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A little before 8am, I was stirred awake by Rebecca nursing Aria by her bedding and chatter in the nearby kitchen from my parents and Anna making breakfast. As I came to, daylight pouring through the windows made it nearly impossible to open my eyes. After a few moments of struggling, my eyes had adjusted and I observed Rebecca quietly as Aria completed her meal. When Aria finished, Rebecca cleaned her up afterwards using warm wet washcloths and laid down fresh and clean bedding for Aria. Rebecca longed for a soothing hot shower and invited me to join her. She went upstairs while I greeted my parents before following her up. I opened our bathroom door to find my beautiful Rebecca standing under a shower of hot water and relishing every drop pouring over her sore body. “You OK?” I asked. “Still sore but mmmmm, this feels wonderful. Come on in, the water’s nice and hot.” “You sure? I don’t wanna intrude if you need some alone time.” “Shut up and get your buns in here.” Rebecca commanded with a smile. I accepted and stripped out of my boxers and crop top. “It’s gonna be so nice to wear regular clothes again.” I remarked as I opened the glass door and stepped inside the steam filled confines. We took turns soaking under the hot water while the other washed their hair, skin, and fur. We both shared similar remarks on how this was the last time we’d be using animal fur shampoo. Once finished, we dried ourselves off. While Rebecca took care of her hair, I got myself dressed in my traditional boxers and a crop top, and then brought Rebecca’s her clean clothes and a new diaper. I kinda just stood there and watched her brush and blow dry her hair in the nude, taking in the features of her gorgeous body. I could stare at her body all day. Rebecca caught me leering at her in the mirror. “See something ya like?” she asked with an appreciative smile. “I know we’re supposed to be super excited that we’re gonna be human again tonight but…” I paused with a sigh. “Part of me is gonna miss your deer parts. The sensations of touching you. Your taste. Your scent. Our intimacy has known nothing else.” Rebecca stopped her hair care and walked over to me and took me into a hug. “Aw baby I’m gonna miss your deer parts too. To be honest…mine too. Kinda funny, I didn’t think I’d feel this way.” I looked down at my cervine legs. “Yeah, this is gonna be harder than I thought.” Rebecca gave me a kiss before leaving me to get dressed. “Come on. Let’s get some breakfast. I’m starving.” The rest of the day was filled with mixed emotions. Between tending to Aria’s needs, there was plenty of downtime to reflect on what was to come that night. There was an obvious sense of anxiousness in the house by all those occupying it as the clock slowly made its way toward our 6pm departure time. As 5pm approached, Anna completed one last medical check on Rebecca. She gave her the green light and Rebecca felt confident that she could handle the trip and hike that followed. Anna and my parents prepped Anna’s Wrangler for departure while Rebecca nursed Aria, likely for the last time. I went to our bedroom and set out the first set of clothes to be worn since our last ultrasound two weeks ago that weren’t comprised solely of underwear and a crop top. Not long after, Rebecca joined me and we got dressed. There was an unexpected hesitancy in us both as we awkwardly pulled our cargo pants over our cervine legs to hide them from the world for the last time. Suddenly, Rebecca stopped dressing and looked deeply into my eyes with a look of great uncertainty. “I don’t know if I can do this Aaron.” Rebecca paused as tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t think I can leave Aria with Zână. I know it’s crazy. I know she’s a deer…but…[snuffle]…she’s my daughter. I’m…I’m her mother. I just don’t think I can do it.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “But then we’re stuck like this, as fauns, hiding from the world forever. I didn’t think it would be this hard. I don’t…[snuffle]…I don’t know what to do.” I wasn’t at all surprised by her protest. I was feeling it too. There was a part of me that didn’t want this to end, like maybe there was some secret realm like Narnia where two fauns could have a life in the open, raise their fawn, and be a family. Going to college, partying, and then pursuing a career didn’t really seem that important anymore. All our plans for the future seemed so stupid and meaningless. Our curse had evolved from a burden and dreaded daily routine to a way of life for us both that was filled with love and the miracle of new life. The forced daily mating forged a deep and seemingly unbreakable bond between Rebecca and me. I couldn’t imagine being this close with anyone else, ever. Rebecca grew a fawn in her womb for more than six months and then gave birth to a beautiful doe. I can only imagine how hard it was for her having both human and doe maternal instincts reinforcing a bond that pushed past the differences between our species. The connection we felt between the three of us was incredibly strong. Looking at this from a realist’s perspective, seriously, how could we be a family though? It’s ludicrous. But our situation was ludicrous, one of fantasy, but impossibly real none the less. We didn’t know what to do. I took Rebecca’s hands into mine and looked into her eyes. “Do you want to hold off a couple days and think about this?” “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a good idea. [snuffle] She needs to be with her own kind so she can survive in the wild. She can’t stay in this house and become comfortable and reliant on humans.” Rebecca paused. “Fuck this sucks! Fuckin Zână! It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to be happy bout getting our lives back.” “How bout this. Let’s just go to Zână and see what she says. Maybe she has some options we don’t know about.” “Like what? I mean…what if I tell her how I feel and she turns me into a deer to fix the problem? [snuffle] It sure seems like she likes to use cruel twists to fix problems. Look what she did to you to ease MY burden.” “Well we know Aria can’t stay here and we can’t spend the rest of our lives as fauns, so we might as well go see Zână and see what happens.” I squeezed her hands reassuringly. “Becca, whatever happens, I’ll be there with you, at your side, every step of the way. I love you so much. We’re gonna get through this together no matter what.” Rebecca smiled softly. “Stop this sappy shit and kiss me.” We leaned towards each other and kissed softly. We were interrupted by a text notification from her phone. Seeing it was from her mom, she picked it up. “Mom says she’s ready to go when we are.” Rebecca paraphrased. As she set her phone on the bed, the wallpaper suddenly caught her eye and she smiled as she stared at it. Wondering what so intently grabbed her attention, I followed her gaze to its endpoint. “God Aria’s beautiful.” I said. Rebecca smiled at me. “Yeah, we did make a beautiful little deer. I still can’t believe she came from me. That she grew inside of me.” I took her hand into mine and squeezed it tight. “Well? Ya ready to do this?” I asked. “No…but we need to do it…for Aria’s sake.” she replied. Rebecca and I hugged for a while, providing us both some reassurance from the other. We finished dressing and then reluctantly made our way downstairs. Anna and my parents were waiting in the living room and we felt all eyes on us as we descended the staircase. Rebecca collected Aria and then we all made our way to the garage, the Wrangler readied for our departure. Rebecca put Aria on the back seat and then we exchanged hugs with my parents who, wishing they could come along, reluctantly settled for providing hugs and words of encouragement, reassurance, and comfort. It wasn’t until after getting into the Jeep that my dad made a much bolder gesture of support. Before I could close the door, I was suddenly caught off guard when he presented me with his prized Desert Eagle 1911. “You might need this son.” I reached to take it from him but hesitated when I thought about the situation we were heading into. “Thanks dad, but I…uh…I don’t think that’s gonna help. Zână can do magic, so it’s probably not a good idea. All I need is here [pointing at my head] and here [pointing at my heart]. Besides, she’s probably watching us right now.” He pulled back a bit and futilely scanned the garage around him as though he might be able to spot her if she was spectating. Failing to spot her, he leaned back towards me. “Well, you should take it just in case. Just having it might give you some leverage.” I reluctantly took the gun from his hand more so to appease him than thinking it would be of some use. I figured I’d leave it in the Wrangler rather than potentially offend Zână and invite her wrath. My dad smiled at me, experiencing that parental moment when they’re hit with what they perceive as the moment their child has crossed the threshold into adulthood. He was legitimately proud of the man I was becoming. “Love you son. Keep them safe.” he said as he patted my shoulder. I could see the emotion in his eyes and the expression on his face, an uncommon sight to be seen. He was not one to express emotions very often and it created a heavy weight to the moment. I returned his smile. “Love you to dad. I’ll keep’em safe.” Rebecca took my hand into hers and squeezed it lovingly with a smile of appreciation. “Don’t worry Daniel, I’ve got my rifle. I’m not taking any chances.” Anna yelled back to my dad through my still open door. I closed my door as Anna pressed the button on the garage door remote and a whirring sound announced the activation of the motor. As the door slowly ascended its tracks, she looked back at us, holding hands to reassure each other, but visibly nervous. “Y’all ready to get your humanity back?” Rebecca and I looked at each other and then back to Anna and nodded “yes” without speaking a word. Anna sighed audibly. “Yeah…I’m nervous too. Alrighty then, this is gonna be interesting.” As Anna slowly moved the Wrangler out of the garage, Rebecca picked up Aria standing in the footwell at her feet and carefully placed her on her lap. We both lovingly stroked the fur on her back in an effort to reassure her that she was safe and to not be frightened. A glow in the western sky from the waning light of the setting sun illuminated the land in a soft orange and reddish glow, its light reflecting from the base of the broken thin veil of high clouds miles above. The sunset was gorgeous and it provided Rebecca and me something to enjoy and distract our minds from the dread of the unknown we were heading towards. The 2.5 hours required to complete the trip flew by as our perception of time was altered by the fear of the uncertainty that laid ahead. The tension in the Jeep was palpable. Aside from Aria’s occasional bleats interrupting the white noise that was the hum of the offroad tires gripping the road, the vehicle was eerily silent with hardly a word spoken the entire trip. Everyone’s pulse suddenly quickened when Google Maps abruptly broke the silence announcing that we had arrived at our destination. The Wrangler’s warm white headlights revealed a red clay and gravel parking lot that was thankfully devoid of any vehicles