A FAWN & HER MOON

There was once a Young Fawn who lived under the careful watch of her father Sun and mother Moon. The Fawn loved to play outside all the time. She adventured in the forest throughout each day, inspecting plants and wildlife she came across, taking notes and studying. With the Sun always watching her, she would find shaded areas to hide away because he was an angry Sun. He shone down bright and hard, always reckless, always hopeless. He truly was a hotheaded and selfish Sun. Each day the Fawn would hide away from him, waiting to cuddle up under the protective and comforting light of the Moon.

One day while the Fawn was exploring around, the Sun began to taunt her and mock her. In the vast fields of wheat she had nowhere to hide. The Fawn began to feel exhausted by the heat, the fur on her back burning under the rays of the Sun. She begged him to stop, she called for the Moon, but she had no escape. Everywhere she went, the Sun was there laughing an evil laugh. The desperate and helpless Fawn finally decided to lay down in the wheat for a nap, defeated, echoing laughter in her ears.

Tiny whispers and prodding awakened the Fawn at dusk. She sleepily looked around for the source of the whispers, noticed the time of day and was relieved to see that the Sun was setting, minding his own business for once. But who was whispering to her? The Fawn looked around her, still sleepy and confused, when she spotted two little Mice staring up at her, giggling. The Mice continued giggling and climbing all over the Fawn. The Fawn immediately began to laugh as well, the scurrying Mice were tickling her back and legs. The Mice kindly asked the Fawn to follow them across the field to their mouse house, they had something to show the Fawn. Curious and comfortable, the Fawn followed the little Mice across the field to their home.

When they arrived at the mouse house, the Mice immediately began taking out item after item to present to the Fawn, they were so proud of their prized possessions but especially excited about one thing and couldn’t wait to show the Fawn. The curious Fawn watched intently as they pulled out their final item; a bright, glimmering piece of the Sun. They explained to the Fawn that she would have to be very careful with this fiery item as they carelessly tossed it back and forth, flames flying through the air. They told the Fawn that she deserved to do with it what she wanted, but that it was a powerful piece of energy. “With great power comes great responsibility”, they said. The Fawn nodded her head in agreement and put the piece of Sun in her pocket before trotting off.

The Fawn happily and quickly made her way back to the forest, without the Sun madly shining down on her she had no worries in the world. She was excited to visit the Moon that night and couldn’t wait to show her the gift she received. She had questions for the Moon about what she would do with the piece of Sun. She ran and ran and got lost in her thoughts without realizing that the piece of Sun fell out of her pocket on her way to the forest. The fiery ball immediately started to spread into a wildfire as she continued to move forward, not looking back.

When the Fawn arrived back in the forest, she looked up to the sky, now dark and full of stars. But something was not right. There was a billowing haze in the distance, the stars immediately began to disappear and the Fawn began to panic as she could not see the Moon. The night sky was orange and ominous, no comfort to be had. The Fawn peeked through the trees to see that the entire field was covered in flames, she checked her pockets and realized that she no longer had the little ball of fire with her. As she began to realize what she had done, she cried out for help, “MOON, where are you?”. No response came and after hours of calling out and crying the Fawn finally decided to curl up under a tree, guilt and shame overtook her entire being. She was paralyzed. She was hopeless once again.

Five days later the Fawn woke up again with the presence of another being near her. This time it was a Fox with Three Tails. The Fox ran behind a tree trunk and poked his head out to look at the Fawn again. Running back and forth and playing hide and seek to get the Fawn’s attention. The Fawn was captivated, she had never seen such a beautiful creature in her entire life. She followed him deeper into the forest and started noticing things looked different than before. The plants were glowing, the trees were never ending into the sky, the creatures around her were happy, playful and curious.

The Fawn continued to follow the Fox with Three Tails deeper and deeper into the magical forest. The Fawn felt a sense of peace and calm, she felt protected for the first time since her last visit with the Moon, but she had one intention and it was to see the Moon once again. She asked the Fox with Three Tails questions about the Moon, but he never said a word back to her, instead he motioned to keep following him, so she did.

Finally, the Fox with Three Tails stopped and pointed out a pond in the middle of the forest, it glimmered and tasted delicious as the Fawn drank from it. Suddenly a giant and beautiful being emerged from the water, startling the Young Fawn. The being introduced herself as the Water Spirit and told the Fawn she could grant her one wish as long as the Fawn was able to bring back three specific magical plants for her. The Fawn immediately agreed, knowing her one wish would be to see the Moon once again.

The Fawn went off back into the magical forest to gather these items. It took a lot of searching and studying to find the correct plants for the Water Spirit, but after many days of searching she finally had everything she needed to get her one wish.

The Fawn went back to the Water Spirit the next day with the three plants. The Water Spirit was overcome with joy, she didn’t expect the Fawn to return so quickly or at all. As promised the Water Spirit then asked the Fawn what her one wish would be. Not holding back for a second, she asked the Water Spirit to see the Moon once again. “Yes, you may see the Moon once again, Young Fawn, please come closer and look into the pond” the Water Spirit said.

The Fawn moved close to the pond and the Moon began to appear. Confused, the Fawn looked up at the sky to see where the reflection was coming from but could not find the Moon, she was only in the little pond in front of her. The Moon smiled up at the Fawn and said to her, “Without loss there is no growth. When you are able to let go of the past, the future opens its doors to new opportunities. Please grow and move forward without me, my young Fawn. The world is waiting for you.” And before the Fawn could say anything at all, the Moon had disappeared once and for all. The Fawn looked back into the sky but could only see stars shining down on her through the trees. Tears escaped her eyes as she realized that would be last time she saw the Moon, but she smiled, finally feeling full of peace and openness once again. She thanked the Water Spirit and went off into the magical forest to start her new adventure.