as he followed along the cramped way, and his legs were starting to grow heavy. Something caught his eye up ahead: it was sunlight! Life returned to his legs, and he rushed forward without thought. The path suddenly gave way to a small clearing, a beautiful clearing. It was covered with dark green, dew-laden moss. So soft to touch, so inviting. But there was something else there – a fairy circle. Spotted mushrooms sat perfectly in a ring; they too were covered in dew. He turned his head toward the sun and sneezed. Shaking his head, his gaze returned to the ground.
A young doe lay in the circle looking rather peaceful. Had she always been there? He had not noticed her before. Slowly, he approached. She was not sleeping; in fact, her eyes were wide open with shock – as if she had seen a ghost. Then, a smell hit him fiercely. A pool of vomit by her frothing mouth.
He backed up (afraid). One of the mushrooms from the circle laid on the ground not far from her. A bite had been taken from it. Curiosity conquered fear for a moment; the buck leaned down to smell the mushroom. Its fragrance was sweet like a fruit, and almost tempting.
Hoovesteps. His eyes darted upward to see another kimeti inspecting the mushrooms. Springing to action, he ran towards the other. He wanted to yell at her to stop, but the words did not come. Butting his head against her side would stop the kimeti from eating the poisonous things. The doe, startled, stared back at him after recovering from the blow. The buck wanted to say sorry.
Before he could do anything, the doe began to cough. No, she began to heave. It was like she couldn't catch her breath, and she rattled. What had happened? She had not taken a bite. He knew that he stopped her! The kimeti stumbled away and collapsed onto the ground. She began to cry and scream in between her heaving. The only thing that came to mind was to gently nuzzle her cheek. He could maybe be of some comfort to her. It was of no comfort, as the doe began to convulse wildly. She vomited, and foam appeared from her mouth. All the noises stopped. It was quiet again and the doe was still.
He backed up (horrified). The other doe, the first doe, was gone. Wait, she was that doe. Laying in the spot as he first found her. Only, the mushroom had not killed her this time.
The buck stood staring at the corpse.