but ours. Anna let the Wrangler roll to a stop just past the parking lot entrance, her own anxiousness getting the best of her and causing pause mere feet away from where our trip was to transition to our hike on foot. I leaned forward and placed my hand on Anna’s right shoulder to offer some reassurance. “It’s gonna be OK.” I said. Anna looked at me in the rearview mirror and smiled in appreciation of the gesture. She took a deep breath and moved the Wrangler forward and then parked it next to the sign marking the trailhead. I felt Rebecca’s hand squeeze mine tighter in response to her body’s spike in apprehension. I placed my other hand on top of hers and reassured her that everything was going to be OK. We all sat there silent for a moment realizing what had to happen next but no one wanted to take the necessary next step. I swallowed forcefully to help manufacture some courage and then opened my door and exited the Wrangler. I surveyed our surroundings. Aside from the lights of the Jeep, there were no manmade sources of light that could be seen in any direction. We were miles away from civilization. The air was cold and still. Aside from a couple crickets and an occasional hoot from an owl probably hunting for a meal, it was very quiet. Near as I could tell, we were completely alone. Looking up, the clouds that had produced the breathtaking sunset had moved on, leaving behind an unobstructed view of a field of stars that served as our ceiling. The moon was about 45 degrees above the eastern horizon, just above the treetops, mere days away from being full. Its bright reflected sunlight illuminated the thick forest of tall Georgia Longleaf Pines surrounding the parking lot. It was hard to miss Jupiter shining steady directly overhead and the constellation Orion just to its south with the orange twinkling glow from Betelgeuse in his right shoulder, perhaps just decades away from supernova. A bleat from Aria snapped me back to reality and the purpose of our visit. I looked back and asked Anna to unlock the back to gain access to our supplies. My breath was visible in the cold air illuminated by the Wrangler’s interior lighting. As I made my way to the its rear, Anna and Rebecca exited the Jeep. Aria bleated at Rebecca in protest to being left behind. As I put on my winter jacket and hat, I was thankful for the cold night as that ensured Rebecca and I didn’t have to be too concerned with our clothed deer parts overheating. I dawned my backpack as Anna and Rebecca joined me in gathering their own supplies. When Anna pulled out her rifle, I questioned whether or not it was a good idea to risk offending Zână and possibly incurring her wrath, whose limits may greatly exceed anything we mere mortals could comprehend. Although she seemed benevolent in her own way, we had no idea what she was truly capable of nor her true motives. But there was zero chance of Anna walking into this forest unarmed. Zână wasn’t the only thing we had to be weary of. It was birthing season for black bears and wild boars and mothers were dangerously and viciously protective of their babies. Chances of encountering them in the night were low, but not zero. I had been so focused on Zână that I failed to account for the non-mystical threats that called her backyard home. I cursed at myself at the now obvious oversight and returned to my seat for my dad’s Desert Eagle. As I pulled the gun from the pocket attached to the back of Anna’s seat, Aria walked over to me and bleated softly. I smiled and gently stroked the soft fur atop her head. She quickly maneuvered her head back and forth to gain access to my hand and started licking at it. I carefully scooped her up, gave her a loving kiss on her snout, and then carried her over to Rebecca. She took her from me and hugged her tight at the realization that it wasn’t long before she may never see her daughter again. Anna and I quietly observed the emotional display as we finished the last of our preparations. I chambered a round but kept the Desert Eagle safe before putting it in my right jacket pocket while Anna configured Google Maps on her phone to navigate us to the pin drop that approximated where Rebecca first encountered Zână. Rebecca carefully placed Aria in a backpack but strapped it on herself backwards so Aria was at her front. The pack was small enough that Aria could easily stick her head out and observe the goings on. Given the terrain, we figured it was going to take about 2 to 3 hours, going at a slow pace that Rebecca could handle while resting as often as needed. We each turned our headlamps on and once the Wrangler was closed up and doors locked, they were our primary source of light, greatly outshining the soft white glow from the moon above. We made our way to the trailhead where we paused to confirm that everyone had everything they needed. Not even a quarter mile into our 3-mile hike, the stumbles by Rebecca and myself were mounting on the uneven terrain. It quickly became obvious that the sneakers affixed to our hooves to conceal them from any potential bystanders weren’t going to work. They kept rotating and slipping off no matter how tight we laced them. We were obviously alone and we were about to reach the point where we’d go off-trail, further reducing the risk of encountering anyone else. For safety’s sake, we were better off doing away with a small part of our human disguise that would largely be obscured by the forest floor and the darkness anyway. We took a moment to remove our sneakers and packed them away. The relief was instantaneous and very much welcomed by both of us. Resuming our journey, our cervine legs easily took to the terrain for which they were at home and we were actually able to pick up the pace to the point that Anna was struggling to keep up. If it weren’t for the mounting fear and uneasiness, the smartass in me would’ve been quick to tease Anna and her inferior human legs. We were closing in on 10pm and our destination when I suddenly felt disorientated and dizzy to the point that I had to brace myself against a tree to keep from falling to the ground. I looked at Rebecca and Anna ahead of me and discovered them in similar positions. Before I could say or do anything, the sensations stopped as quickly as they began. Everything was as it was before with no signs that it ever happened. I quickly found my footing and looked to Rebecca and Anna who too had regained their composure as though it never happened. “What the fuck was that?” I asked openly. We looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. “Maybe that’s Zână’s way of letting us know we’re close.” Anna said with a shrug. “Well that’s a weird fuckin way to say ‘Hey, you’re almost there’.” I replied. “Y’all OK?” Anna asked us. “Yeah, I’m fine. Like it never happened.” I answered. “Same.” Rebecca added. She checked Aira in her front-mounted pack and she seemed fine, unaffected in fact. “How far to the pin?” I asked Anna. “Just under a quarter mile. We’re close.” We resumed our trek but only a couple minutes later, something caught Anna’s eye ahead through the thick pine forest. “Oh shit.” she remarked quietly. Rebecca and I immediately froze. “What?!” we responded in unison. “There’s a campfire ahead. It’s pretty far off, but it looks close to where the pin is.” Anna was quick to act. “Turn off your lights!” We all quickly turned them off and froze for any indication that whoever was at the campfire spotted them. After a few moments, we went over to Anna, looked at Google Maps, and assessed this new development. Rebecca and Anna completed some orienteering and came to the same conclusion. The campfire was about half a mile ahead and past our destination but way too close for comfort. “Well great. What the fuck are we gonna do now?” I asked openly. Anna looked back down at Google Maps. “Maybe we’re close enough that Zână will appear. We have to be quiet. In this weather, any sound we make is gonna carry pretty far and we can’t risk alerting the campers to our presence.” Rebecca and I nodded in agreement. “Zână…are you there?” I whispered loudly. “Zână?” I called again, as I scanned our surroundings not knowing where she might suddenly appear, if she appeared at all. Rebecca thinking maybe Zână would respond to her as the original cursed one pleaded for her to appear. “Zână, it’s me, Rebecca. Please, we have our fawn. Please show yourself.” We all had our head on a swivel scanning around us, looking for any signs of Zână, hoping to see her suddenly appear as was her custom. I shrugged back at Rebecca and Anna. “Should we move closer to the pin?” I asked Anna. “But what if being too close to the campers is why she’s not showing herself?” Rebecca asked openly. We decided to slowly and quietly move closer to the dropped pin on the map. Anna had us wait another 10 minutes to allow our eyes to adjust to the darkness. With the nearly full moon directly overhead, there was plenty enough light that we’d be able to safely navigate the terrain using only our eyes’ night vision. We continued to quietly call out for Zână as we moved. We were a mere 400 feet away from the dropped pin with the campfire maybe a little more than a quarter mile away and sill nothing. The frustration and fear were beginning to mount on us all and reached a climax when we could begin to barely make out voices being carried by the cold and damp night air from the direction of the campfire ahead. “This is fucking bullshit. She’s fuckin with us.” Rebecca stated quietly in frustration. Suddenly, something to her left caught Rebecca’s eye. “Wait, that log, I think that’s where it happened.” In her excitement, Rebecca moved quickly towards it and accidentally stepped on a thick branch that snapped loudly. We all froze in fear, all our heads quickly darted in the direction of the campfire. We stood there in complete silence trying to ascertain if the campers heard the snap. The sounds of their conversation and laughter appeared to continue without interruption indicating they didn’t notice the sharp sound. It also sounded like they were drunk which hopefully dulled their senses to their surroundings. The campfire was a little less than a quarter mile away, but if we could hear them, they’d likely hear us if we made too much noise. Rebecca carefully and slowly approached the felled tree and began looking it over while comparing what she saw to the memories of her traumatic encounter with Zână. She slowly walked parallel to its trunk as though searching for something specific. Rebecca began explaining what she was looking for. “There was a part of the log that caught my eye…where a bear had scratched it up and ripped apart. I noticed it when…I was…checking…” her explanation slowed and trailed off into nothingness as she froze in place when something else caught her eye. “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly. When she failed to respond, I slowly and carefully made my way over to her. Rebecca was crying softly as she stared down at the ground. “It’s…it’s…[snuffle]… it’s my kill. She’s…she’s still here. [snuffle] Right…where I left her.” Lying there at Rebecca’s cloven deer hooves were the remnants of the doe she had killed. All the remained were sun-bleached bones and bits of dried skin and cartilage that were partially covered in fallen pine needles. “It’s