Moon and Storm - Part One

There is a strange boy in the forest, and a deer who's decided Moon is just the person the boy needs.

Deep in the heart of the land, many hundreds of miles from the sea, there stands an old and venerable forest. It has stood for hundreds of years, the branches of its trees stretching out to shelter the wildlife that thrives within its bosom. Not far from this forest, there stands a small town. Those who live there dare not venture too deep into the forest, for fear of getting lost or swallowed whole by the old growth itself, but their fear is unfounded, for the forest is harmless to those who do not mean harm. As far as the forest is concerned, even humans belong under its protection.

 

It was early October when Moon first learned of the forest’s true priorities. She could not have expected life to change so drastically for her when she awoke that Monday�"did not, in fact, expect anything but the drab and dreadful week that lay ahead of her. And yet, that is the wonderfully surprising thing about forests: they always choose the most innocent of times to strike, for better or worse…

 

~*~

 

The morning had always been Moon’s least favorite time of day. The alarm would go off, ripping her from her wild dreams, a shrill and cantankerous call forcing her back to the mundanity of the week. Some days it would take two snoozes and a full orchestral band blaring from her phone just to wake her up, but others were like today: her eyes jolted open the instant the alarm went off, and immediately she set about fighting with it, smashing at all the buttons with her flailing hand. Her victory complete, she collapsed against her mountain of pillows and stared at the ceiling, her heart pounding within her chest as she tried in vain to remember the dream she’d awoken from. A voice had been calling her name, the sound of drums were thumping in the distance, and the hearty scent of an autumn rain had filled the air, but she could recall no details other than these.

 

Sighing heavily, she stood, as her three siblings ran past her bedroom door. As the eldest, Moon often helped her mother with the younger children. Her mother worked early hours, leaving the house well before five in the morning, and it was Moon’s duty to wrangle her siblings into their day clothes and herd them out the door for school. She preferred the calm of the weekend, when everyone could sleep in and there were no alarms, but the weekend always came to an end and Monday morning always returned. It was time to get to business.

 

The boys zipped through the hallway again, Stone calling to Echo, and Echo calling for their sister Star. Moon shook her head and grumbled to herself about their overabundance of energy as she dressed for school, but there was something different in their voices as they whispered in the hallways. When the soft knock came on Moon’s door, a wave of anticipation rolled through her whole body, as if she’d been waiting for this knock since waking.

 

Standing on the other side of the door was Moon’s nine-year-old sister, Star. The girl had her long hair pulled into two braids on either side of her face, tied off with bright yellow bows, and like Moon, she still had a touch of sleep in her eyes, but there’s was something deeper there as well, a peacefulness that Moon found intriguing.

 

“What is it?” Moon asked, and Star broke into a wide grin.

 

“There’s a deer in our backyard!”

 

With that, she turned on her heel and went skipping after the twins.

 

This was, of course, completely unheard of. Deer never wandered this far from the woods. Occasionally Moon would spot a rabbit on the road to the bus stop, or spy a hawk high in the sky, but they never saw any deer. Curiously, Moon descended the stairs, following the excited sounds of her siblings as they crowded around the sliding glass door in the kitchen, ignoring the stacks of maple syrup corn cakes on the table behind them as they waved at the unusual sight before them.

 

Moon stepped closer, her long body towering over the two eleven-year-olds and the nine-year-old, and sure enough, there was a deer in yard. A doe, to be exact, lying in the grass and watching the house with mild interest.

 

“Look!” shouted Echo, tapping on the glass. “It moved! Its ears are twitching!”

 

The movement was faint, but Moon caught it, too. As soon as she met eyes with the deer, its ears twitched. “It’s too many people,” Moon said, dragging the boys and Star back from the glass and shooing them off to the table. “Leave her be or you’ll scare her off.”

 

“We won’t scare her,” Stone piped up. “We just want to look at her a little more.”

