I do not own Carnival.
Still love Ben tho.
Ben and Sofie
The Deer And The Man
He stops the rattling, shuddering truck again.
There, right in the middle of the dirt road.
Looks to the field stretched out to his right.
And feels it calling him.
"Ben?"
He doesn't look at her, he's concentrating, trying to think of what he should do.
And suddenly, . . .
"I got to go, Sof. There's . . . there's something out there in the woods just beyond the field."
Sofie shifts.
"I'll go with you."
And Ben still doesn't look at her.
But his voice is firm, brooking no argument.
"No. Something's gonna happen and I want you far away so you don't get hurt."
Her voice is quiet as she forms her words carefully.
"Will you be coming back?"
He nods vaguely.
"Yeah, I think so. Not too long. And I think . . ." He pauses, continues. "I think you'll be safe here."
And she . . .
"Okay."
. . . complies.
He didn't tell Sofie, he couldn't.
But in his head, distant and blurry, he had heard a gunshot.
Seen a child, a boy no more than eight.
A deer.
And a man.
"Pa!"
And could surmise . . .
"Pa!"
. . . the rest.
And so, Ben Hawkins, the boy of a man with the power of life inside him, makes his way through the field, fast as he can without stepping a foot wrong and injuring his own self.
Until he passes into . . .
"Pa!"
. . . the treeline.
He finds them easy, the boy's cries of despair echo all over the woods.
"Pa!"
The man is down, the deer, just as he had seen, both lifeblood soaking the ground.
The boy beside him, shotguns abandoned amongst the sticks and roots.
"Pa!"
And then he sees Ben, the little boy.
Dirty face streaked with tears, eyes red.
The man is breathing, gasping, sucking desperate air through a punctured lung.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!"
And Ben knows . . .
"You live close by?"
. . . exactly what he is to do.
The boy nods, points.
"Over yonder. Over the ridge."
The man will not make it, he will die.
Here.
Or at home.
And Ben knows . . .
"Okay. I'm gonna take care of yer pa. You run back that way. Go on now."
. . . exactly what he needs to do.
The boy blanches.
"But-"
And Ben knows there is no time.
"Go! Don't stop until you're on the other side of the ridge! Stay on the other side until you hear your daddy callin' for you!"
The boy's rising, still scared.
"But, mister,-"
"Go!"
The child goes, cryin' and runnin' like all hell's chasin' him.
And with the ferocity with which Ben had spoken to him, it might have just been.
The deer.
Wounded but unable to flee, bullet severed its nerve workings, snorting fear and steam out of quivering nostrils.
It could take hours to die, helpless and in pain when the coyotes to tear it apart.
Or, Ben could take that powerful, wild life. And give the child back his daddy.
Retract the guilt of the accident.
He could give them all three, exactly what they need.
So he lays his hands in the blood of the man.
Bows his head.
And wills him back to life.
Wills the silvery essence of the deer to go into the man.
Deer to man.
Nothing else.
The moments draw out.
The deer is the only thing beneath the pines.
All other living things having fled with the gunshots.
Except the trees.
And he doesn't want to take them.
And he hopes he sent the child far enough away.
And focuses on the man.
And the deer.
And suddenly, the deer, the antlered king of the wood, expels its last breath.
And the man draws his first.
"Huuuuuuuu-"
And opens his eyes.
Ben plays his part well.
"Mister! Mister, you alright? Must've just missed your heart!"
The man is confused, he had felt his spirit leaving him.
"Where's . . ."
But only one thought trumps all others.
"Where's Elijah? Where's my boy?"
And Ben gestures.
"I saw him! Saw him runnin'! He was going for help!"
The man lurches to his feet, one hand instinctively rubbing the healed wound, the blood drying patchy on the skin.
"Elijah! Boy! Elijah!"
And the deer's life is well traded.
And Ben . . .
"Hey, you alright?"
. . . eventually . . .
"Yeah. Tired."
. . . leaves the woods.
Thought of Ben and Sofie today and all the parts of their AU story that haven't been told.
Decided to continue on.
Thanks for reading. Be safe and well. :)