Chance Meeting

I was about to yell, so I left the bedtime routine to my spouse.

I walked fast, oblivious. As my stress diminished, I began to notice things around me. Bats darted in the street lights. Two rabbits sat face to face in conversation.

Then by a fence corner stood a large shape. I stopped. It raised its head.

A deer. A big deer. It saw me and tensed.

Antlers, three or four points on each side.

“Buck,” I thought, and he pivoted, bounded, disappeared into the woods.

I stood on the sidewalk, gaping at the spot where he’d just stood.