Jeanette's POV
As the days passed, they became much cooler, and the leaves began to turn beautiful shades of gold, brown, and red. Autumn was coming! As I noticed this change, I suddenly realized – what am I going to do for food during the winter? I had to keep my oath to the other forest animals that I wouldn't harm them, but when winter would come, there would be no berries, bugs, or eggs to eat. Would I have to hibernate like bears do, or eat some of the woody bark from the trees like all the deer did?
One day, as Bambi, Willow, and I all had a walk beside a little creek, I found many bushes with lots of raspberries! Ever so excited, I ran to those bushes and began gobbling up the berries as if I hadn't eaten anything in several years.
Willow saw me eating and chuckled, "Oh, slow down, Jeanette! You could get a stomach ache if you eat too many berries at once!"
I looked up at her with my muzzle covered in berry juice, and my cheeks stuffed like berries as if I were a chipmunk. Then, I slowly chewed my food, and swallowed it bit by bit. When I finished swallowing, I sheepishly smiled, "Sorry. I-I think… well, I think I might be spending most of the winter, um, hibernating, you see – like a bear does! And, you know, I gotta stay true to my promise that I wouldn't eat the little animals in the forest."
"Well, alright," Willow said to me with a little smile, "But don't forget to chew, okay?"
"Right," I said with a nod. Then, we continued on our way as the leaves blew in the wind.
Third Person POV
A few weeks later, Bambi, his mother, and Jeanette were all sleeping in the warm thicket when Bambi woke up with a chill. He yawned, and then he looked out the entrance to the thicket; outside, the forest was covered in snow, but the young fawn didn't know what it was. So, he asked, "Mother, Jeanette, look! What's all that white stuff?"
Jeanette stopped snoring and opened up one eye, while Willow looked out to see what Bambi was talking about. "Why, it's snow," she smiled.
"Snow?" repeated Bambi.
"Yes," said Willow, "Winter has come."
"Yes," Jeanette yawned, "Winter is here."
Bambi then stepped forward to go outside and look around at the winter wonderland.
Jeanette, meanwhile, stretched and softly called, "Hold on, Bambi! I think I should come with you so you don't get lost or anything!"
As Jeanette slowly walked over to him, Bambi stuck one of his front paws into the snow, and saw that it sank into it! "Hey, this is pretty cool!" he softly said with glee. Then, he walked a little bit in the snow, and Jeanette followed him as she tried not to sink too far into the snow.
After walking a little bit, Bambi turned around and saw that he made some tracks in the snow, so then he did some small steps forward to make more footprints, but then he fell into a deep snowdrift!
"Are you okay, Bambi?" Jeanette asked as she huddled her way to the fawn through the deep snow.
Bambi poked his head out of the snow and proclaimed, "I'm okay!"
"Good!" Jeanette said as she followed him through the snowdrift, "Because this snow is awfully hard for a fox to trudge through!"
The fawn and the girl-turned fox made their way through the snow until they arrived at an area with less snow; they could walk upon it more easily. "Now, that's more like it!" Jeanette said with a relieved smile.
Bambi's POV
Jeanette and I walked through the snow a little bit, and then, I heard some strange noises from the trees. "What's that sound?" I asked Jeanette.
"I'm not sure," she answered with some fear in her voice, "But let's be careful, okay?"
We soon arrived at one tree, and a pile of snow fell from a branch and onto the ground; that was the source of that strange sound.
"Uh-oh, Bambi!" Jeanette said, "We'd better get outta here before I drown in snow!"
But I wanted to look up the tree and see where the snow was coming from. I looked up, and then a little bit of snow landed on my nose. Then, more snow started to fall as Jeanette and I ran off. Before we knew it, she and I were covered in a pile of snow that fell from a tree branch!
Jeanette poked her head out of the snow and shook herself of the white stuff. "Boy!" she coughed, "I'm so glad we weren't caught in an avalanche!"
I then poked my own head out of the snow, and shook some off of the top of my head. "What's a… avalanche?" I asked.
Jeanette looked at me and said, "Well, if you live up in the mountains, there's lots of snow, and sometimes it doesn't always stay stiff on the ground. So, if there's a loud noise, or anything like that, then the snow will slide down the mountain at a very fast pace and cover everything in its path."
"Wow!" I gasped, "I'm sure glad I live in the forest!"
"HIYA, BAMBI!" a familiar voice called, "JEANETTE! Watch what I can do!"
The voice belonged to Thumper, who was standing on top of a little hill. He then ran down the hill before doing a big jump, and then he dove into a snowdrift before he came out and slid on top of a strange surface. He looked like he was having a great time!
"Oh, look!" Jeanette giggled, "Animals on ice!"
"What's ice?" I asked her.