weird. It’s…it’s like I…[snuffle]…I can feel this connection to her. Like I can feel…[snuffle]…her final moments.” Aria began squirming in the small confines of the backpack. Knowing we had reached our destination, Rebecca took the pack off and let Aria out. She too was drawn to the doe’s remains. Aria gave a particular section dedicated interest, sniffing at it before bleating softly. Rebecca quickly squatted down to quiet her daughter. Rebecca gently stroked her daughter’s head. “Shhh, it’s OK baby girl.” Focusing on what had drawn Aria’s attention, that’s when Rebecca noticed it. Another much smaller set of bones, the remnants of a fully formed fawn resting in what would’ve been the doe’s abdomen. Rebecca immediately brought her hands to her face, covering her nose and agaped mouth, and began bawling. “Oh my God! [sobbing] It’s her fawn! [sobbing] Her unborn doe!” I crouched down beside Rebecca and consoled her, mostly to try and quiet her reaction a bit. I hugged her tight as she buried her face into my chest and became borderline hysterical. “It’s OK Becca. You didn’t know she was pregnant.” “It’s not OK! [sobbing] I killed her baby girl!” “Come on Becca. You couldn’t possibly know it was a girl.” I made the mistake of letting the realist in me interrupt the emotional support I was providing her and the repercussions were instantaneous. She pushed me back to the point that fell over onto my ass. “I can feel it damn it! I can feel her! I can feel them both!” she shouted. I quickly glanced over my shoulder in the direction of the campfire. “Becca be quiet! You’re being too loud!” I exclaimed in a loud whisper. Rebecca immediately stood up and yelled in a rage I’ve never seen from anyone let alone Rebecca. “DON’T FUCKIN TELL ME TO BE QUIET! I’m a murder! I’m a monster!” Anna moved towards Rebecca to console her daughter. “Stay away from me!” she shouted to her mother. Rebecca began stomping around erratically and began ripping off her clothes. “Get this shit off me!” A scared Aria practically jumped into my arms. I looked to Anna. “What the fuck is going on?! What’s wrong with her?!” I exclaimed. “She doth come to reckon with the consequences of her deeds.” said a familiar soft, soothing, and beautiful voice from behind Anna and me. Our heads darted towards the source and discovered Zână standing mere feet away observing the spectacle. A soft white glow surrounded her, illuminated her and the forest around us. Our gaze returned to Rebecca who began fiercely stomping the ground with her hooves in anger before ripping her pants and diaper within them from her cervine legs. She was completely nude and cried hysterically as she continued to shout about how horrible she was for killing the doe and her unborn fawn. “She doth now feel the fury of the doe whose motherhood was stol’n. This first-time dam she slew but hours ere her daughter should be born. With one stroke she took two lives.” Zână explained. “Zână, please calm her down before we’re discovered!” I pleaded. “Nay, I cannot.” she replied with an irritatingly calm demeanor. “What do you mean you can’t?! That’s bullshit! You’ve done it before!” I exclaimed, calling her out. “Thou art in the right, yet ’tis not mine to grant her peace. It lieth with the doe to grant her forgiveness.” “Fuck you Zână!” Anna shouted as she started to move to Rebecca’s aid. Zână gently waved her left hand towards Anna and she was immediately stopped in her tracks after only a few steps, unable to move her legs. “I know well thy wrath as a mother and thy love for thy daughter, yet she must be suffer’d to learn.” Rebecca’s attention suddenly darted in the direction of the doe’s carcass. To our disbelief, we all witnessed a ghostly bluish-white semitransparent figure of a doe appear, standing atop what remained of its body. “It’s you! It’s you!” Rebecca called aloud to the ghostly figure she instantly recognized. She walked over to the specter and crouched at its hooves. “Please! [sobbing] Please forgive me!” Rebecca pleaded through her hysterical tears. She pounded the earth with balled fists, apologizing and begging for forgiveness when she suddenly realized something the rest of us had failed to. “Wait…[snuffle]…where’s your fawn?! [snuffle] Where’s your baby girl?! Why isn’t she with you?!” Zână answered. “Her daughter was ne’er born unto her, thus mayst the childe not abide with her in the hereafter.” Rebecca switched her gaze from Zână back to the specter doe. “You never got to be with your daughter?!” Rebecca paused for a moment. “You never got to share you love with her?!” She paused again. “You never got to be loved by her?!” Rebecca broke down into tears yet again and pleaded to the specter for forgiveness. “Wait, so what happened to the fawn then?” Anna asked. Zână looked at Anna. “I saved her that she might know life and the true love of a mother’s heart; and I didst give her unto Rebecca.” Rebecca composed herself and then slowly looked to Zână. “Wait, what?! [snuffle] Aria is the doe’s fawn?” “Aye, and thou didst shower her with a mother’s true love and tender affection.” Zână then looked at me. “Aaron, thou gav’st Aria a gift no fawn hath e’er received: the love, the protection, and the rearing of a father.” Zână then looked at Anna. “I know well thy readiness to sacrifice all for thy daughter; yet ’tis a thing she hath not yet truly learn’d.” I pleaded to Zână. “That’s not true! We love Aria! We’d die for her! We struggled with whether or not to bring her to you but we knew we couldn’t raise her the way she needs to be raised.” “I verily hold it in mine heart that ye both would lay down your lives for Aria; yet death is oft a gentler path than to traverse a life of ceaseless sacrifice, beset with grievous hardships, perils, and insurmountable impediments to rear this childe. Such is true sacrifice. Yet ye both have willed that Aria be entrusted unto me.” The painful reality of what she said hit Rebecca and me with such immense force. We immediately locked eyes, overwhelmed by the painful realization that Zână was right. We had brought Aria as a means to an end, to release us from the penalty of burden, to get our lives back. We had made a grave mistake. Tears streamed down our cheeks with the understanding that even though we had the best of intensions for Aria, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Even though we questioned and struggled with our decision to give Aria up, we should’ve never willingly chosen to give up our daughter and abandoned her. She is our flesh and blood to love, raise, and fight for, no matter the circumstances. Life is a precious gift and a miracle not to be taken for granted or rejected no matter the challenges that come with it. We failed to realize that the best thing for Aria was always us, not anyone or anything else. I hugged Aria tight and apologized for failing her and begged her for forgiveness. Rebecca pleaded. “Oh my God Aria! I’m so sorry! We didn’t want to give you up! Please believe me! Zână, please, please believe me!” Rebecca moved towards Aria and me but Zână denied it. “Zână, please, let me go to them! Let me go to them!” she pleaded through gritted teeth and tears of immense guilt as she fought with all her being against Zână’s magic to reach her daughter and me. I glared back at Zână. “Let her go damn it!” I tried to rise to my hooves, but Zână forbade it with a subtle gesture of her right hand, leaving me sitting on my folded cervine legs while holding Aria in my arms. Zână looked and smiled softly at me. “Nay, I cannot. She yet knoweth not the pangs of true loss. The most grievous and heart-breaking bereavement of a mother.” We were all powerless against Zână’s magic. Suddenly Rebecca’s focus on Zână was drawn to a light appearing from behind a tree about 100 feet behind her. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and struggled with tremendous effort to focus and identify what it was she was seeing. Rebecca was horrified to discover that it was a person standing there with a rifle aimed at Zână. “Zână, look out!” Rebecca shouted and pointed as the explosive sound of a gunshot pierced everyone’s ears. Zână paid no mind to the assault and the bullet passed harmlessly through her body as though it wasn’t even there, as though the laws of physics suddenly didn’t apply. Then, an audible thud was heard by all as the bullet passed through my chest, the force of its kinetic energy thrusting me forward to the ground, landing atop Aria still in my arms. Rebecca involuntarily flinched as a splatter of warm blood struck her face and the front of her nude body. Before Anna could bring her rifle to bear on the shooter, they vanished with a wave of Zână’s left hand. Although Anna was still unable to move her legs, she scanned the area around us with her rifle for other threats but saw no one else. Looking in the direction of the campfire, it too had vanished. There were no more voices, no laughter, no sounds of any kind coming from that direction or from any direction around us. The deafening silence was suddenly broken when Rebecca let out a blood curdling scream at the sight of the unimaginable horror on display in front of her. Zână ceased her magic’s hold on Rebecca and Anna and they both rushed over to me still sitting on my legs but my torso laying forward on the ground atop Aria. Anna immediately took charge as her medical training instinctively kicked in. She turned on her headlamp, shedding ample light on the blood soaking my jacket from the bullet hole in the middle of my back. “He must’ve seen the shooter too and turned his back to them to protect Aria.” Anna stated as she grabbed Rebecca’s nearby discarded jacket and pressed it against the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Anna took Rebecca’s right hand and placed it against the jacket and instructed her to keep pressure on it. “Becca, I’m gonna slowly lay him back off Aria to set her free and treat him. Keep pressure on the wound.” “Yes! Yes! OK! Is he gonna be OK?!” she frantically demanded in a borderline state of shock. “I don’t know! Focus! Here we go. On 3, 1…2…3.” As Anna slowly laid me onto my back, Aria fell free to the ground in between my cervine legs as they kicked outward and came to rest on the ground to each side of her. Rebecca held her jacket in place, applying pressure against the wound as instructed. “Jesus Christ! There’s so much blood!” Anna exclaimed looking at my chest. “I need more light. Becca, turn your light on!” Rebecca reached up with a shaking left hand and switched her headlamp on but then brought that light to bear on Aria. “Mom! Aria’s not moving! SHE’S NOT FUCKING MOVING!” Rebecca cried out in heartbreaking horror. Anna’s focus quickly darted to Aria. “Oh my God!” Anna exclaimed aloud. She quickly unzipped my jacket and laid it open as blood poured from a larger bullet exit wound. “Aria! Aria! I NEED TO GO TO HER!” Rebecca shouted as she sobbed. Anna grabbed Rebecca’s left hand and pressed it against the gaping wound on my chest in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Rebecca was still fixated on her daughter’s motionless body. “Becca! BECCA!” Anna shouted. Rebecca looked at her mother with tears streaming down her face. Anna took a deep breath, closed her eyes briefly, and engaged a calming voice. “Becca, I know this