The Albino Deer

Friday, December 21, 1982, the shortest day of the year, it was 5:40 and already darkness reigned over the sky. A light snow was falling making the roads icy. I was driving down M-90 to North Branch for a work Christmas Party. Normally, it would just about be my bedtime before going in for my 3rd shift job as a night janitor at Arby's. I planned to drop by for a couple of minutes then head on home for a quick nap.

I was unused to driving this rural road at night, especially with the icy roads, so I drove cautiously. That is when I saw him...a pure white deer. I put on my brakes and watched the magnificent animal as he crossed from the north side of the road to the south in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes, albino deer were not a common sight. His antlers weren't especially large, so he probably wasn't very old. After he disappeared into the woods, I continued on to the party.

The party wasn't all that memorable. I only stayed a short time, but the memory of the albino deer has stayed with me for 35 years. I wonder if he was taken during hunting season the following year, what a prize he would have been for some lucky hunter. But in my heart of hearts, I see him living to old age, his rack growing huge. Maybe fathering children whose genes will one day produce another such beautiful creature.