"That's when the water freezes, and then it becomes hard," she said. She then looked down at Thumper and called, "Wait for me!"
Then, the fox ran towards the hill before she decided to slide down on her belly. When she got to the bottom, though, she ended up going into the air before landing on top of the ice with a little thud! "Ooof!" she mumbled before getting up, "I'm okay! I've been in worse situations with ice before!"
I looked down at Thumper and Jeanette, and Thumper called to me, "C'mon! It's alright! Look!" He pounded the ice with his foot and said, "The water's stiff!"
"It's frozen!" Jeanette added with a grin, "Come join us, Bambi!"
I couldn't resist, so I wagged my tail, stepped back a bit, and then ran down the hill; I jumped when I got to the bottom, but then I landed and slid onto the ice.
Jeanette shook her head and said with sympathy, "Oh, Bambi! You and me both!"
Jeanette and Thumper ran over to me, and the bunny said as he sat down, "Some fun, huh, Bambi?"
I sheepishly grinned as I nodded.
"Are you hurt?" Jeanette asked as she felt around me with her paws.
"Nah, I'm okay!" I assured her.
"Come on, get up!" Thumper encouraged me, "Like this!" He got up on his hind legs, and then ran on them across the ice; then, he stopped running and slid along on one foot.
Third Person POV
Bambi tried standing back up, but the ice was too slippery. He tried again numerous times, but he ended up with the same result – falling on his abdomen. Thumper and Jeanette both giggled as they went over to help their fawn friend out. "I have an idea!" said Jeanette, "Thumper, you go around to Bambi's back end while I'll stay at his front."
So, the bunny slid over to Bambi's rear end and tried moving his hind legs up, while Jeanette worked at getting Bambi's front legs up. When the plan was working, Jeanette grinned, "Great! Now let's see if we can do one leg at a time!"
So then, Jeanette and Thumper worked together and slowly to move Bambi's legs upward a little bit, one at a time. "Kinda wobbly, aren't ya?" Thumper asked.
Bambi's legs started slipping down a little, and Jeanette rolled her eyes with a sigh.
Thumper tried moving the legs again, but then, the fawn fell down on the ice!
"Not again!" Jeanette groaned as she did a face paw.
Thumper cleared his throat, and then tried something else; he moved Bambi's hind legs up again, and then he gently pushed the fawn's head up, making him slide. This time, before he could fall down again, Bambi crossed his hind legs and landed gently on his rear.
"Smart move, Bambi!" Jeanette smiled.
"You gotta watch both ends at the same time!" Thumper said as he came over to Bambi.
The bunny went over to the fawn's hind legs and said, "Guess you better unwind it?" So, Thumper took Bambi's right hind leg and then got the fawn's legs free.
Jeanette just giggled at Thumper's "brilliant" plan. Then, she helped Bambi up by the front, while Thumper helped him from the back. Then, the girl-turned fox ran off as Thumper gently pushed Bambi along the ice. The fawn slid off for a few moments, but then his legs stumbled again, and he landed on his belly once again! This time, Bambi bumped into Thumper, and they all slid upon the ice until they "crashed" into a snowdrift.
Jeanette ran over to them with concern and asked, "Are you guys alright?"
Bambi had his head in the snow, and then something moved on top of him; out of the snow came Thumper, who was unharmed, and then he hopped off to shake some snow out of his big ears.
Jeanette, meanwhile, was helping Bambi out by pulling on his tail, when she heard a strange sound. It sounded like a child snoring, so she and Thumper looked into a little thicket, and saw Flower the skunk sleeping in a pile of leaves on his back.
"Oh, he's sleeping!" Jeanette whispered with awe.
Thumper pounded his foot on a fallen log and called, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, Flower!"
Flower moved a bit and slowly opened his eyes. "Is it spring yet?" he asked with a yawn.
"Nope!" Bambi smiled as he shook his head, "Winter's just started!"
"What'cha doin'?" Thumper asked the skunk, "Hibernating?"
Flower yawned and answered, "Uh-huh."
Jeanette also yawned and said, "Maybe I should do that, too?"
"What'choo wanna do that for?" Bambi asked Flower.
Flower giggled and said, "All March flowers sleep in the winter!" Flower then took his big tail and used it as a blanket as he yawned, "Well… good night!" Then, the skunk went back to sleep.
"Come on, you two," Jeanette softly said to Bambi and Thumper, "We should let him sleep until spring comes. And besides, we don't want your mothers to be wondering where you guys are, do we?"
"Nah," said Thumper as he and Bambi turned around.
"Okay," said Bambi. He yawned a bit and said, "Besides, I think I'm tired, too!" So, all three of the friends walked away together before going their separate ways for the time being.
