Third Person POV
Winter dragged on for several more weeks, and food grew shorter for Bambi, Willow, and Jeanette. The girl-turned-fox was particularly hungry, because there were no berries or eggs for her to eat, and she had to stay true to her promise on not eating any of the smaller animals. One snowy day, Bambi, his mother, and Jeanette wandered out with some other deer, and decided to eat some tree bark.
Jeanette took a bite from some bark and chewed on it quite a bit. "Oooh! It's really chewy and tough!" she quietly said to herself as she chewed and swallowed little by little, "But beggars can't really be choosers – especially if you're a vegetarian fox!"
The next day was just as snowy as the previous one; Willow, Bambi, and Jeanette tried to eat some bark off another tree, but the remaining bark was so high up that Willow had to reach for a portion for herself, as well as portions for Bambi and Jeanette.
The next day had an even worse blizzard as the deer and the girl-turned fox searched for food. By the time the snow had cleared, Willow sadly looked up and saw that there was no bark left. Jeanette just shook her head with disappointment. Willow then gave her fawn a kiss before everyone went back to the thicket.
Early the next morning, Bambi looked out of the thicket and sighed with boredom, "Winter sure is long, isn't?"
"It seems long," Willow said as Bambi walked over to her and Jeanette, "But it won't last forever."
Jeanette was sleeping as Bambi knelt down to rest by her and Willow. "I've seen worse situations before," Jeanette yawned sleepily, "But partially hibernating is way close to the top spot."
Bambi looked at his mother and said, "I'm awful hungry, Mother."
"Yes, I know," Willow said softly as she kissed her son on the head.
"Me too," Jeanette mumbled before she went back to sleep.
Later that day, Willow was leading Bambi and Jeanette to the meadow when she saw something on the ground. She gasped and called out, "Bambi! Jeanette, come here!"
The fawn and the girl-turned fox scampered over to where Willow was and looked at what she pointed out.
"Look!" said Willow, "New spring grass! Jeanette, you may dig in the ground to see if there are any roots of some kind for you to eat."
Bambi excitedly joined his mother as they munched on the grass sticking out of the snow, and Jeanette dug a hole in the dirt to find some grassroots. "I wonder how dirt tastes like?" she wondered to herself. She lapped up a bit of dirt, and then quickly swallowed it. "Ugh!" she gagged, "Dirt is a no-go! Better stick to grassroots, I guess."
As the three of them ate, Jeanette thought to herself, I wonder when I should tell them the truth about who I really am?
Suddenly, Willow sensed something, and looked with a start. She looked all around the meadow, and immediately knew something was wrong. "Bambi… Jeanette," she softly said before ordering, "Quick! The thicket!"
Bambi and Jeanette stopped eating, and then ran ahead of Willow. The mother doe ran behind them just as a loud gunshot was heard in the distance! "It's a hunter!" Jeanette gasped with fright as she ran behind Bambi and in front of Willow.
"Faster!" Willow called to Bambi and Jeanette, "Faster, you two! Don't look back! Keep running! KEEP RUNNING!"
Bambi, Jeanette, and Willow all kept on running through the snow towards the edge of the forest. But as Bambi and Jeanette went past some trees, another loud gunshot was heard, and Willow did not follow them.
Jeanette's POV
As Bambi and I ran into the woods, I immediately knew something was wrong, so I stopped dead in my tracks while the fawn kept running for his thicket. "Willow!" I gasped.
Ignoring Willow's orders for me to keep running, I turned around and ran back towards the meadow. "WILLOW!" I called for her, "WILLOW!"
As I quickly trekked through the snow, snowflakes began to fall from the sky as I heard some shallow breathing off in a short distance. I turned and saw a familiar figure lying down in the snow – Willow! "Oh, Willow!" I gasped as I ran over to her, "Willow, are you alright?"
"Jeanette," Willow breathed as I slowly approached her. She was lying in the snow on her left side, and blood was flowing from her body and onto the snow. "Jeanette, where is Bambi?" she asked as I looked at her.
My eyes became moist as I answered in a shaken tone, "Bambi… is-is safe! Trust me! Come on, Willow, I want you to stand up for me. Your son needs you!"
"I… I don't think I can," Willow said as her breathing became shallower.
"Don't say that!" I pleaded to her with a lump in my throat, "You're gonna be fine, okay? I'm gonna tell Bambi that you're okay, and then…"
"Tell my Bambi… I love him," Willow breathed as she looked at me, "And I'll always be there… even if I'm not."
"What?" I asked as a tear flowed down my furry face.
"Jeanette, you have been… a very, very good friend – even for… a fox," Willow said as more snowflakes started falling, "Take care of… my son… Farewell." At the last word, Willow slowly closed her eyes, and then stopped breathing and moving altogether.
I knew now that Willow was gone forever. I shook my head and began crying, "No! NO! Please, Willow! Come back! Come back, Willow! Don't leave me alone!" I then started sobbing into her right side and asked myself, "How am I gonna explain to Bambi? He'll NEVER understand!"
Just then, I heard Bambi's voice calling, "MOTHER! MOTHER, WHERE ARE YOU?"
I then turned and trudged through the snow with tears in my eyes, preparing to break the sad news to little Bambi.
The snowflakes grew heavier in numbers as I went back into the forest and followed the sound of Bambi's voice calling for his mother. "BAMBI!" I called out loud.
"JEANETTE!" Bambi's voice called back.
I ran over to the source of that voice and called for Bambi's name again until I saw him. "Bambi?" I said to him as I walked over to the fawn, "Bambi, there's something…"
"Jeanette, I can't find Mother!" Bambi said as his head began to hang low.
"Bambi – about your mom," I tried explaining with a heavy heart, "I'm sorry to have to tell you…"
My sentence was cut off when Bambi gasped at something looking down at him. I looked up, and there he was – the Great Prince of the Forest looking down at him. "Your mother can't be with you anymore," he said to Bambi sadly.
Bambi looked at him for several seconds before he realized what happened. The fawn held his head down as a tear escaped his eye. "I'm sorry, Bambi," I said to him with sympathy; I held my head down and shed a small tear.
The Great Prince looked at Bambi and said as he began to walk away, "Come… my son."
Bambi and I were hesitant, not knowing what to do now that Willow was gone, but the two of us decided to follow the big buck and find out what was to come next.