 

But Moon shook her head. “Eat your breakfast.”

 

~*~

 

The deer stayed through breakfast, and still had not moved when they left for school, but Moon knew it would be gone by the time they returned. She was a little saddened by this, and on the way back from the bus stop that afternoon, her eyes searched the far off woods for any hint or sight of the deer. As always, there was nothing.

 

Her mother was already home by the time Moon walked in through the door, and the scent of hibiscus and lavender being hung to dry throughout the kitchen rushed over her as her mother’s voice hummed a lilting, remorseful tune. All at once, the humming stopped, and her mother poked her head into the living room. “Moon?”

 

“Yes, Mama. It’s me.”

 

“Come look, quickly, before she spooks. There’s a doe outside.”

 

Moon perked up, and dropped her backpack beside the couch, slowly following her mother into the kitchen where she could see the deer from the morning in the same place it had been before. Her mother’s hand rested on her shoulder, and the woman leaned in to whisper close to Moon’s ear. “She has been there for the past two hours. She was lying right there when I got home today. She’s a curious one; she’s been watching me work. You can see the intelligence in her eyes.”

 

Moon cocked her head to the side, nodding thoughtfully. “She was there this morning for breakfast. The kids saw her first. She hasn’t moved at all.”

 

“How odd,” her mother said, thoughtfully. “Well, whatever she’s come for, she seems quite determined. Have a seat; I’ll make you some tea and you can tell me how your day went before we’re bombarded by your siblings.”

 

~*~

 

That night, the house was abuzz with talk. The deer had not moved from its spot, and she kept her eyes trained on the glass door, moving only to perk her ears whenever Moon came into sight. It did not go unnoticed by Star, but the young girl had the forethought to speak her observation only to Moon, out of earshot of the twins.

 

“I think the deer is here for you,” Star said, braiding her dark hair. “I just don’t know why.”

 

“The deer is probably just here because our grass is comfortable, or because there are no wolves in our yard,” Moon said, softly.

 

“No, she’s here for you. And she knows it, too.” She held the end of her braid out and Moon tied it off, as they did every night. “You should see what she wants.”

 

Moon smiled and tucked Star into bed. “She wants you to go to sleep, and dream good dreams tonight.”

 

“No, that’s not what she wants. But I’ll do it anyway.” Star yawned then, and rolled over, dropping quickly off to sleep. Moon leaned over to kiss her sister’s tender forehead before leaving the room. Half an hour later, their mother had wrangled both boys to bed as well, and in the excitement of the day it did not take long for them to slip into dreamland. Moon, however, was up for several more hours. She sat on her bed, finishing her homework, distracted by the thoughts of the deer outside. Was Star right? Was the deer aware of her presence? Was she looking for Moon?

 

She was restless that night, tossing and turning, unable to capture the fickle mistress of sleep. Star’s words kept replaying in her head. “You should see what she wants.” Finally, when she was sure that her mother had gone to bed and she would not be interrupted, she slipped quietly out of her bed and tiptoed down the stairs to the kitchen. The deer had not moved in all that time, but lifted her head as Moon reached for the lock on the door. She clicked it up, and slowly slid the door open.

 

“Is it me you want?” she asked, taking a step outside, but the moment her foot made contact with the patio the deer leapt to its feet, spooked, and took off into the night. “Come back!” Moon tried to call after her, but the deer was gone. Their yard was once again empty. Completely normal. Moon sighed and shook her head, turning back to the house. She locked the door, shut off all the lights, and made her way once more to her room. This time, with everything returning to a state of normalcy, Moon was able to sleep, her dreams full of the majestic deer and a strange boy that had never visited Moon’s dreams before. The boy felt like cool rain against her face, sounded like the crash of thunder, and the deer herself seemed to alternate between her natural form, and that of a fox.

