DISCLAIMER: This story is loosely based on the Disney version of "Bambi," with a nod or two to Felix Salten's novel. Also, this goes against the original intention of making "Man" seem ominous and mysterious, but it's just for this story.

Bambi: Child of Man

"Your mother can't be with you anymore."

Those words, I swear, will haunt me to my dying day. Even now, as a full grown stag and newly appointed Prince of the Forest, I hear my father's voice say those words to me every morning as I open my eyes.

I remember that awful day like it had just happened; it was late January, and I was just a fawn. My mother and I were desperately searching for food hiding underneath the snow. Then, at last, we came to a small opening in the wood that had uncovered grass. Life, for a brief moment, was tranquil.

…And then, he came. Man.

My mother heard his presence first, and urged me to run. "Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running, keep running!" That was the last thing she had ever said to me.

I made it back to our den and waited for her. But she never came. I called out to her, and she never answered. I was getting scared and lonely, until someone finally found me. But it wasn't my mother; it was the Great Prince- my father.

"You're mother can't be with you anymore."

He knew better than I that day that Man had taken my mother. I wouldn't fully understand it until I grew older and wiser. But even now, as I make my morning stretch and pull myself out of my den, I find myself wondering why it happened… why Man is so cruel, so heartless…

"Good morning, young Prince!" cheer the animals that pass me by on my way to the south bend. I just smile and nod back; I can't help but giggle at the word "young," but then again my father is still much older than me.

I make my daily rounds from one end of the valley to the other, just as my father had shown me. I stand vigilant atop the tallest hills and cliffs while other deer play and spar, keeping my eyes and ears open for danger. It's my duty as the Prince, and I'm fond of it. But more so, I'm fond to see my mate Faline run and play with our fawns every day too. Sure, I can visit them whenever I want; but my services are not exclusive to them. I have the whole herd to worry about. I can only hope that they, my children, can understand that.

Such it is with most days- me standing vigilant. And for most days, I'm glad to admit, nothing bad ever happens.

…But then, things change. One day in particular would change me a lot.

"Young Prince?"

I recognized that voice behind me. I turned around, and sure enough it was Ronno, a slightly older stag.

"What's wrong?" I frowned.

"I've just been patrolling the eastern border. I saw something there that… well… you have to come see it."

I took his word for it, and let him lead me on. All the while, I was thinking, "Perhaps someone's sick. Caught in a trap. Or maybe a bear or wolf pack has moved in…" Clearly, I was not in the least prepared for what Ronno was about to show me.

When we arrived at the eastern end of the valley, I could see smoke rising from the trees. My heart skipped a beat in fear; I had seen smoke like that once before in my life, and it was started by Man. But here, at the valley's end, it wasn't just one line of dark smoke, but many.

Ronno and I slowly and quietly crept through the trees and stopped at a clearing. I could see now that this was no ordinary set of campfires. There were Men here- so many of them that I couldn't count them- and they were cutting through trees with tools, faster than a beaver could. The sound of the sawing was so loud, I had to bend my ears.

"What are they doing!?" asked an equally irritated Ronno.

"I… I don't know. …I never saw Man eat trees before!"

We've waited there for hours, watching as Men took more tools and started to fashion wood from fallen trees together. It looked like they were building something… Then I knew- I just knew what it meant.

"They're building a den."

Ronno's jaw dropped in disbelief. "No… They couldn't. Not this close to the woods."

"We'll have to alert the herd."

He and I then flew back to the meadow where our fellow deer usually gathered. Once there, we had everyone's attention. I said to them, "Man is moving into our valley." I could hear the stunned gasps from my fellow deer. "We may have to choose soon, whether we should stay here or move on."

"We… We've got nowhere else to go!" bleated a doe in fear.

Then other began to panic. "What will happen to us?" "Will they kill us all?" "What do we do?"

"Listen! Listen to me!" I exclaimed as I rolled my forearms in the air. "…Alright, let's stay calm. All Ronno and I saw was just one den. There may be more coming, but there doesn't seem to be too many of them. I'll watch them from a safe distance until I know for sure whether we should move or not."

"Winter is coming," said one doe nearby. "That's prime season for Man."

"I'll keep an eye on them," I said again, with a bit more tone in my voice. "Ronno, you'll lead the herd north for the winter. I'll stay here and watch the Men's movement."

Just then, my son Geno galloped up to me. He looked at me with the same wide eyes as I once had. "…You're leaving us?"

I couldn't help but curl my lip, but took a deep breath afterwards. "I'm doing this for you."

Geno's ears bent backward as he slowly retreated to Faline's side.

It was settled then, and though their hearts were filled with fear and concern, the herd forced itself to resume life in the meadow.

During the next few weeks, as the leaves started to turn their autumn colors, I kept my vigilance on the Man den. It was growing more and more by the day, and now it had specially placed rocks to support it. There were times during my watch when I found myself in wonder at this creature's architectural flair… but then I would remind myself: "They took my mother… They took my mother…"

At last, winter had come. The herd was on the move toward the northern plains, where they hoped it would be safer from Man. And just as I had promised, I stayed behind in the wood, where I could see whether or not these Men would advance closer to my kind. There were times when I would go and see them at night, and be surprised to see how brightly the inside of their den shined.

