Mama Deer

5 am. I glance out of the window into the morning stillness. There, grazing on the front lawn are a mother deer and her baby covered with huge white spots screaming loudly in the faint light. They nibble and nuzzle the browned earth, seeking in vain for some tender morsel of grass among the dead brown tinder.

Suddenly, a motorcycle roars by on Lyell Avenue, and the Mother jumps to a dead run in the direction of the woods. The fawn flips its little tail and takes off after her, crashing into the leafy brush hot on her mama's hooves.

The ensuing silence is heavy, not a leaf stirring, no evidence left of their presence just moments before. One would never know that a mother deer had taken her baby for an early morning breakfast just feet from a human stronghold. All that remains is a bit of dust stirred by the pounding escape of two innocents.

What an amazing way to begin a new day.