 

It was a curious dream, and the morning alarm was an unwelcome interference, but before she could slide back into sleep, a shriek tore through the house, and Echo and Stone both ran down the hallway outside of her bedroom door. “She’s still here! She’s still here! THE DEER IS STILL HERE!”

 

~*~

 

Every morning for the rest of the week, the deer would appear on their lawn, sometimes standing and facing the house, sometimes lying down for a long rest. And every afternoon, Moon would gather the courage to open that door and attempt to approach. Each time, the doe would stand and wander off, sometimes running, but other time sauntering away slowly. She would be back again in the morning, and Moon began to wonder if there wasn’t something to her sister’s predictions. The deer seemed to want something from them, from her, and she felt that if she could only figure it out, then perhaps that would be the key to unlocking her repetitious dream.

 

Who was the wild boy in her sleep? What did it mean? And why did she smell a rainstorm when none was around?

 

Friday night, the dreams were so erratic, so realistic, that she could not stay asleep for long. As the house slept around her and the sun rose outside on Saturday morning, she could think of nothing but the long day ahead of her staring endlessly at her strange new companion. Giving up on the broken promise of further rest, Moon slipped out of her bed and dressed for the day, choosing lighter clothing despite the voice in her head that warned her toward more substantial outerwear. Quietly, so as not to disturb her siblings or her mother, she tiptoed down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. Lying once more in the center of the lawn, was the mystifying doe.

 

“I wonder if you’re hungry,” Moon said. “But then, you never seem to nibble on my mother’s garden, and I know that’s something deer often do. Perhaps you’re just a very polite deer.” She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat at the kitchen table to watch her guest through the glass of the sliding door. The deer seemed to be waiting for something, the patience of a saint guiding her stillness and an eerie sense of foreknowledge about her. There was neither concern nor curiosity in the deer’s serene face, and it reminded Moon in many ways of her mother. And perhaps a little of her sister as well.

 

Finally, Moon stood, taking her dish to the sink to wash it and return it to the cupboard. She would try one more time to approach, just once. Something in her felt that this time, it would be different.

 

Slowly, Moon inched the door open, sliding easily through the crack she’d made before shutting it again behind her. The deer stood, resolutely, and began to walk away from the house as she had each time before. Moon’s heart sunk, and she quickly called out to it.

 

“Wait, please, I’ll go back inside.” She pulled the door open behind her. “I won’t come near.”

 

The deer paused and looked back as Moon stepped into the house, and then both of her ears twitched. She turned again toward Moon and pawed at the ground, insistently. Confused, Moon stepped forward again.

 

Once more, the deer turned away, her walk steady and slow, and Moon began to feel as though she was supposed to follow it. Intrigued, she shut the door all the way and began the long trek after her mysterious guide.

 

They walked for nearly an hour, across the fields behind Moon’s home and past the line of the forest. The cool morning grew chillier the deeper they went, but Moon followed obediently. From time to time the deer would pause and check to ensure her charge was still behind her, but once satisfied, she would continue at her steady pace with even determination. She seemed to have a destination in mind, and Moon would not question it.

 

From early childhood, Moon had been told to avoid the forest, to never approach it, and the tall, ancient trees always seemed foreboding and dangerous, and yet, she found herself trusting in the deer in a way she might not have trusted anyone else. As the branches stretched over her head, Moon began to feel as though she was no longer a stranger in a foreign land, but rather, that she’d been accepted by forest itself. It welcomed her. Come, it said. Here, all are safe.

 

When the midday sun was just overhead, and they had reached the top of a steep hill, the deer stopped and surveyed the land before her, allowing Moon to approach. Beneath them was an open basin, and the light streamed down through the canopy of trees above to spread its golden rays across the crisp fall leaves. The scent of the earth was raw and fresh around her, and though the sky was clear she could smell the rain approaching. She could almost hear its pitter patter through the branches.

 

A rustling of leaves behind her drew Moon’s attention, and she turned quickly, coming face-to-face with the strange boy of her dreams.

