Drip. Drip. Drip.
A steady dripping of warm liquid caressed the Kimeti's forehead as he lay in the swamp, half in and half out of the water. The young buck had dreamed of something he was to find out in the wilderness and had immediately rushed ahead and chased after what his dream suggested. Surely the dream was more, he had thought, and clearly by searching and hunting in the wilds he would locate the epiphany he had come for. Weeks had passed since the buck had left the refuge of his tribe and at long last he had collapsed from hunger on his trek homeward.
To focus, he listened to the dripping of the rain as his lips pulled into a soft smile and his eyes shut to better tune in to the sounds around him. "1....2...3...." The drops continued and he couldn't help but feel a little amused, "The rain sure falls a lot around here." Strong legs tensed as he pushed himself back out of the water, as the rain persevered so too would he in his quest. Somewhere out here was his answer and somehow he would attain it.
Slowly the buck shook the water from his body, from head to tail, until he felt dry enough to continue. The beat of his hooves was more of a plodding along than anything else and he listened intently to the sound of his falling footsteps. As he moved along he couldn't help but notice that as the rain fell, the leaves were falling from the trees. During his absence the season had slipped from summer to fall and he stopped a moment to watch the beautiful colors as they made their way to the murky earth. So many leaves were falling and it vaguely reminded him that he needed to eat, or he too would soon fall as the leaves had to never rise again.
For he could feel it in his body that this would be his last day on his journey if he did not rest and eat. He needed to recover and find shelter, but the temptations of that one dream were too much. Things grew hazy as he walked and his footsteps fell slower until they nearly dragged in the mud, but the buck's heart quickened as his eyes saw something brilliant and red up ahead. Was this what he had been looking for? Was his answer so close to him that he would fall before it?
"No." Thought the young Kimeti, "I will see this through, whether it be my end or no."
With what little reserves he had left the buck took off at a fast speed, racing towards the flash of red he had seen only to discover what had to be the most beautiful of all Kimeti does he had ever seen. Brilliant were her eyes and long was the hair that flowed from her head and tail. He was stunned with her beauty and felt his jaw grow slack as he was unable to form the words to ask if she was the answer he had been looking for.
In a voice that made his heart race, she nearly sang, "Reach for the stars but know that eventually, you will fall back to the earth from whence you came. For everything that rises must fall one day."
And with that, the doe disappeared. The buck felt his legs fall beneath him and relaxed as the mud cushioned his head somehow, though he didn't know how, that was the answer he was looking for. As he felt his life slip away, he knew that for each time he would be born he would reach for the stars and when there was no where left to rise, he would find his way back home to the earth.
Another light grin touched his face as he breathed his last in amusement, "I'll fall a lot, but that's ok because I'll rise a lot, too."
As his life winked out, somewhere in the distance a young sac quivered, ready to be born and knowing without a doubt that he was Falls-a-Lot, a buck that would go far but come home for the end each and every time.