is hard, but I need you to collect yourself. We’re losing precious seconds. I need you here. Can you do that?” Rebecca nodded. “Apply pressure on his chest where I put your hand and keep applying pressure on his back.” Anna looked down at me. “Sorry Aaron, your daughter needs me.” As she repositioned herself by Aria, she continued relaying instructions to Rebecca. “Becca you to check his breathing. Put your ear to his mouth and nose and listen for breathing.” Aria laid motionless on the ground in a pool of blood. The specter doe, unmoved, observed standing from next to them. Anna scanned Aria’s body for injuries and spotted blood leaking from a bullet entrance wound just behind where her left foreleg met her body. She quickly applied pressure and brought her right ear down to the tip of Aria’s snout to check for breathing. After having intently listened for nearly 20 seconds, Rebecca began bawling once again at the realization that I wasn’t breathing and sat up. “MOM HE’S NOT BREATHING!” she screamed in horror. “Damn it! Becca you need to start CPR! Now! Start chest compressions and breathing!” “But…but…I don’t know how to do that! What about Aria?! Is she gonna be OK?! IS SHE?!” “I don’t know Becca! There’s so much fucking blood! I can’t tell if it’s hers or his!” She refocused on listened for Aria’s breathing. “She’s not breathing!” Anna announced. Anna sat up, looked at my motionless body, and then her distraught daughter. Tears filled Anna’s eyes in the realization that she had to make a difficult decision. “Becca leave him! I need your help with Aria!” A sobbing Rebecca looked over at Zână observing calmly without a hint of emotion. “Don’t just stand there! Do something! Please! PLEASE HELP US!” she screamed. “My childe, it lieth not within mine power to hinder the death of humankind. Such is not the charge given unto me.” Zână explained nonchalantly. “BECCA IF YOU WANT ANY CHANCE AT SAVING YOUR DAUGHTER GET OVER HERE NOW!” Anna shouted coldly. Rebecca forced herself to leave the love of her life and moved to her mother’s side. Anna took Rebecca’s right hand and pressed it against Aria’s bullet wound. “Becca keep pressure here. I’m going to flip her over so I can check for an exit wound. On 3, 1…2…3.” Anna carefully flipped Aria and gently laid her on the ground on her other side. “Shit, the bullet’s still inside. Starting CPR!” She began compressions with her left hand to the chest area just behind Aria’s forelegs. After 30 compressions, she closed her right hand over Aria’s snout and blew small quick breaths into her nose and mouth. She continued repeating the process, checking for a pulse and for breathing every couple minutes. A sobbing Rebecca continued to apply pressure to her daughter’s wound. After a few minutes, as Anna continued to work on Aria, Rebecca slowly stopped crying. It was as though her body was no longer capable of the act. She sat there in a state of shock, focusing her blank gaze back and forth between the lifeless body of her lover next to her and her daughter below her. She was mentally broken. Her mind wandered through an assortment of happy and wonderful memories of them both. Holding her daughter for the first time after giving birth. The countless loving acts and intimate moments shared with Aaron. As the slideshow in her mind progressed, the reality really set in that they were both gone, gone forever. Her lover and best friend was dead. Her daughter of a day and a half was dead. A single tear rolled down Rebecca’s right cheek. “I never got to say goodbye. [snuffle] I never got to say goodbye to either of them.” she stated solemnly. “Cease thy striving.” Zână commanded. “Aria’s life shall not be renewed unto that mortal frame.” Anna in the midst of another set of compressions refused. “I’m not giving up! I’m not losing her too! YOU HEAR ME!” she yelled back defiantly. “Thy striving merits commendation, yet they are but vain. She shall not return. Though thy wisdom in sciences be great, yet this I know to be true beyond all question.” Anna slowly stopped working on Aria, reluctantly surrendering. After sitting for a moment, exhausted from her efforts to save Aaron and Aria’s life, the emotions she had compartmentalized to maintain her much needed focus came bursting forth and overwhelmed her mind and body. Her entire body trembled as she sobbed loudly. Rebecca slowly became aware of her mother’s emotional breakdown and embraced her in a tight hug. “I’m…I’m…so sorry. [sobbing] I couldn’t…I couldn’t save them.” Anna bawled to her daughter. Rebecca pulled back and looked her mother in the eyes. “You did everything you could. It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.” “I did everything I could…everything I could…and I still couldn’t save them.” “Ne’er was it meant that thou shouldst perform this deed.” Zână replied coldly. Anna composed herself enough to process what she said and quickly grew angry. “What the fuck does that mean?! What?! You planned for them to die?!” “Aye. This childe must needst learn. She now knoweth the holiness of life: the sacredness of motherhood which she hath wrenched from this doe; the sacredness of new life yet unfulfilled; the sacredness of the love ‘twixt mother and childe, ne’er granted the chance to be bestowed nor received. “Your such a fucking hypocrite! You took Aria and Aaron’s life! And for what?! To teach a young naive girl a lesson?! She’s only 18 for Christ’s sake! She and Aaron spent the last 7 months jumping through all of your fuckin hoops, and for what?! So you could teach them a lesson before killing them all?! You killed an innocent fawn! You killed an innocent boy that had nothing to do with this but willingly gave up everything for my daughter and Aria! YOU’RE the one failing to understand the sacredness of life!” Anna was done with Zână’s callous responses and wasn’t holding back any more, consequences be damned. I know well thy wrath and vexation. Some of thy words hold truth, some is false. All shall in time be revealed.” Zână replied. Anna was growing more furious with each archaic cold word leaving Zână’s lips. “What the fuck does that mean?!” Rebecca looked over at the specter doe still observing them. “Wait, why is she still by herself? Shouldn’t Aria be with her?” Zână smiled softly. “Thou art indeed of sharp mind, my childe.” She held out her right hand. A small bluish-white glowing orb appeared, hovering a couple inches above her open hand. “She is preserved by mine hand. She lieth betwixt our two realms…waiting…hoping.” “She’s alive?! Then please! Bring her back!” Rebecca pleaded. “Nay, I cannot. None other than the offering of a heart’s true sacrifice shall Aria again be joined unto her mother.” Anna shot up onto her feet. “That’s it! I’m so fuckin tired of these riddles. I’m gonna…” Rebecca quickly grabbed her mother’s arm. “Mom! No! Wait!” she shouted. Rebecca thought about what Zână said and reflected back on what she told her and Aaron earlier. “Death is a gentler path than a life of ceaseless sacrifice.” she paraphrased aloud as she recollected the moment. Rebecca stood up next to her mother. “Zână, I wish for you to change me into a doe so I can be the mother Aria needs.” Anna’s eyes went wide. “No Becca! Don’t do this!” Rebecca looked deep into her mother’s eyes and took her hands into hers. “Mom…it’s OK. I want this. I want to be a proper mother to Aria. I love her. I’ll do anything for her…anything. I wanna keep her safe and raise her right. What’s more important than that? It sure as hell isn’t school or a career.” Rebecca looked down at her lover’s body. “I’ve already met the love of my life…and…I had 18 wonderful years with an awesome mother. There’s nothing waiting for me back home. I have my daughter waiting for me here…and…I’m not going to let her down again.” Rebecca looked at the glowing orb floating over Zână’s hand. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t do the same for me if that was me in that blue ball?” Tears of joy streamed down her mother’s face. “Oh…wow! My baby girl has become a woman. [snuffle] You know I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, and when I got there, I’d keep going. I don’t want to let you go, but I know you’re doing the right thing.” Anna stroked the side of her daughter’s face. “God, I’m so proud of you.” Rebecca turned to the specter doe. “I’m truly sorry I took Aria from you. It should’ve been you raising her…not me. She’s a wonderful fawn, a beautiful doe. You should be proud of her. I’ll make sure she knows who you are and that you’re never forgotten. I’ll keep her safe. I’ll be there for her as long as she needs me. I swear it, on my life.” The specter doe gazed deeply into Rebecca’s eyes for a moment before looking at Zână. “Thou art forgiven, and we do accept thy true sacrifice.” Zână declared. “Therefore shall thou take the form of a doe, that thou mayst nurture thy daughter as a mother most true. For this thy true sacrifice, thou and Aria shall dwell beneath the safeguard of me and of the forest. No unnatural peril shall come nigh unto you both.” Rebecca approached Zână. “I can’t thank you enough for this.” Rebecca looked down at the love of her life. “Is there anyway Aaron can join us? He’s a great father with lots of love to give.” Tears began to fill her eyes once again. “I don’t know how I can go on without him. [snuffle] He completes me. I feel like a part of me has died.” Zână looked down at Aaron’s lifeless body. “Thou speakest true. A man of rare and noble qualities was he. By his sacrifices hath thy true sacrifice been wrought possible. Ever shall we remain in his debt, yet, as I have afore declared, it lieth not within mine power to hinder the death of humankind. Such is not the charge given unto me.” “But you brought Aria back from the dead…twice. [snuffle] If everyone’s so grateful for his sacrifice…why can’t someone from whatever realm use magic to bring him back?” “I mourn with thee, my childe, yet death is steadfast and unyielding, in all realms. Aria I didst preserve, ere death could lay claim upon her. I willed to preserve her, to bestow upon her the opportunity of life, and to grant thee the opportunity to learn. Verily, both thy realm and ours are far the better for it.” “Is there a way he can appear as a ghost or something so I can at least say goodbye?” Rebecca wiped the tears from her eyes as she squatted down next to Aaron’s body and took his left hand into her hands. “I never got to say goodbye…[snuffle]…or tell him that I loved him one last time…[snuffle]…or thank him for everything he did for me…for me and Aria.” Rebecca broke down and began sobbing. “Verily, I do feel thy sorrow, my childe; yet he belongeth unto the human realm. Though the enchantments of our realm have touched him, he is not of this realm, and therefore mayst not manifest as the doe hath done. Whether he mayst or shall ever manifest lieth beyond mine charge.” Rebecca took a moment to collect herself. “Will I ever see him again?” “Verily, I speakest true, thou shalt again be joined once more.” Rebecca smiled at the reassurance that she would one day reunite with her lover. “May I ask you one more favor?” “Speak, my childe.” “Can you make it so that I don’t go into heat. Aaron’s my one true love. [snuffle] I don’t want to be with anyone else…ever. I owe him that much.” “It