On a soft crisp autumn morning with a minute breeze from the south hitting my face, I looked around and everything was stained jet black. I turn my head to the east where a faint sliver of tangerine peered over the horizon. I turned back around swiftly with a swoosh, to head towards a dark twisted abyss of musty logs and twigs. As I meandered through thick patches of frosty foxtail and fescue, I looked up to see a tar-stained figure of four legs staring at me. I froze. She stood about five yards in front of me. I thought to myself, ‘What is that?’ The creature and I, both freighted, engaged in a stand off until one cracked.

About twenty seconds later, the creature scampered off towards my destination of sticks. Now on edge, I crept along a thick path to my tower high in a red oak tree. Upon my arrival to the cold steel tower, I heard a rustle in the gloomy woods. Thinking it was the beast from before, I swiftly snuck my way to the steel ladder. As I grabbed the jet black steps, the cold metal transferred its coldness onto my arms. Step after step, I climbed my way up until my last step was upon me. When arriving at the top, I tethered myself off to the bumpy barked tree and preparede myself for a long day’s perch.

Only a few moments of sitting, the deep abyss that was behind me came alive. A barn owl’s heckle followed a thunderous gobble from a turkey like they had practiced it million times before. Next, a large ruckus snapped in front of me, raising my excitement up. Too dark to see, I waited patently, I looked to the east yet again as a large bittersweet ball of flame and fury was making its way over the distant horizon. As I looked at the fireball, an ominous flock of savage geese flew over with an annoying on going honking until the blurs faded into the distanced. As my head slowly meandered its way back down below me, I noticed what was making the entire ruckus. Standing before me, the creature looked quite familiar.  I studied it for some time and noticed its chestnut coat and her bleached under side; the white coat of frost on its back glistened from the morning’s peach sunrays. I recalled the encounter I experienced with her earlier that morning on my hike in to this void. It was the beast that engaged in the stand off back once again. This time the beast was clueless of my presence.
Looking for tender acorns under an elderly red oak, she moseyed around. She looked back into the abyss every so often like she did not know what lurked beyond it. As I glanced at what it was looking at, I noticed two more creatures just like her but much smaller. Soon after, the two little ones peer their way out of thicket and to the larger beast. At first very cautious, later they would be running around and playing like little children. I would watch them until their little legs turned to jello, but this was not long lived.

As the sun crept its way higher in the sky, they ventured back into the void of trees, leaving not trace they wherever there. I then found myself climbing out of the chilled tower, I sat perched in the whole morning. On the long jaunt that I used earlier that morning the beast and I met up with, I thought to myself, “The beast and I met here.” I was left pondering, “This is one nice spot,” as I left the scene that would be forever painted in my brain--Imprinted in me forever.