 

He stood at her height, his pale skin painted with mud, his tousled dark hair ringed with a crown of twigs. In his hands he held a poorly crafted facsimile of a slingshot, but Moon had no fear. She somehow knew he would not use it.

 

“Get away from her!” the boy shouted at Moon. “Leave us alone!”

 

Moon looked back at the deer, whose whole attention had turned to the boy. There was a fierce love in that look, an expression of pride, and the deer crossed over to him and stopped just in his path. Instantly, he dropped the slingshot, his hand resting on the back of her neck, but he continued to glare at Moon.

 

“Leave this place. It’s not for you.”

 

Moon cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?”

 

“I am the King! I rule this land, and all you see are my subjects, and you are forbidden from this place!”

 

“I was invited by our mutual friend here.” Moon pointed to the deer, but this did nothing but infuriate the boy.

 

“She would never betray me in such manner! Begone, foul human! Begone!”

 

“Well I don’t know how to get back on my own. I don’t remember which way we came from.” As she spoke the words, she realized how true it was, and she began to feel uneasy for the first time. But the boy merely sneered at her.

 

“The forest will show you the way. It will not let you get lost.” He looked to the trees above his head and called out fiercely, “Take the human thing home!”

 

The wind began to pick up, blowing hard against her and rustling the branches. She could see the path open as the leaves tumbled along the ground, blowing away from the clearing. With a hefty sigh, Moon nodded. “Alright. If you want me gone so bad, I’ll leave. But she invited me. You’ll just have to discuss that with her later!”

 

Moon stomped off through the woods until she was sure to be out of sight of the boy, and then she slowed her pace and looked back. She hoped to see the deer in the distance, perhaps following her to see her safely home, but Moon was alone.

 

It might have been an awful idea, but she decided to trust the wind, and she let it lead her onward, that soothing voice calling to her. You are safe within our branches. You will never be lost so long as you trust in us. Finally, she came to the edge of the line of trees, and looked out across the field. Moon could see the fences that surrounded the houses of her cul-de-sac, and in the middle, painted a pale blue, was Moon’s home. The wind and the forest had not led her astray. She looked back at it once more, before finally stepping away from the woods and making that final trek back to her house.

 

When she entered through the back door her mother was in the kitchen, taking down the dried herbs and replacing them with more. “You left early this morning,” the woman said, a smile playing on her lips. “And there was no deer.”

 

“She came. We went for a walk, but I’m back now.”

 

Her mother nodded. “Have some lunch. There’s a sandwich in the fridge for you.”

 

While Moon ate, she thought very hard about what to do next. Somewhere in the woods was a boy who smelled of the storm, who called to the winds and proclaimed himself king of the land. And at his side, was a deer who had decided for whatever reason to bring Moon to him. That afternoon, as Moon finished the last of her homework, she made her decision. She set her alarm to wake her before anyone else would wake and she packed herself a simple lunch, storing it in the very front of the fridge for easy access. She put aside warm clothes and pulled her hiking boots from deep within the closet. If the deer returned in the morning, Moon would be prepared. And this time, the boy would not chase her off.

 

~*~

 

The next morning, Moon woke before her alarm. For a long moment, she listened to the near silence of the dawn hours. Her window was ajar, and the scent of fresh rain came through to her bedroom, filling the room with a deep October aroma. She could taste the fall leaves with every inhale, and every exhale was a small sigh of peace. By the time the alarm went off, the rain had picked up again, and the deep pitter-patter on the rooftop felt comforting.

 

She eased herself from her bed and dressed for the day, tucking her feet into her hiking boots and settling her warm sweater around her, before slowly making her way downstairs. As expected, the deer was outside.

 

Even in the rain she seemed unperturbed, standing regally as she waited for her newest charge. Moon left a note this time, and grabbed her lunch from the fridge, before following it out. “I’m ready,” she said. “Take me to him.”