shall be so.” Zână approved with a smile. Rebecca looked deep into Zână’s brown eyes. “I’m scared Zână. How will I know how to be a doe and be a good mother to Aria? Will I keep all my memories from my human life? I’m worried I’ll forget everything…[snuffle]…forget Aaron…forget my mom…forget everything that got us here.” “Fear not my childe. All that thou art in this hour, thou shalt remain in thy new form. Thou shalt hold all the memories of thy past life, and shalt forge new ones. I will bestow upon thee the knowledge and instincts which thy new form requireth, that thou mayst fulfil thy purpose and be a mother most true unto Aria.” Rebecca leaned over Aaron and ran her fingers through his brown hair. She smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. “God I’m gonna miss you so much. I’m gonna miss your touch, your laugh, the way you look at me, the way you make me feel, your love for me. [snuffle] We had so many years together as friends but so little time as lovers. Damn it, why did it take us so long to find our love. It’s not fair. It’s really not fair to you. [snuffle] I’ll never forget everything you did for me and Aria. I hope you get to watch our daughter grow up. You would’ve been a great father. I’m gonna tell Aria all about you…well…unless deer can’t talk to each other…then…well…you know what I mean.” She leaned down and kissed his cold lifeless lips softly and then pulled back with a large smile. “You know, I really hope you get to keep your deer cock cause I’m saving myself for you tard.” “Becca!” her mother scolded. Rebecca looked back at her mother with her playful smartass grin. “What? Don’t knock it till you try it.” Anna rolled her teary eyes. “Good grief Becca. Read the room would ya.” she responded in her own playful way. Rebecca gently slid her fingers down over Aaron’s blue eyes and brought them to close. “Well, like I always say, enough of this sappy shit. I gonna miss you my love. [snuffle] But it’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later. I’ll be countin the days. Love you always.” Noticing the ornate grip of the Desert Eagle, she pulled it from his jacket pocket. Rebecca got up and walked to her mother while fighting back her tears. “Can you bury him here? Aaron would want that, to be close to me. [snuffle] To be close to Aria. But no headstone or anything…” She looked over at Aaron. “…he wouldn’t want anything like that. I’d really like to visit him when I can.” Rebecca looked down at the doe’s remains and Aria’s body. “The doe and Aria should be buried here too…together. [snuffle] I think they’d like that.” Anna pondered how she might accomplish the task in secrecy. “Oh boy, I don’t know if I can pull that off without someone seeing me and calling the cops.” Zână interjected. “For his sacrifice, Aaron shall abide beneath the safeguard of me and of the forest. We shall see that thy task is veiled from mortal men, and that their resting place shall remain ever undisturbed. The bounds of this protection is shown by the bewilderment thou didst suffer upon thy journey hither.” Rebecca looked into her mother’s eyes. “Tell Jennifer and Daniel what happened here. That Aaron gave his life to save me and Aria. He saved me…[snuffle]…in every way that a person can be saved. I owe everything to him. Please tell them that. From me.” She handed Anna the Desert Eagle. “Daniel would appreciate getting this back. Tell him…Aaron was right…he didn’t need it. Everything he did he did using his heart and his brain.” “They’re gonna be so devastated but I’ll help them get through it. [snuffle] They’ll be proud to know that he died so that you and Aria could live.” Anna looked over at Aaron’s body. “It’d be nice if they could come say goodbye.” Anna looked at Zână. “Would that be OK?” “The forest shall hold in honour his parents, and receive them as oft as they shall wish.” Zână replied. Rebecca quickly looked to Zână. “Wait, does that mean that they and my mom can come and visit me and Aria too?” “They may visit as oft as they shall wish, at whatsoever time it pleaseth them.” Zână replied. “Mom, I’d really like it if you visited us regularly. [snuffle] That’d mean so much to me.” “Of course sweetie. [snuffle] We just need some way to coordinate when and where to meet that you can use as a deer.” Rebecca looked over at Aaron. “I wanna meet here so we can be with Aaron. But how do we setup a time for everyone?” They pondered for a moment, then Anna arrived at a solution. “We can use the sun and moon. We’ll meet the day after the full moon at sunset, right here. That’ll give us one to two days each month.” “Well…I think I’ve dragged this out long enough. [snuffle] Aria’s waiting for me.” Rebecca hugged her mother tight one last time. They embraced for a while, neither wanting to let go. “I’m gonna be fine. I love you. [snuffle] Thank you for everything.” “God I’m gonna miss you. [snuffle] I’m so proud of you. Give Aria a kiss from her grandmother.” Anna released her daughter and Rebecca walk over to Aaron. “It’s time for me to go. [snuffle] See you later my love. I’m gonna visit you every day. I promise.” Rebecca looked to Zână and the bluish orb containing Aria and smiled. “OK, I’m ready.” “Verily, my childe, come forth, and I will grant unto thee my gift.” Rebecca complied and Zână slowly brought her left hand up and ever so gently stroked the right cheek of Rebecca’s face. Her transformation began immediately. As was the case each time before, the changes were free from pain but the sensations and sounds were odd and intense. Rebecca’s changes began where the previous one left off, immediately below her chest. Her breasts tipped with cold erect nipples shrank in size as they retracted into her torso while the soft tissues and bone reconfigured inside her body. Rebecca groaned as the familiar grotesque sounds of ligaments, tendons, and bones softening and changing shape filled the cold damp night air. “Don’t forget to breathe sweetie! I’m here with you.” Anna yelled to her daughter. She moved closer exuding the same helpless feeling during Rebecca’s previous change in the cabin. The specter doe followed her, taking a position at her side. Rebecca began focusing on her breathing but suddenly staggered unsteadily on her hooves as her pelvis and hind legs were reconfigured to that of a true quadruped, eventually forcing her onto her hands as it neared completion. She observed her soft and delicate hands transform as her fingers merged and hardened into jet black cloven hooves. Rebecca nearly fell to the ground when her shoulders were reconfigured to accommodate the forelegs of a deer. Her skin slowly thickened and toughened, the changes spreading upward along her arms and upper torso to the base of her neck. This was quickly followed by sprouting fur colored to match her preexisting winter coat on the lower half of her body. Her forelegs and body complete, the changes ascended her neck, thickening it and stretching it. The sounds of her body’s reconfiguration resonated loudly in her ears as the transformation engulfed Rebecca’s head and began reshaping it into that of a doe. Her breath became forceful and rapid as she tried to breathe through the overwhelming sensations. The lower half of her face extended forward, widening and turning her blackening nose upwards while becoming damp and leathery. Rebecca’s tongue lengthened and grew thick in her throat and mouth. Her teeth shifted, grew larger, and blunter. The top half of her head flattened as her beautiful brown eyes darkened and enlarged a bit and Rebecca closed them as they shifted to the sides of her slendering head. Her ears thinned out, broadened, and lengthened as they moved to the top of her head. Rebecca’s long brown hair fell to the ground as fur sprouted up her neck and all over her head while longer black whiskers grew from the sides of her muzzle. As quickly as it began, Rebecca’s transformation was complete. She was now a young adult white-tailed deer doe. She roughly the same size as a typical adult doe, her mass remaining equal to that of her human form. Rebecca stood there for a moment keeping her eyes closed as she processed the plethora of new sensations. Slowly opening them, she found the changes to her eyesight instantly apparent and significant. Her now 310-degree panoramic field of view was really going to take some getting used to. Although their motion detection and low-light capabilities were exceptional, it was obvious that she saw everything in less detail and fewer colors. Zână, Anna, and the specter doe observed quietly as Rebecca adapted to her new form. She was fascinated with how her highly specialized ears automatically, immediately, and independently turned and rotated toward the sounds around her to pinpoint their source. She found that she could control them as well, rotating them nearly 180 degrees. A deep inhale through her nostrils overwhelmed Rebecca as many aromas and odors invisible to her as a human were made immediately known. Her new extremely heightened sense of smell was far more acute than a human's by nearly 1,000 times. She shifted her tongue and jaw in an attempt to speak and quickly found human speech to be impossible. The only sounds she managed to produce were low and somewhat high-pitched bleats and grunts and that was the limit of her new vocabulary. The upper portion of her body that had previously been naked human skin, was no longer cold from the night air. Her full body covering of fur provided ample comforting warmth. As she swayed her squared ass and hips, her painfully full udder swung gently between her hind legs. Lifting one of her forelegs felt strange as its joint bent in the opposite direction to which she was accustomed from her arms when standing on all fours as a human. Rebecca was extremely thankful when she noticed the soreness from giving birth had vanished, her reproductive system having been returned to a virgin state. Rebecca’s first attempt to walk was a struggle at best as her new vision was somewhat disorienting, but as before in the cabin, each step seemed to recalibrate her brain to the movement of her deer limbs and the perception from her altered vision. After 10 steps it was like her deer legs were the only ones she had ever known. Rebecca looked at her mother now standing a few feet away and she was ecstatic to instantly recognize her. She closed her eyes and probed her mind for her previous body’s memories and was extremely relieved to find them all there and fully intact. More surprising was finding that she maintained the full cognitive capabilities of her human mind. She could solve an algebraic equation if the situation called for it, though providing the answer to anyone outside her own mind would be challenging. There was also something else occupying her mind that was far more rudimentary; the cognitive capabilities of a doe. Rebecca knew everything that was required to care for herself and her fawn. Her mental assessment was suddenly broken by a familiar sound. “Are you in there Rebecca?” Anna asked. Rebecca looked at her mother and nodded and then responded with a single bleat. “Oh yeah, communication. Bleat once for “Yes” and two for “No”. If you ever can’t bleat, stomp a hoof once for “Yes” and two for “No”. Understand?” Rebecca nodded and responded with a single bleat and