My Enchanted Cabin

The cabin in the woods has been abandoned for years but one night a candle burned in the window. In the tall weeded area in the North of Parallel Forest, antlers rose in front of the window and framed the candle like a portrait. Then came her face. She was beautiful, with rosy pink cheeks and blue beaded earrings hanging from the antler tips. And she runs off.

It happened so fast that I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, or if it was part of my reality.

As I hike further along the trail there was a nearby bridge on top of the rushing rapid. I climb down the rocky terrain of the river’s edge to find a woman's corpse not yet messed with and a fawn next to her. As I moved back from the corpse I snapped a few photos of it, not trying to scare the baby.

When I began my search for missing women near Meer, Oklahoma, it turns out I was right–a woman, no name, was reported missing and later said to have been seen with 4 men. As the body showed, my assumption correct, she had been raped.

As I lay in my sleeping bag looking at the photos I managed to snap. I noticed a woman along the shore line not far from me. She was no ordinary woman, she was just like the creature I saw at the cabin. Standing, staring at me she shapes the sun behind her. Looking between the corpse and the deer-lady, I notice. They both have the same hair and earrings.

Are they really the same things, the deer-lady and the fawn? I imagined

Was the fawn her spirit animal? I questioned myself once again, setting my camera down. I fell asleep unaware of what was about to happen.

During the early morning I put camp away and made myself some morning porridge. I continued to hike north towards the location of a deserted Cherokee tribe base. As I’m exploring around the camp I slowly come across an off looking teepee. The teepee was a fluorescent blue, with off-white swirls all across. An engraved symbol in the tent caught my eye, it was a woman, a rather beautiful one.

It was about an hour later that I heard someone standing outside, watching me so intensely as I got closer to every symbol, feeling the engraving.

The foot-steps got closer and closer, until I saw a deer-lady standing right infront of me. Her head towering over me slowly putting her hoof up to my rough hand.

“Let me show you something my child.'' She slowly grabs my hands and pulls me close.

I slowly lean into the beauty and soft silky fur of the woman. Her sweet scent drifts away as I fall asleep.

I notice the sun shining in my face to see a beautiful woman laying in a big chunk of rock. Next to her was a newly born fawn. The woman had a lot of bruises along her sides and arms. The baby deer licks the woman and whispers.

It's going to be alright, just fall asleep. We can sleep together.

And so she did. The fawn and woman rest in peace under the bridge. But little did they know, they’d be awakened by a whole new life.

After 1,000 years… the woman had awakened. The woman had beautiful glowing skin. She looks down and notices she’s still her normal self. The beauty she had made her flawless.

The vast trees in front of her called her name. There were a few patches of the Corpse Flower. She glides over to the patch and picks a bouquet of flowers-a young deer approaches her and she pets the soft silky fur.

Deer. she thinks to herself.

Her body slowly began to change shape, she now had a white-tailed deer body. Her torso was normal as it seemed. The weight on her head felt horrendous, she felt her silky hair. She had antlers.

The way the men had treated her caused her hatred against men. She wanted to get revenge for what they did to her.

Myself. She is delighted.

The woman has found men at camp. She makes her way as she doesn’t give anytime to get used to the changing in her body.

The men noticed the woman and stared at her. The men were so occupied with the woman's body they didn't notice she had hooves instead of feet. The woman stomped on the men till they were dead.

The women now had the ability to get revenge.

I awake to find myself staring into the dusty mirror with green tinted corners. My reflection is what caught my attention- I had horns