 

The deer bobbed her head once in assent, and turned to the forest. She trotted rather quickly through the tall grasses of the field, pausing only to make sure Moon was keeping up, and didn’t quite settle until they were once more within the protective branches of the forest. There, she stopped, shaking her whole body to shake off the rain, before she continued the lengthy walk into the heart of the forest.

 

Time seemed to move quicker this journey, and in little time at all Moon found herself staring up at the slowly rising hill. Beyond that would be the basin, and somewhere nearby would be the boy. Moon looked around carefully, keeping watch for the shock of pale skin, but she didn’t see him anywhere near. Finally, they reached the top of the hill. Down below, hiding beneath an outcropping of rocks that formed a cave-like covering big enough for only two people, was the boy. He sat under the covering, holding his knees close, and seemed to watch the sky through the trees as it poured down on top of them. Moon ducked behind a tree to hide herself as the deer made her way to the clearing.

 

The boy looked up when he heard her approach, and a small smile spread over his face. “Fox! Where do you keep running off to?” He pulled away from his covering, stretching his legs and holding his arms out for the deer, who greeted him warmly. She let him hug her neck and bury his hands in her wet fur, before urging him back to the covering. There, the boy and the deer settled down to wait out the rain, the boy sitting with crossed legs and the deer laying with her head in his lap, utterly content as he stroked her face, his lips moving as he spoke words Moon could not hear from her distance.

 

This is how Moon spent her Sunday. As the rain finally let up, she kept to her hiding place and watched as the boy and the deer ventured out from their covering and frolicked through the clearing, chasing each other for a while, exploring places they must have explored a hundred times, and finally settling down for a midafternoon nap. She stayed long past when she intended to stay, and when she finally decided it was time to turn back, the forest graciously led the way. We’ll see you tomorrow, it seemed to say as it released her back to the field, and she waved once at the trees before jogging home.

 

~*~

 

Moon’s mother looked at her with concern as she slipped back into the house.

 

“Were you in the forest?” she asked, quickly fetching a towel from the downstairs bathroom.

 

“Only a little. I could see the house.” It was a lie, but she didn’t feel that her mother would understand the truth, so it was a necessary lie. “I was following the deer.”

 

“Moon…I think it’s best that you leave that deer alone. I know it’s been gracing us with its presence lately, but it’s a wild animal. It doesn’t want you around, and it’s going to go places you can’t go. The forest is dangerous. People disappear into it and never return. Just last month a boy from Beaverton disappeared in the forest, and nobody has found him yet. They may never find him. It’s best you stay away from there. Promise me.”

 

Moon cocked her head to the side. “What did the boy look like?”

 

Moon’s mother shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter? Did you see something?”

 

Moon thought for a moment about whether or not to tell her mother of the strange boy, the self-proclaimed king of the forest, but decided against it. It didn’t feel like the kind of information she should be sharing. Not yet, anyway. Not until she knew more. She shook her head.

 

“No. I was just curious. In case I do see something.”

 

Moon’s mother gave her a stern look. “Moon, you won’t see anything, because you’re going to stay out of that forest. Promise me.”

 

Although Moon didn’t like lying, especially to her mother, she knew there was no way out of this. Hesitantly, she nodded. “I promise, Mama…” she said.

 

“And you’ll leave that deer alone?”

 

Again, Moon nodded. “Yes, Mama. I will.”

 

Her mother’s expression softened into a smile, and she pulled Moon close with one arm and kissed her forehead. “Good girl. Now go upstairs and change out of these wet clothes. Dinner is in twenty minutes and then it will be night time. You have school in the morning.”

 

~*~

 

That night, as Moon prepared for bed, she had one thought on her mind. Somehow, she would return to the forest, and she would meet the boy, and she would not let him turn her away again. “You’ll let me in,” she whispered to her empty bedroom. “You’ll let me in, and I’ll help you, because that’s what your deer friend wants.”