Among Us

We were out, walking, and then they came upon us—dozens of deer cresting with the sun. On a small eyebrow of a hill they stood. In the shadowed spaces between trees. Out on the newly cropped lawn. One young buck among so many females, and if we didn't move, they didn't care. They watched as we watched them.

It was getting cold outside, very cold, and I wondered where they'd find their heat once the moon had replaced the sun. I wondered what about us had made them trust, not run. I quieted all the thoughts in my mind and wanted nothing but this certain companionableness.