The smell of fresh flowers and the feeling of fresh dew drops on the grass. Joe walks through this path every morning to get to school it's about ten miles both ways and it takes him a considerable amount of time to make it to school on time. Even though Joe had it rough at home he still did the best he could in school just barley passing his classes. At home he was expected to do all of the chores on the farm with no help at all and he was already exhausted from walking the five miles from school home. This is the life of Joe Walker.

One fall morning walking the same path he had always Joe noticed something in the distance something alive and moving. He had never noticed such a thing usually all he saw was a squirrel or two and some birds. This though was something much more exciting and even bigger than anything else he had seen in the years he had walked that trail. Curious as always he decided to take a little detour to get a little closer to observe the animal that had caught his attention. This is the most amazing thing he had ever experienced in his entire life.

In the distance of that open timber stood a tall and wise old white tail buck with a huge and amazing set of antlers. Joe was intrigued by this and even got closer than he had expected.

The deer did not seem to be afraid at all and he even let Joe get within touching distance. As Joe reached out to touch the deer it spooked a little but did not move far so Joe tried again. This time he touched the buck's neck and stroked softly. The buck was keeping a careful eye on the boy's hand never moving a muscle. A twig from a tree fell and that was enough to spook the buck off this time he ran into the thick timber and was out of sight.

Joe stared into the distance where the buck had traveled and then turned around and ran back to the trail jumping will joy. He wasn't even late for school. Joe didn't have any idea how he had managed to make a friend so wild and untamed. He never really had friends in school. Joe didn't listen at all that day in school he just pictured the buck coming back to that spot again.

After school Joe ran out of the building and headed towards the spot the buck had run off to. Running down the trail he noticed that something was wrong there were no birds chirping and no squirrels playing in the trees. All of the sudden here came a heard of deer, about five or so with the buck leading them. They ran so majestically across the tall grass prairie that ran into a huge timber. This made Joe so happy he already had a name for the buck he had encountered. He decided to name him courage, because this was the first time he had enough courage to go out of his way to do something interesting.

The buck made a sound and all of the deer stopped on a dime. Joe stood motionlessly mimicking the deer. The buck walked over to Joe cautiously and to Joe's amazement took a little bow, in deer words this is asking for permission. Joe acknowledged this by bowing back. The deer then raised his head high and sounded for the other deer to join them. He had just given up his rank as head of the heard to Joe.


Astonished Joe turned to see a little deer come out of the brush following a butterfly. It was so young it still had its spots. It slowly made its way over and Joe reached his hand out to it. It touched its nose to his fingers almost like it wanted him to pet it. This made Joe rethink his whole life and what life meant. It was starting to get dark and Joe needed to get home.

Joe needed to get home he still had half an hour to walk the rest of the way home he was almost running and he had to do an hour of chores when he got home. Finally he was within sight of his house but it was the longest it had ever took him to make it home and his mother was very worried and upset.
"You get your chores done, and then come in eat supper and go to bed," she yelled!
He had never been yelled at by his mother like that ever before. Holding his head down he walked to the gate with a lantern to check on the cattle, everything was fine and didn't need any attention. He went to the barn to start feeding the cattle. After an hour and a half he finally finished everything.

He headed into the house to find his plate in the oven staying warm. He decided to shower before he ate. He thought long and hard about the deer and how this would change everything in his life. He thought this is amazing and it's me I actually have meaning now. I am going to get up early every morning to go see them.

The next morning he went outside ready for school and noticed there was the buck in the yard with the baby. Now he was even more amazed that they knew where he lived. He could spend all the time in the world with them.


That day after school he went to the normal spot to see the deer here they came out of the timber this time he told his mom he was staying over at a friend's which technically he wasn't lying he considered the buck as his best friend. That night he cuddled up close to the buck to stay warm their relationship was as best friends.
"You know you're my only friend," he told the buck.
A tear fell from his face as the buck curled his neck up around Joe, which comforted him. They slowly fell soundly asleep together. The sound of the early morning came as they awoke, birds chirping and squirrels running around playing together. Dew had covered both the buck and the boy. Joe got up and as he did noticed the baby deer was curled up right next to him. It finally clicked, the mother deer had been killed because it was deer season he knew there was something wrong in the heard and now they accepted him as a replacement. Joe knew he had to keep the rest of the heard safe but he also had to stay safe. He couldn't leave the heard at all now he needed to run away from home. I can't do that he thought. I will just check on them every morning day and night.

He went home for the day and the deer stayed behind grazing on the fresh dew covered grass. As soon as he got home his mom asked how his stay was and he said it was awesome. She asked why he was wet. He said the fog was thick on the way home this morning. She believed him amazingly. It was a Saturday so he decided he could stay at his friends again.
"So when can I meet this friend of yours," asked his mother?
"When he wants to come over," Joe said.


That day he went to meet the heard something didn't feel quite right though. The timber was quiet too quiet. BOOM. Joe jumped out of fright oh no, this is not happening no no no no no. The heard scattered out across the prairie in panic scattering everywhere. BOOM. Another shot heard through the timber but no sight of courage. Immediately Joe ran towards the sound of the gunshot. He saw orange in the distance and yelled. They took off running apparently they were trespassing. He looked around and saw blood on the ground immediately he started looking around frantically he finally saw what he had feared.

The buck lay limp on the floor of the timber. As the teardrops fell the buck moved his head over towards the boys hand, the look in the bucks eyes said all the words someone could say in a lifetime to him. The buck closed his eyes and slowly drifted off into a better place. The boy just lay there right next to him knowing he lived a full life but still he could not control the tears. Suddenly he heard some leaves rustling from behind a bush and a cry rang out. The baby deer was there watching the whole thing. The boy walked slowly towards the baby. The baby went over to the body of his father and nudged him with his nose. No response came from the baby he just quietly laid down next to his father and closed his eyes. At this point he knew he had to take the baby in and care for it himself. The two walked into the prairie together. The boy knew he had to bury the buck but how. He had to tell his parents. That night he walked home with the baby deer.
"Mom, I would like you to meet my best friend's son," Joe said.
"My word," she said.


Amazingly she was not upset and his father wasn't either, he explained to her that he had to take care of the baby because the dad and mom had both been killed by hunters.

The years went by and both grew older and grew in size. Becoming the best of friends just like the father and the boy, the best part was the baby deer grew antlers that resembled his father's almost exactly. This was the journey of two friends who grew old together, walking into the sunset with each other down that old path.