Storms: A deer's tale

another (very) short story... bored... it's storming right now and I've been reading a lot about deer recently...

Thunder roared across the hills as Jurie and Hyger galloped towards the home herd. Hyger tilted her muzzle to the sky just as the first drops of rain fell. They both feared for the safety of the new fawns, especially Gune, who had been born just the night before.

            As the two sisters, an unusual case of twins,  hurried westward, a lightening bolt skittered across the sky to the north. Jurie gazed over to where the bolt had struck, only a few miles away, and was relived to find no fire.

            “Come on! We’ve got to get back before the storm gets worse,” called Hyger. They neared the herd and heard cries of fear from many of the fawns. Hyger was surprised that not many of the does had bolted in fear.

            Jurie sped closer and bellowed to the herd. “The lightening is getting closer! Everyone needs to move to the cave again!”

            The bucks heard her first and started to guide the fearful fawns. It was a strange sight, indeed, to see almost a hundred deer being herded into a large cave, but it had to be done.

            It had been storming more frequently than ever this year and many deer had been lost, whether they died, or were separated from the herd. Hyger and her mate, Jang, who was the captain of the herd, had found a large cave on the west side of the valley. They knew it was luck that found it large enough to house the entire herd.

            Hyger and Jurie raced to follow the group and find their mates. The two were only five years old and each had only calved once, but unlike many deer, they stayed with their first mates.

            The rain pelted down and soon all of the animal’s sleek, red coats were plastered to their flanks. The fawns, which most were very young, had no idea what was going on and many had to be pushed by the bucks’ antlers. Hyger located Jang at the front of the herd by his large, eight-point antlers that were much too big for his age.

            “Jang!” she called to him, propelling herself around the group of deer towards him.

            “What did you find?” He replied over his muscular shoulder.

            Hyger caught up to him and ran beside his left flank, shouting to be heard over the storm. “All the other herds of red deer have found similar places to shelter like ours, but the fallows have not and have all their herds together as one at Great Valley.” Jang nodded as well as he could with the wind whipping at his eyes and muzzle.

            The two led the rest of the herd across the valley until they reached the cave, Home Cave. Jang and Hyger took up position at the mouth of the cavern and ushered their friends into the rock.

            The cave was underneath a rock hill and the deer had thought it must have been carved by wind or rain for man had not inhabited that part of the north yet. Jang watched the fawns carefully to make sure none were injured in the mad rush.

            When everyone was inside, Jang and Hyger collected a group of stags to stay nearer to the entrance as guards. The two then picked their way across the herd to the very back of the cave, where a ledge stood out. The leader hopped up to the top of the outcropping and addressed the large group.

            “Once again, we will stay here until the storm passes through.” There were murmurs of distaste through the herd as they started to settle. Before, the herd had to wait in the cave for almost seven suns until the storm subsided.

By the time every deer was settled down, it was almost moonhigh. Hyger found Jurie and her mate, Wuys, and settled in beside them to sleep. The two females rested; they shared a special bond as they were twins and had always been together.

            Morning reached the cavern late. The sun was high above the horizon when the clouds cleared away. The deer cheered as Jang led the herd back out into the marshy valley. They ran for a while, anxious to get back to home tree.

            When the group returned, many does took to grazing and feeding the fawns, while the stags gathered to discuss the matter of winter. The snows would come soon, and when they did, the herd needed to be ready. As Jang and the other males chatted, Jurie and Hyger roamed the valley, as they had when they were young.

            “Do you think another storm will come soon?” Jurie asked, trotting around a small oak.

            Hyger looked up at the sky. Clouds were building towards the east. “I don’t think so. Not tonight at least, maybe another day.” She glanced over to her sister and dipped her head to graze at some heather.

            Jurie pricked her ears as she heard thunder in the distance. “I almost would rather have piled of snow than this much rain,” she muttered to herself, wagging her short tail.

            Hyger flapped her lips, laughing, and shook her head. “You always surprise me, sister.”

            With that, the two raced towards the herd, tossing their heads, off to report the next storm. 

Pronunciations:

Hyger (Hi- grr)

Jurie (Jury)

Gune (Goon)

Jang (Jane)