single hoof stomp from her right foreleg. “Amazing! Uhhh…are you OK?” Rebecca nodded and responded with a single bleat. “Oh thank God! Uhhh…can I do anything for you?” Rebecca didn’t respond but instead turned around and faced Zână and then bleated. Zână smiled. “Yea, my childe, I shall return unto thee thy daughter.” The small bluish-white orb suspended above Zână’s open right hand slowly descended to a couple inches above the ground between Rebecca and Zână. It pulsed briefly before emitting a blinding light after which Aria appeared. She shook her head and blinked her eyes several times from a brief disorientation. Once she locked eyes on the doe standing in front of her, she recognized the doe as Rebecca immediately through both sight and scent. Aria bleated and bounded to Rebecca in the excitement of being reunited with her mother. Rebecca lowered her head and they lovingly rubbed muzzles and excitedly licked each other. “Lo, the circle is fulfilled in this hour.” Zână declared. “Thou hast restored that which thou didst take from the forest. Harmony and balance have been restored.” Zână then dematerialized into nothingness. At the conclusion of the intimate moment shared between Rebecca and Aria. The little fawn turned her attention to the specter doe. She walked over to her and bleated with tail wagging excitedly. The specter doe lowered her head and lovingly rubbed muzzles with the daughter she was never afforded the opportunity to meet, love, and raise as her own. Seemingly content, she too dematerialized into nothingness as did the remnants of her body and Aria’s former body. Rebecca went to Aria and gave her head a couple loving licks. With all the supernatural elements gone, only the light cast by the moon softly illuminated the forest. Anna switched her headlamp on as a tear rolled down her cheek. “Well, it’s late, you should probably take Aria and go bed her down for the night.” she suggested to her daughter. Rebecca walked up to her and Anna wrapped her arms around her daughter now doe in one final embrace. Rebecca gave her cheek a couple soft licks. Anna smiled. “Aw, I love you too.” Anna looked up at the moon shining overhead. “You know, the next full moon is only a couple days away. [snuffle] At least we won’t have to wait very long to see each other again.” Rebecca looked up at the moon and then back to her mother and bleated. She and Aria then walked over to Aaron. They stood over him for a moment before Aria bleated and then gave his cheek a couple soft licks. Rebecca slowly and gently rubbed her muzzle against his cheeks and then gently pressed her snout against his lips. She then lifted her head slightly and bleated in what could be described as mournfully. She looked upon her mother one last time and then instinctually scanned her surroundings for any threats before gracefully walking northward into the thick forest with Aria following close behind. Anna watched with tears in her eyes until they disappeared from view. She walked over to Aaron and gazed upon him. “My baby girl’s all grown up. She couldn’t have done it without you. [snuffle] Thank you. Thank you so much for getting her through this. Y’all really deserved to spend the rest of your lives together. [snuffle] Zână said y’all will be together again…I really hope that’s the case.” Anna snuffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Well, I’m gonna go get a shovel from the Jeep so I can lay you to rest properly. [snuffle] I think you’ll like it here. You’ll be close to Becca and Aria.” She pulled out her phone. The lock screen displayed Sun Mar 1 11:39 but it was the wallpaper that gave her pause. She smiled at the 3am picture she had taken of Rebecca and Aaron posing with Aria on her favorite reading couch wearing the smiles of happiness and love that were a frequent sight in her house but would be no more. As a tear rolled down her cheek, she brought Google Maps to the foreground and dropped a new pin marking where she stood that she simply named “Aaron”. She then setup directions back to the Wrangler and headed off. Anna made good time hiking the 6 miles there and back. Upon arriving at the spot Aaron’s body had been laying, she made a remarkable discovery. In her absence, his body had been laid to rest in the spot where he had fallen. His grave was covered in all varieties of flowers common to the region and was outlined with brilliant white stones. At its head was the sprout of an oak tree in his honor. Anna smiled. “Thank you Zână. I think that’s perfect.” she remarked aloud. “See you in a few days Aaron. I’ll bring your parents to say goodbye. Love you.” Over the next three days, Rebecca quickly adapted to life as a young adult white-tailed deer doe. Her doe and motherly instincts were as strong as any other doe in the forest. As a result, Rebecca was compelled to follow the typical strict routine of a doe having a newborn fawn. She already knew how to forage and find water and how to care for Aria. Rebecca spent most of her days away from Aria, foraging to sustain her body’s high energy demands for lactation and patrolling her territory/home range. Aria’s behavior was dominated by a survival strategy of rest and concealment and spent most of her time lying motionless to keep safe from predators she unknowingly didn’t need to fear under Zână’s protection. It wasn’t lost on Zână that having a newborn fawn this time of year was very much outside the norm and dangerous given the growing state of the forest in late winter. Regardless of the weather conditions, she ensured plenty of food was always available for them to have full bellies. Rebecca would return to Aria’s bedding area 3 to 4 times each day, to nurse, groom, and clean her. Each time she returned, Rebecca instinctually used soft low-intensity grunts to summon Aria. Each time, Aria popped up from her hiding place and excitedly bounded to her, tail wagging all the while. Rebecca’s least favorite instinct that she followed was consuming Aria’s urine and feces to minimize the risk of her scent attracting predators. She also frequently moved Aria to new bedding areas to avoid leaving a long-term established scent trail. Rebecca new all of her instincts pertaining to predators weren’t needed but felt it important to ingrain into Aria to pass down to her fawns. Their bedding locations remained relatively close to Aaron’s grave so Rebecca could visit him often while remaining close to Aria. She visited Aaron every day as promised. During the daylight hours of each day, when white-tailed deer are dominated by a survival strategy of concealment, Rebecca refused and instead laid next to his grave, occasionally standing to stretch or forage on nearby vegetation. The heartbreak and pain of his loss she carried didn’t seem to wane at all with each passing day. Something Rebecca quickly came to realize was that deer do not sleep in one long stretch like humans. Her body compelled her to take short naps lasting only 30 seconds to several minutes. In any given day she only totaled 4–6 hours of sleep and it was anything but deep. It was more of a semi-sleep as her body remained alert, her ears involuntarily and constantly swiveling about in reaction to the noises around her to detect predators. She missed her soft and warm bed and the wonderful deep sleeps she had curled up in it, especially when Aaron was lying next to her. She would occasionally encounter other deer. Although she was extremely curious and really wanted to interact with them, her instincts compelled her to fiercely protect her home range and Aria. She chased them away regardless of whether they were bucks or does. If they resisted, much like in her human form, it’d be a cold day in hell before Rebecca would back down from a fight when challenged. She followed her doe instincts and first gave them a warning by flatten her ears with a “death to you” stare and raising her tail. More extreme measures hadn’t been required yet, but Rebecca was prepared to attack with her foreleg hooves and beat the ever-loving shit out of them if necessary. March 4th, the day after the first full moon, finally came and Rebecca was bursting with excitement at seeing her mom and Aaron’s parents. The day seemed to take forever to pass. At sunset, she excitedly headed to Aaron’s grave. She knew they were there already. She could hear and smell them while she nursed Aria, long before they got there. As she approached, she immediately spotted her mom through the trees and burst into a full sprint with intermittent graceful bounds over the obstacles in her path. Anna heard the rustling and hoof thumping of her daughter’s approach. Once she saw the large beautiful doe charging at her, she smiled with great joy and opened her arms wide. Rebecca slowed to a walk and went into her mom’s arms where she received a tight loving hug. Rebecca closed her eyes and relished the moment, desperately wishing she had arms to wrap around her mom and return the intimate embrace. Jennifer and Daniel observed in awe at the spectacle. “God I missed you so much! The house is so quiet without you, Aaron, and Aria there.” Rebecca pulled back and gave her mom’s face several soft licks. Anna chuckled. “Yes, I love you too but, woah, that’s some powerful deer breath you got goin on there!” Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Wow! Even as a deer, you can still roll your eyes at your mother.” Anna teased with a chuckle. Rebecca was so grateful to see her mom. Although it hadn’t even been 72 hours since her hug goodbye in this very spot, it felt like so much more time had passed. She sorely missed the ability of speech. Rebecca wanted so desperately to share so much about her new life. It just wasn’t going to be the same only answering her mom’s “yes” and “no” questions with one and two bleats. “So, I’m guessing Aria’s bedded down and hiding nearby?” Rebecca bleated once for “yes” and then turned her body and pointed her right foreleg in the direction of her bed. Anna brought her hand up to the side of her daughter’s face. “How are you doing sweetie? You OK?” Rebecca slowly looked over at Aaron’s grave and gave two long and low bleats. “I know. It’s been hard on all of us.” Jennifer and Daniel each opened there arms and gave Rebecca a warm loving hug of their own. They expressed their condolences though they were struggling mightily through their own grieving process. They thanked Rebecca for the happiness and love she shared with Aaron. They told her repeatedly how Aaron said she was the best part of his life, even long before they were lovers. The greeting quickly evolved into a spontaneous group therapy and grieving session. The group made their way over to Aaron’s grave and sat around its perimeter, Rebecca lying next to her mom. There were lots of tears shared by all except Rebecca who was biologically incapable of the act and she found it quite frustrating to not be able to complete the emotional release. What began as a sad and mournful exchange gradually evolved into more of a celebration of life. Stories shifted to the good times and happy memories. This was particularly hard on Rebecca. She had so much she wanted to share and contribute but had no means by which to do so. As everyone laughed hard at a memory shared by her mom, Rebecca suddenly got up and began stomping and bleating