An Act of Kindness

An Act of Kindness
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It was a damp October morning
The fog was thick upon the ground
The sky was wet with moisture
I had been out on this walk in the hills near home
Air was sweet but cold as I moved up the hill
I was on the trail but on both sides were tall grass and wildflowers
I was just below the tree line near the summit
When I heard some wrestling in the brush
Stopped in my tracks and listen as I looked around
At first it was silent then I heard it again
What could it be I thought to myself?
I thought could it be a mountain lion, stalking me
Now fear was racing through my head
What should I do; I started to move back down the hill
I was hoping to find someone else so we could scare it away
Then all things change when I heard it cry
Now with some courage in my heart
I moved deep within the tall grass
Until I came to a clearing just a few years from where I had been
There caught in some old wire fencing of a long ago abandoned fence
Was a baby, a baby fawn, this tiny little guy was full of fright was lying there
The mama was in distraught, using her hoof trying to free her little one
As I approach slowly, the brown coated mama back away with fear and distrust
I bent to my knees at the edge near the fawn, it looked at me
In its big brown eyes were fear and a sense of vulnerability
The wire was wrapped around its neck; the strand of wire ran down from a broken old post
Every time the little guy tried to move the wire just dug deep within his brown coat
I moved closer without making a sound and I slowly put out my hand to touch him and reassure him with a gentle voice.
In the back of my mind I was also worried about mama I could hear her move behind me and I was afraid she might attack
I gently looked over my shoulder but I knew I had nothing to fear, she was moving about and anxious was she, but she gave me quarter as if she knew I was helping her baby
My hand now moved to take hold of the wire, the other hand move to the back of the neck where I could grasp the loop
I moved it with gentle speed until it was off; that fawn did not waste a second
It sprung to its feet and dash to the side of its mom
The mother deer was over joyed as she lick her baby; but she did look back at me
I could have sworn I saw a smile; than like a flash they took to the high grass
As I return to the trail to head for home
It then struck me, I have no home am, dead
It all came back to me now, this is where I died
It was on a walk so long ago, when a gang of men attached me
I was all alone and so vulnerable when they took my life
Now I walk these hills in search of help, for no one has found my body
It lies there in a vulnerable state waiting to be found
But alas it’s not to be
So let me fade away with the fog as the sun break through
For I know with the coming morning fog I’ll shall return.

Guildford H Windley
August 17, 2018