Wyld Dreams
I had another really intense dream last night. In this one I was walking down the hill from my parent’s house when I spotted a buck in the middle of the road. He was small, but a six-pointer, and while dirty as a pig in a wallow, he seemed healthy. We stood there watching each other for a few minutes when he charged. I was ready for it and leaned forward, reached out and grabbed him by his antlers. We struggled for several minutes, tumbling through the nearby woods, but I finally won out and the deer collapsed on the muddy leaves, next to a pond. He lay there looking exhausted and terrified so I began whip the mud and grit from his face, talking calmly to him until he relaxed. I stood back to let him up and tipped back into the weed filled water. As soon as I hit the water, I had a good idea I was going to drown. It was very cold, full of bracken and my clothes were pulling me down. The buck stood at the edge of the pond watching me in a serene fashion. I remember thinking, “Well, this is it”, and relaxing (I can only hope that I’ll be able to live my final moments in such a state of calm acceptance). However, for whatever obscure reason, I floated to the edge of the pond and pulled myself out. I remember thinking that my cell phone was probably junk now and pulled it from my pocket to check. Oddly enough, while filled with water, it was still working. I got up and walked back to the road, the deer following me. On the road a woman and her two children had waked up and were now petting the deer, which seemed to have become completely socialized to humanity. I told the kids that we had to drive the buck off now. They seemed upset by this, as was I, but I explained that left as he was, he would be little more than an easy mark for the next hunter to come across his path. I picked up a branch and began waving it in the buck’s face and striking its body. I remember being very sad, to the point of tears, of having to do it, but knowing in my heart that anything else would be a guaranteed death-sentence for the animal, and I knew that I couldn’t live with that.