in frustration. Everyone was caught off-guard and confused. “Becca, what’s wrong?!” her mom asked with great concern. Rebecca bleated repeatedly and shock her head and continued stomping her hooves forcefully into the ground in frustration. “I don’t know what you want sweetie.” her mom replied, frustrated that she didn’t know how to help her daughter. Rebecca collected herself and thought for a moment. She spotted a small area with little vegetation that was also mostly free of fallen leaves and pine needles. Rebecca walked over and bleated while awkwardly motioning with her right foreleg for Anna to come to her. As Anna walked over, Rebecca began scraping her right foreleg hoof along the ground’s surface with a focused purpose. When she stopped and started scraping again, Anna quickly realized what Rebecca was doing. “She’s writing a message!” she shouted to Jennifer and Daniel. They quickly came over and watched as Rebecca awkwardly scraped each letter in the hard Georgia red clay, “CANT CRY OR LAF, SO MUCH PAIN”. “Oh sweetie, come here.” Anna wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her tight. “I didn’t even think about that. You have all your human emotions but no way to express them. God that must be hell for you.” Anna suddenly pulled back and smiled at her daughter. “Hold on, I got an idea.” Anna walked over to her backpack and pulled out her tablet. She opened an AI app and asked it to create something and then saved it to Photos. She brought the tablet over to Rebecca and held it about two feet away from her face. It displayed a 5x5 matrix of letters and numbers colored yellow on a dark brown background. “Now I know your depth perception isn’t very good, but can you read the numbers and letters from this distance?” Rebecca nodded with a single bleat. She showed it to Jennifer and Daniel. “This is a 5x5 matrix tap code used by POWs to communicate. We’ll find her a stone she can tap on with a hoof and this is how Becca can communicate with us. Thank you History Channel.” She looked over at Rebecca. “And you always made fun of me for watching those boring documentaries.” she teased. Rebecca excitedly stomped her foreleg hooves on the ground and bleated. Daniel found a large flat stone and placed next to Aaron’s grave. Anna managed to find an app that could translate the taps in real time using the tablet’s microphone. She set the tablet on the ground next to the stone with the microphone oriented towards it. Rebecca excitedly bounded over and laid so that she could extended her right foreleg to comfortably tap her hoof on the stone. Anna sat next to her so she could engage the translator when Rebecca wanted to speak. Jennifer and Daniel excitedly sat across from Rebecca and Anna on the other side of Aaron’s grave. Anna smiled at her daughter with great anticipation. “OK, for each letter, tap the row number first, then the column number. When you wanna talk just bleat to let me know and I’ll activate the app.” Rebecca bleated immediately. Anna tapped the translate button and Rebecca began tapping away. It was a steep and painfully slow learning curve as she matched the set numbers to each letter using her poor vision and then tapped each letter out. Rebecca tapped 4 times paused briefly and tapped 4 times, paused longer, and then tapped 5 times paused briefly and tapped 4 times. After hearing no taps for a few seconds, the app automatically read it aloud using a female voice, “TY”. It was far from perfect, but Rebecca was grateful to have a voice once again. “OK. Let’s try this again. How are you doing sweetie?” Anna asked her daughter. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“HURT MIS AARON”. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“SO ALONE”. Tears quickly reappeared from everyone as Rebecca’s short and choppy dialog provided insight into her state of mental anguish. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“ARIA CEEPS ME GOIN”. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“EACH DAY NOT EASIER”. Anna leaned over and hugged her daughter tight. “I know sweetie. [snuffle] I wish so much I could take away your pain. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but it’ll get easier. [snuffle] It was so hard when I lost your father.” Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“HOW LONG BEFOR PAIN GON”. “Well…it never really goes away. But that’s a good thing in a way. [snuffle] You’ll never forget him. It’ll help preserve some of that deep connection you had with him.” Anna replied soulfully, pulling from her own experience and pain. Rebecca looked at Aaron’s grave and let out a deep sigh. They sat quietly for a few minutes letting Rebecca dictate the conversation and its tempo. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“ENUF SAPY SHIT”. Everyone chuckled and wiped away their tears. Anna smiled and gently stroked Rebecca’s head. “There’s my Becca.” Jennifer pulled her backpack closer to her. “I think I’ve got something that’ll cheer everyone up.” she announced as she reached in a pulled out a container. Rebecca instantly caught the scent of a familiar and pleasing aroma the second she unzipped her pack. “Homemade Belgian Waffles!” she announced as she removed the lid. Rebecca bleated excitedly and pounded the ground with her forelegs. “Now I know you’re not supposed to eat these but I don’t think a couple will kill ya.” Anna nodding in agreement. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“ONE PLZ LOTS SYRUP”. Jennifer smiled and happily plated a waffle for Rebecca and dowsed it in lots of syrup before handing the plate to Anna who served it up to Rebecca. “Want me to cut it up for you?” Anna asked. Rebecca bleated once and nodded eagerly. As she waited patiently, she noticed how different the sensations of the experience were. The syrup produced an overwhelming sugary scent that completely masked everything else. Lost was the wonderful aroma of the waffles and the distinct and wonderful aromas of the more potent ingredients. The moment Anna finished, Rebecca immediately began devouring the bitesize pieces. As she chewed her first three, she suddenly stopped. The sensations were NOTHING like when she was human. She could taste the sweetness of the sugars but that was about it. She loved Belgian Waffles; they were Aaron’s favorite. She expected the taste she knew intimately well and loved would allow her to relive any one of the many memories at the kitchen table sitting next to Aaron, exchanging jabs and playful insults while Anna made futile attempts to keep it civil. It was torture. Rebecca shamefully spit everything back out onto the plate. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“SORY TAST WEIRD SAD”. “I’m sorry Becca.” Anna consoled her daughter. Rebecca bleated, waited, then tapped…“NEED CHEC ARIA COM WITH”. Everyone perked up at being offered the opportunity to see Aria. It was getting dark. Everyone put on their headlamps and followed Rebecca northward into the thick forest. After only a couple minutes of walking, Rebecca stopped and summoned Aria with soft low-intensity grunts. Like every time before, Aria popped up from her hiding place and excitedly bounded to her mother with tail wagging. She immediately nudged at Rebecca’s udder and bleated hungrily. Everyone kept their distance and watch quietly as Aria nursed. After a couple minutes, Aria had her fill and returned to her bed for a nap. Her checkup complete, Rebecca walked over to the group of humans. “Wanna go back to our spot?” Anna asked. Rebecca bleated once and nodded and then led the way back. Everyone took up their same positions around Aaron’s grave but the conversations this time were far lighter and filled more with laughter. Even Rebecca was enjoying herself. This went on for a couple hours. There were moments where Rebecca was lost in joy and it felt wonderful. Rebecca begged them to visit more than once a month and that all they needed to do was come to Aaron’s grave and call out for her. This was her territory and she’d always be nearby and with her ears, she’d hear them from at least a half mile away. The plan was modified to every Saturday afternoon and this made Rebecca extremely happy. It was getting late and the moment Rebecca was dreading had arrived. It was time for everyone to leave. There were lots of hugs and tears but it was a little easier saying goodbye this time. After they left, Rebecca grew sad as it was once again just her, Aria, and the forest. Rebecca foraged for a while and then returned to Aria for nursing. And just like that, she was back in her typical doe and motherly routine. Days became weeks and another full moon came to pass, marking one month to the day since Rebecca’s full transformation into a doe. She had settled into a routine that had her borderline going mad with boredom. Her and Aria’s winter coats were in the early stages of transitioning to their summer coats. Aria was growing fast. She was strong enough to follow her for short distances and began playing for short periods of time but still bedded for long stretches. Her diet was just starting to include vegetation in addition to nursing. The increased interaction with her daughter was helping to break up the monotony of her daily lament but only just. Rebecca had grown accustomed to the Saturday visits by her mom and Aaron’s parents. It helped keep her going and really gave her something to look forward to each week. She still spent a lot of time at Aaron’s grave but the pain of his loss was ever so subtly beginning to wane. There was so little to engage and challenge her human mind from the mundane routine her doe body led, it was impossible to not think of Aaron or revisit a memory not involving him. On the first Saturday visit, her mom gave her a laminated copy of the 5x5 matrix tap code. She studied it and practiced frequently. Outside of foraging, taking care of Aria, and napping, she had nothing else better to do. After a couple weeks, it was the limitation of her forelegs ability to keep pace with her mind that was holding her back from increasing her proficiency further. With Anna and Aaron’s parents learning Gen Z text slang, conversations with Rebecca became much more fluid with reduced wait times for her to tap out responses. For the second Saturday visit, Daniel brought her a waterproof chess set with pieces she could easily move using her mouth. By their forth visit four days ago, she was beating the pants off all of them. A wooden picnic table was constructed by Aaron’s grave. Hiking the supplies in wasn’t fun for them but the humans were all thankful for it once it was built. Any other humans passing through Rebecca’s home range would see none of it, the same for Aaron’s grave. In fact, the perception of their activities in every way were masked; nothing could be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled by humans and predators alike. As the calendar flipped to July, Aria was completely weaned off Rebecca’s milk and their summer coats were on full display. Rebecca’s udder shrunk back down but remained a little more stretched and less taut with her teats slightly more visible rather than the perfectly flat look of a maiden doe. Rebecca was thankful that her nursing days were behind her. Every task down to the simplest was far easier without a weighty udder