Ekin and Zohir
The Scary Deer
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The Scary Deer
Tap Next to start the story →
Chapter One · 1 of 4
After school, Ekin and his good friend Zohir walked into Forest Park, because it was their favourite shortcut home and the autumn leaves were thick on the ground. They were talking about the new climbing frame at school when a branch cracked somewhere deep among the trees, and both boys stopped walking, because the sound was too loud for a squirrel and too slow for a falling leaf.
Chapter One · 2 of 4
Through the fog that hung low between the trees, they saw a shape that was taller than Dad and wider than a doorway, with antlers that spread out like the branches of a small tree. The deer's eyes caught the last light of the afternoon, and for a moment it looked like a monster from a storybook, so the boys stepped back behind a thick oak and held their breath, because neither of them had ever seen an animal so big and so close.
Chapter One · 3 of 4
The deer did not come closer, and as the boys watched from behind the oak, they noticed that it was not looking at them at all. It was turning its great head from side to side, as if it was searching for something it had lost, and every few seconds it made a low, sad sound that was nothing like the frightening noise they had imagined when they first heard it in the trees.
Chapter One · 4 of 4
Zohir whispered that the deer might be looking for its baby, because his grandmother had once told him that deer mothers and fathers stay close to their young, and Ekin nodded, because the deer's sad sound made much more sense now than it had a minute ago. The boys agreed that they would not shout and they would not run, because shouting and running would only frighten the deer more, and instead they would watch quietly and work out what the deer needed.
Chapter Two · 1 of 4
When the fog lifted a little, the boys could see the deer properly for the first time, and they understood why it looked so frightening and so sad at the same time. One of its great antlers was tangled in a thick vine that had wrapped itself around a low branch, and every time the deer tried to walk away, the vine pulled its head back, so it could not reach the leaves it needed and it could not go and find its family.
Chapter Two · 2 of 4
Ekin wanted to run over and pull the vine away himself, because the deer looked so unhappy, but Zohir held his arm and reminded him that a frightened wild animal can kick without meaning to, and that the right thing to do is to fetch a grown-up who knows how to help. Ekin agreed at once, because a good friend is someone who stops you when you are about to do something brave but unsafe.
Chapter Two · 3 of 4
The boys ran back along the path to the park office, where Ranger Ana was locking up for the day, and they told her exactly what they had seen: a big stag with wide antlers, tangled in a vine near the old oak, turning its head and calling in a low, sad voice. Ranger Ana listened carefully and thanked them for coming to her instead of trying to help the deer themselves, because she had a long rope and a pair of strong cutters, and she knew how to stand where a deer cannot kick.
Chapter Two · 4 of 4
Ranger Ana followed the boys back through the trees, and when she saw the deer, she spoke to it in a soft, low voice, because a calm voice tells a frightened animal that it is safe. She cut the vine with two quick snips, and the deer shook its great head free, so that its antlers were clear at last, and it looked at the boys for a long moment, as if it was saying thank you in the only way a deer can.
Chapter Three · 1 of 4
For a moment, nobody moved, and then the deer turned away from the path and walked slowly into the trees, because now that it was free, it could go and find the family it had been calling for all along. The boys watched until its antlers disappeared among the branches, and Ekin felt proud, not because he had been brave enough to touch a wild animal, but because he had been wise enough to ask a grown-up for help.
Chapter Three · 2 of 4
As the sun went down, Ranger Ana walked the boys to the edge of the park and told them that the deer was a stag, which is the name for a male deer with antlers, and that it had probably been calling for its fawn, which is the name for a young deer. She said that many animals look frightening when they are frightened themselves, and that the kindest thing a person can do is to stay calm, keep a safe distance, and fetch someone who knows how to help.
Chapter Three · 3 of 4
On the walk home along Queens Boulevard, with the street lights coming on one by one, Ekin and Zohir talked about the deer all the way, because it was the most exciting thing that had happened to them in a long time. Zohir said that the deer had been scary and gentle at the same time, and Ekin agreed, because he had learned that something can look frightening on the outside and still be frightened and gentle on the inside.
Chapter Three · 4 of 4
When Ekin reached his front door, he waved goodbye to Zohir, who lived just around the corner, and he kept the whole adventure in his head like a story he would tell Dad at dinner. He had learned that a scary shape in the fog is not always a monster, and that the bravest thing is not to run towards danger, but to stay calm and get help from a grown-up who knows what to do.