The Fawn and His Mother

The story

At the edge of a quiet forest lay an open meadow, still soft with morning mist. A young fawn with reddish-tan fur and white spots along his back stood watching his mother in the distance. She was tall and graceful, her slender legs swift and sure, and a pair of small antlers crowned her head. The fawn watched her run and felt his heart swell with admiration.

Just then, deep in the trees, the bark of a hound rang out, once, then again, drawing closer. The mother doe froze at once, her ears standing straight, her nose trembling. In a heartbeat she spun around and dashed into the thick forest. Startled, the fawn bounded after her, ferns and branches brushing his sides, caring only about keeping close to his mother.

They ran until they reached a sheltered thicket, hidden among tall ferns that blocked the view from outside. The mother doe stopped, her chest still rising and falling quickly, and listened until the barking faded into the distance before she finally began to relax.

Catching his breath, the fawn looked up and asked, "Mother, you are taller than the hounds, and swifter too, and you have antlers to defend yourself. With so many advantages, why do you run the moment you hear a dog bark?"

The mother doe lowered her head gently and looked at her son. She was not angry, and she did not pretend to be braver than she felt. "My child," she said, "everything you say is true. I am taller than they are, and swifter, and I have my antlers to protect myself. But the moment I hear a hound's bark, my heart clenches as though a cold wind has passed through it, and my legs carry me away before I can stop them."

The fawn fell quiet. For the first time he understood that knowing you have an advantage does not always mean your heart feels brave. As the sun began to set, the mother doe led him slowly home along a quiet forest path, her ears still listening for any sound around them.

By the time they reached the old tree near home, the sky had grown dark, and a thin crescent moon was rising above the branches, with a few stars beginning to shine. The mother doe lay down and let her fawn curl close beside her. "There is no shame in being afraid," she said softly. "Knowing you can be afraid is how you learn to be careful." The fawn nestled against her, looking up at the stars, and drifted peacefully to sleep.