Then it began to snow. I could no longer spend as much time by Man's den as my hunger was growing by the day. I had to scrape a living off of tree bark and roots for the next few months, but all the while my thoughts and heart were racing. It was during heavy snowfall when I looked back and saw myself as a small fawn, searching hopelessly for my mother.

One afternoon, it was as dark as evening thanks to the sudden blizzard. I had to take shelter in an abandoned rock-covered den, and this was not but a few miles away from Man's place. Two hours later, the wind started to die down but the snow was now up to my knees. It was a struggle to get out of the den, and when I did, I heard the strangest sound…

(Human child: "Mama! …Papa!")

I couldn't understand it, which meant that it was most likely a predator. Communication between herbivores and carnivores was always hazy. But one thing about this cry was evident: it was small, high-pitched. Perhaps it was a bear cub? Or wolf cub? I perked my ears to listen for it again.

(Human child: "Mama!! Papa!! Where are you!?")

It was getting closer. Hunters usually don't make as much noise when hunting, so I could only guess that this was a plaintiff cry. Perhaps it was injured, or caught in a Man trap…

(Human child: "Mama… sniffle, whimper … Gasp!")

And then I saw it. It crawled out of the darkness of the wood and right into my path! I froze, unsure of whether to flee or fight. But as I stared at it, and it stared right back at me, I knew that this was no typical hunting animal. This creature was standing upright, like a grizzly bear, and it had a very thick coat. But it was very small, much smaller than I anticipated. But the strangest thing about this creature was its eyes. They were very big, very bright eyes… much like mine when I was younger.

(Human child: "…Oh! A deer…!")

It peeped. I couldn't believe it; it was actually speaking! But, I couldn't understand what it said. I was also at a loss as to what it was exactly, so naturally I bent my head down and sniffed at it more closely.

(Human child: "Are you one of Santa's?")

My, it was a chatty little creature! All I could do was stand there and bat my ears at it. My nerves calmed for a moment when I realized that this strange little creature was no threat to me at all. In fact, it looked intrigued and happy to see me.

(Human child: "I'm lost…")

As I stared into his eyes, I was once again haunted by the past. I saw my young self in place of this small creature, staring helplessly at my father, who now seemed to be me. Like my past self, this young one seemed to be looking to me for help. But what was I to do? This was not one of my kind; I wasn't even sure if it was even a friendly herbivore.

Then I heard more voices in the distance.

(Humans: "Michael! …Michael!")

The small one heard it too.

(Human child: "Mama??")

Neither he nor I could see whatever it was calling out, but the small one seemed to recognize the voice. But it was only I who knew from which direction it was coming. As the small creature was starting to panic, I calmly nudged him on his shoulder. Then I looked straight ahead, southward. He stood there is awe as I slowly walked down the right path while looking back at him. Momentarily, he finally realized that I was leading him home.

As the two of us followed the cries of what sounded like a bigger creature, the ground that I walked on was becoming more and more flat. I looked down, and could see that the earth itself had somehow been scratched up, and it was making a clear path. Then my nose tingled, getting a familiar scent. My skin crawled at the thought, but it seemed as though I was leading this small creature toward Man's place.

Sure enough, the two of us had reached the clearing, where Man's den stood proudly in the snow-covered plain. Once again, its insides were glowing, and its roof was exhaling smoke. I gulped nervously.

(Human child: "This is it! This is my home! You did it, Rudolph!")

Suddenly, I heard the bigger one's voice cry out. I turned around, and there she was. A female Man. She stared straight at me, and I couldn't help but stare back at her. For a moment, I thought for sure that this was it- the end of me. She would surely set her dogs on me, or shoot from her deadly magic stick. …Or something.

(Human child: "Mommy!!")

Then it happened that the small creature that I had in my care all along was her child. He frantically ran to her and threw himself into her arms. The two of them sat there hugging and cooing, and I just stood there being completely unnoticed. And in that small, tender moment, I tried very hard- and failed- not to picture myself with my own mother, reunited at last during the snowfall.

But then at last, I felt the urge to escape, and started to walk in the opposite direction. As I did so, I could see the small Man turn to me and smile.

(Human child: "Thank you.")

I sighed deeply as I walked away, surprised to be unharmed and even a bit satisfied with myself.

I walked slowly back to my own domain that evening, wondering what could happen next. Would the Men decide not to kill us anymore? Would they move on? Would they remember my kind act, or would they forget?

But then I realized none of that would matter. What matters is that I faced my enemy head on… and did the right thing. I would return to my family feeling better about myself than ever before.

And I giggled softly to myself, as I prepared in my head the story that I would tell to my friends; "Thumper, Flower, Owl… you are not going to believe who I met today…"

END