Life by the Antlers Part 2: Invasion
“He who stands lives; he who sits perishes.” — Māori proverb
“He who stands lives; he who sits perishes.” — Māori proverb
“You cheated!” Dawn called after him as they raced at full speed. Down further into the trailhead they went, Thomas ran unrelenting in his stride. Dawn was gaining closer, ever increasing in speed as the fence was in view where an opening led out to the pasture.
“Almost there!” Thomas shouted uproariously. But Dawn made it past the beam of the fence first. She ran a little further up and then stopped looking back at him, arms akimbo, panting heavily.
“Beat ya.”
“You sure? It was close,” he said, grinning.
“Oh, I’m positive. Won by a hair. You cheated and I still beat you.” She came up for a high five.
“I didn’t cheat. I had a head start.”
“Yeah, and you lost.”
“That’s saying a lot from a track and field star. If we went at the same time you would’ve smoked me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she teased him. “What? Can’t imagine being beat by a girl?” She smiled at him as they pecked each other’s lips. “Come on, let’s see ‘em!” She grabbed him by the hand and they hurried to the pasture. But the field was devoid of elk.
“You just gotta wait,” Thomas said. “They’ll come.” A few minutes passed and still no animals had come trotting up, not even a calf. Dawn looked out into the horizon and saw something in the distance.
“Hey, hun, look.” She pointed and Thomas saw with his binoculars a few calves grazing in the fields next to the woods.
“Cool. Wanna see?” She agreed, but just as he gave her the scopes a huge male elk came out of nowhere and gave a mighty cry.
The sound terrified the couple as Dawn jumped and they saw it come into view to their left.
Out of the wooded forest, a female and her young calf weren’t far behind. The male came up on its hind legs majestically and then came down hard on the solid earth. It led the way, protecting his family from alien invaders. Laying on its head sitting atop like a kingly crown, the sharp bony, and white antlers were a token given to him. It was a precious gift but also a weapon to guard and protect. The giant elk stomped and shook its head up and down.
“Wow,” Thomas said. “You see that?” His eyes were glued to the royal creatures.
“Yeah, I’m seein’ it.” Dawn’s heart pounded with adrenaline. Thomas’ also throbbed and he jumped up onto the fence gazing again.
“Come on, Tom. Down,” Dawn suggested. “Come on.”
But Thomas was filled with excitement and impulsively he jumped over. “I wanna get a closer look.”
“Tom, stop. No, come back. Tom?”
“It’s OK,” he reassured her. “I’m not gonna do anything. I just wanna get a closer look.”
“Tom, don’t do it. You can watch from here. Come on!” The elk family kept going a little further down without noticing Thomas. “Tom,” Dawn said angrily. “Stop, come on. Let the wild be wild.”
“What should we name ’em, huh?” he asked, smiling back at her.
“Tom, that’s not funny. They have rules for a reason. Now come on. We can watch together from here.”
“I know, I know, I just wanna get a quick picture.” He crept up and tailed the elk family slowly and steadily. Low and bright was the sun as he came behind, crouching quietly. Then he stopped a few paces back from them just a few feet up a tiny hill away from Dawn.
“Tom! Come back,” she said quietly but sternly.
“Alright.” He got his phone out for a photo. “What are we gonna call you, guys? Huh?” He asked the rhetorical question as the elk family turned around. The male elk stopped in its tracks and sensed something was wrong. It turned.
Out of his element, Thomas took a few pictures quickly and put the phone away. He stared at them for a few moments still as a street cat. Standing before him majestically, he gazed with wonder at what the elk were thinking.
“So, big guy, we’ll name you Bucky.” Thomas smiled.
“Tom, come on! Stop it! Stop taunting them,” Dawn said, tired and annoyed.
He winked and smiled back at her. “OK, and you’ll be called Rosa and then the little guy, we’ll call you Squirt. How about that, guys? You like that?”
Suddenly, Bucky’s sunken eyes changed. They became clearer; more refined. A new sense came to the animal and he knew things. He knew things of the universe long hidden from his mind clouded by instinct, but now realized he was an animal, a creature with a simple mind but now awake from its slumber. He knew secrets of the universe, new enchanting knowledge was at his grasp. Hidden from him for ages, stolen from his ancestors before him. He knew good, but also evil.
Things came to him and it was as if a switch had been turned on and he became a strategist and leader of an elk cult. All the same, Rosa and Squirt came alive with a new sense of understanding and a keen awareness of their environment. They wanted to conquer and enslave, to kill and to impale. They became rowdy with savagery only a few have known in this world. And he knew Thomas was a stranger, a foreigner, even an intruder that must be stopped.
Bucky approached Thomas with his chest puffed out and his strange fiery eyes gazing into his soul.
Bucky gave a loud deep long cry that frightened Thomas as he backed away slightly, breathing heavily. The giant elk stood on his hind legs for a good while and then another deep groan came out.
It was a calling. A calling to bring all of the huddled masses together for an ancient ritual that would include the couple.
“Tom, get outta there,” Dawn screamed in terror. He ran and didn’t dare look back. “Run, run! Look out!”
Tom saw over his shoulder that Bucky ran rugged with its antlers horizontally pointed to kill. He hopped the fence before the antlers impaled the wood. Bucky was stuck. He flailed and groaned as Rosa and Squirt came after them running and jumping. The sound of beating hooves chased after them.
To be continued…
Be sure to read Part 1 of Life by the Antlers
Life by the Antlers Part 1: Begins with a Buck
“We took their land away from them. We forced them to live on reserves. We gave them only limited legal rights. Their…medium.com
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