full of milk hanging, swaying, and bouncing between her hind legs. Her entire body was firm and muscular and she loved it. Even as a human, it had been since she was about age 12, before her breasts came in, that she was somewhat lean from head to toe. Her agility and speed were completely unhindered and she enjoyed running and bounding around through the forest. Aria was no longer hiding and accompanied Rebecca everywhere she went. Rebecca taught her critical survival skills and showed her the locations of quality feeding sites and reliable sources of drinking water. Aria loved to play. While venturing about with Rebecca, Aria frequently ran, bounded, and jumped around but always stayed within 50 to 100 yards of her mother. Rebecca’s human cognitive abilities provided her an advantage over every other animal in the forest. This also allowed her to modify and reject her doe instincts at will that would otherwise compel her to do things in very specific ways. Rebecca was loving this age of her daughter as it was the closest it had come to mirroring how a human parent interacts with their child. Her and Aria shared a bond that was uncommonly deep between a doe and her fawn. Rebecca frequently joined in on Aria’s fun and played with her, behavior that was extremely unnatural for their species. It was also about this time that Rebecca began to recognize that Aria was no ordinary fawn. She showed signs of possessing an intelligence unnaturally high for her species. She picked up advanced techniques quickly and showed signs of being able to problem solve. There were times when Aria would look at her and she genuinely got the sense that Aria was working things out. One day, while playing with her, Rebecca started kicking a large pinecone around as though it were a soccer ball. Within an hour, Aria was doing the same. During Saturday visits, Aria sometimes mimicked Rebecca’s usage of the tap code using one of the stones outlining Aaron’s grave, though it was obviously nonsensical gibberish. Rebecca still visited Aaron’s grave daily. She’d lay next to it and would have full conversations in her head as though they were occurring aloud and he could hear her speaking. She talked about her day, how Aria was doing, and spitballed ideas about teaching her new things. It was unclear to Rebecca whether Aria knew her father was buried there or not. Aria sometimes laid by his grave without her and enjoyed smelling the flowers that constantly covered it, that never became overgrown, nor ever died. So many days she wished there was some way should could tell Aria about her father. Who he was and what he sacrificed for them both. The arrival of November brought the breeding season. When Aria failed to have her first heat, Rebecca wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She loved that her daughter’s attention was focused solely on her and they played together frequently. Zână was true to her word. Rebecca did NOT go into heat and she was so thankful to be denied that awful experience. As a doe, she was also thankful to not have to endure human monthly periods. She did miss having sex. Rebecca did get curious and try to masturbate but was greatly disappointed to learn that there’s no pleasurable orgasm to be had for does. She thought that was bullshit and that the least Zână could have done was let her keep her clit. During the winter, Rebecca’s instincts compelled her to take Aria and join other family groups congregating at a winter yard for protection, to conserve energy, and share resources. It wasn’t anything they needed to be concerned with. Under Zână’s protection, food was plentiful in her home range and she knew she could count on Zână to keep it that way through the winter months and beyond. Although it wasn’t necessary for survival, she knew it would be good for Aria to interact and mingle with others of her species. With some exploring of the surrounding areas, Rebecca located a yard about 5 miles to the northwest. She took Aria there several times during the week and sometimes spent the night before returning to her home range. Rebecca’s one year anniversary of her transformation came and went. In late spring, since Rebecca wasn’t with fawn, she wasn’t compelled to temporarily drive Aria off in preparation for giving birth. They remained extremely close and still frequently played together to pass the time. That all changed in late October when Aria was compelled to establish her own home range. The day had come for her daughter to leave the nest so to speak. Although her mom had prepared Rebecca for this, it was still extremely hard on her. Aria’s home range overlapped on the east side of Rebecca’s and was comparable in size to hers. It wasn’t like the typical human parent-child relationship where the child left home and visited every now and then. Rebecca and Aria remained close and interacted frequently but she was no longer constantly by her mother’s side. Their playing sessions became rare and Rebecca spent more time at Aaron’s grave from that moment on. This milestone also officially marked the establishment of the Rebecca Family Group. Anna explained to her that family groups are matriarchal, led by a dominant older female (the matriarch), and consist of Rebecca’s female offspring from various years and their current fawns. From that moment on, Rebecca jokingly demanded to be called “Rebecca the Matriarch”. During the November breeding season, Aria went into heat and it wasn’t long before an older buck caught the scent of her estrus. They mated multiple times over the course of her 36 hour or so heat. Rebecca observed them curiously several times and couldn’t help but feel a little jealous and fantasize by recalling many of the numerous sessions she had with Aaron. She felt extremely frustrated that she couldn’t take any pleasure in those memories through self-pleasure. When Aria didn’t go into heat again the following month, Rebecca knew she was going to be a grandmother at the ripe old age of 20 years. By May 2028, her daughter’s abdomen was swollen with what Anna had confirmed to be twins using a small handheld ultrasound that connected to her phone. She was having a buck and a doe. A couple weeks later, Rebecca knew Aria was close to giving birth when she isolated herself but Aria wasn’t far away. She had set up a nest in an area of tallgrass and bushes where their home ranges overlapped. Rebecca checked in on her frequently, worried as any human was when their daughter was at this stage of pregnancy. When she informed Anna during their Saturday visit, she was so excited. She had been keeping her camping gear in the Wrangler, waiting for the time to come so she could stay for the fawning. She called Jennifer and Daniel and they were on the scene within a few hours. Aria went into labor on the evening of June 6th. There were no complications and both fawns were healthy. Aria was accustomed to having Anna, Jennifer, and Daniel in her life. She was sometimes just as excited as Rebecca when the visited. After over two years, the three of them rarely missed a Saturday visit. From the very beginning, Rebecca used seven rocks to keep track of the days from one Saturday to the next. Six where a similar dark color with one that was colored bright white. She kept them in a pile next to the now 3-foot-tall oak tree at the head of Aaron’s grave. Rebecca would set out one rock, side by side using her mouth with each passing day, lining them up along the left side of his grave. Aria eventually learned that when the white rock was on display, the human visitors were coming at sunset that day. Aria had zero issues with any of them being near her fawns and seemed to encourage the interaction. Time went on. There were many sun rises and sets. The moon transitioned between phases new and full and back to new again many times. Many Saturday visits were had, bringing together her mom, Aaron’s parents, and generations of Rebecca descendants. Rebecca found great joy once again in playing with Aria’s fawns as she had done with her daughter, but they too grew up. At a little over a year old, Aria’s son left the family group to go out on his own and was never seen again. So was the way in deer life. Aria’s daughter established her own home range not long after, overlapping with Rebecca’s on the northwest side. The years began to add up and the Rebecca Family Group continued to grow, overseen and protected by “Rebecca the Matriarch”. As much as things changed around Rebecca, one thing remained constant, the pain she carried for her lost love. Rebecca was spending more and more time at Aaron’s grave. She fell into a deep state of depression and it showed on her outward appearance. Rebecca lost a lot of weight and Anna grew very concerned. The year was 2032 and it was a cold March morning, a week after the six-year anniversary of Rebecca’s full transformation into a doe. She was standing at Aaron’s grave, admiring the same variety of vibrantly colored flowers that always covered it. She gazed upon the now strong 15-foot-tall oak tree growing in his memory that served more as a painful reminder for how much time has passed since the fateful night of his death rather than a memoriam. Rebecca decided that she was ready. She was ready to join Aaron, wherever he was. All these years, he never once appeared to her, though Zână assured her they’d be together again. She laid next to Aaron’s grave, and there she stayed. Anna was at home getting ready for work when Zână appeared before her. She informed Anna that Rebecca would soon die and to come say her goodbyes. Hours later, Rebecca was surrounded by loved ones, human and deer alike. Rebecca laid on her right side, her back resting against the bright white stones that composed the left side of Aaron’s grave. Her head rested in her mother’s lap while Anna gently stroked the fur on her daughter’s head and neck as tears flowed down her cheeks. Aria laid next to them both, sensing her mother’s end was near. They were surrounded by Jennifer, Daniel, and many from the generations of Rebecca’s descendants. “I’m gonna miss you so much sweetie. [snuffle] Go…go to him. You deserve to be together again…y’all both do.” her mother said softly to her daughter. Zână appeared next to the three of them. “Fear not, my child. Soon shalt thou be reunited with thy mate. Thou hast bestowed greatness upon this realm. Thy daughter shall rise and take thy place as Matriarch. Thy daughter, and thy daughter’s children, and the generations brought forth into this realm shall remember thee with deep love and gratitude unending. The wisdom thou hast given them shall endure and be carried forth unto many generations yet to come.” As Rebecca gazed upon her mother’s loving face, darkness began to encompass her vision. The air in her lungs was released in a slow exhale…and then she was gone. Rebecca suddenly struggled to keep her rifle on target and aimed behind the front shoulder of her next victim for a boiler room shot. The young adult doe stared directly at Rebecca, who was standing about 70 yards downwind. “WHAT THE FUCK?!” Rebecca shouted as she pulled the rifle away from her cheek and body and then quickly released it as if it had instantly burned her hands and face. The rifle fell to the ground with a thud as it impacted the ground. To be concluded…