Oh, Deer was
my very first attempt at writing. It’s a creepy little tale about the
white-tailed deer in the Northwood’s of Wisconsin. Living there for better than
twenty years, and with the idea of a friend, it was a story that was meant to
be written.
It was
re-released earlier this week with a new cover done for me by the very talented
Sarah from Rebel Angel Designs!
And I’d like
to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to Robin Renee Ray for doing my
editing, and to DeAnna Felthauser for doing the copy editing and the
formatting. I couldn’t have done this without either of you!
Be sure to stop by all their blogs and show them some love!
Blurb for, Oh, Deer...
Jacob Ellis and his wife Donna live in the north
woods of Wisconsin. Like most young couples, they have hobbies they enjoy.
Jacob likes the outdoors, choosing four-wheeling and hunting as his forms of
relaxation. Donna loves cooking, but her true passion is working in her flower
garden. That is until her labor of love becomes nothing more than a colorful,
tasty treat for the white-tailed deer, who share their surroundings.
One night the pair has an eerie experience with the
four-legged visitors in their yard that would haunt them in the nights ahead.
The evening sets the path for Jacob’s decision to go against nature. After
hearing a legend passed down through generations of the Chippewa Indians, Jacob
must now decide if it’s just a myth or a lesson in the balance of law and
justice—between people and nature.
Excerpt ~
Jacob
Ellis stood looking out the patio doors. His eyes scanned the yard looking for them, surprised to find that none were
in sight. His vision strained to see in the rapidly descending darkness, trying
to view the wooded parameter of the acre sized clearing of the yard. There were
no signs of movement beneath the apple tree. Even the wire fenced garden was
void of their presence.
It
seemed as if Jacob’s plan to rid the yard of the destructive, four legged,
white-tailed animals had worked. Still, he had expected to see a few of them
around. They couldn’t have all been
taken care of…
~◊~
Two days earlier, Donna had asked her husband,
Jacob, if there was anything he could do to get rid of the deer that had eaten
all the flowers and shrubbery around the house. The animals had also figured
out how to get into the fenced garden. They ate everything in sight, leaving
behind damaged plants. Some were chewed right to the ground.
Donna
was quite upset. Her one true passion was gardening and she spent long hours
tending to the many flower beds and the vegetable garden she’d planted. The
morning’s conversation had been a repeat of the same discussion they’d had
daily over the past few weeks.
“Damn it Jacob, I really want those
destructive things gone,” Donna said in a seriously pissed off voice, entering
the kitchen after attempting to retrieve some tomatoes from the garden, only to
return empty handed.
“Well,
what do you want me to do? You don’t want me to shoot them because it’s not
hunting season. Not to mention your poor
Bambi philosophy. I built a taller fence this year and tried all the
commercial deer deterrents on the market. I even tried Mark’s crazy home
remedies, nothing has worked,” Jacob said a bit louder than he intended.
After grabbing the gallon of milk, Donna
slammed the refrigerator door, practically yelling, “Poor Bambi, my ass! I want
them taken care of. There’s nothing left of my flowers and I won’t be canning
anything this year, they ate it all already!”
Picking
up the large, dark green coffee mug, Jacob took a swallow of the now tepid,
dark liquid. He remembered one last remedy Mark had told him about. It was
highly illegal which didn’t sit well with him. Jacob wasn’t the sort of man to
go around breaking the law. Christ, he’d never even gotten a speeding ticket.
He would have to think it over more carefully. Maybe use that as a last resort.
Maybe.
“I’ll
talk to a few of the old farmers when I stop in town after work today and see
if they have any other suggestions. It was a rough winter and the weather
lately hasn’t exactly helped. They’re just trying to survive too, you know.”
Jacob said sympathetically.
“I’ll
remind you of that when you want homemade salsa or canned tomatoes’ for your
chili. Christ Jacob, have you seen how sick the apple tree looks? The apple’s
that are coming in won’t be any good for using, it’s just more damn deer bait.” Donna said, her voice laced with irritation
while she rolled her eyes.
“I’ll
see what I can do, dear,” was Jacob’s only reply as he picked up the coffee mug
again, and reached across the kitchen table for the newspaper. As an
afterthought, he also grabbed an apple out of the bowl filled with mixed
fruits, which was centered on the table.
~◊~
After
work Jacob stopped to talk with some of the old farmers that hung out at the
feed mill. The visit produced no more insight as to how to get rid of the
vandalizing critters. He had already tried everything that was mentioned.
Now
on his ride home, Jacob considered using the last idea Mark had mentioned. He
said—guaranteed rather, that the
animals that ate anything laced with the antifreeze would die. Antifreeze, Jacob thought as he
continued driving his rusty old F150 pickup truck on the wooded back road. He
didn’t want to kill anything, he just
wanted his wife to stop nagging everyday about her flowers, and he certainly
would miss the homemade salsa.
As Jacob’s truck topped the steep hill,
thinking of salsa, he nearly hit the white-tailed deer that stood in the center
of the road. Slamming on the brakes hard, the pickup truck skidded as the tires
tried to grab hold of the graveled road. That natural reflex to stomp on the
brake sent the truck skidding across the gravel, swerving to the right. As
Jacob tried to regain control of the vehicle, he overcorrected his steering,
causing the truck to fish-tail, sliding to where the road met the embankment. Once
the tires caught the uneven ground, there was no stopping the truck from
sliding into the tree-lined ditch.
“God
damn son of a bitch,” Jacob yelled as the truck came to a sudden halt. The
passenger side door of the truck was now wrapped tightly against a big oak
tree. Jacob slammed both hands on the steering wheel, muttering a few more
choice words he knew his mother would have washed his mouth out for using.
Evidently
the deer wasn’t quite as surprised by the arrival of the truck which housed
Jacob, because as quick as a flash of lightning, it took off across the road
heading for the safety of the woods. Jacob got out of the truck to survey the
damage. He was not at all pleased to see the crunched metal crease in the door.
However, he knew he should be thankful that it hadn’t been worse. Getting back
into the vehicle, he threw it into four-wheel drive and slowly worked the
vehicle out of the ditch and onto the road.
He
turned his head looking for oncoming traffic before proceeding, and was
surprised by what he saw. There about twenty five feet away, just inside the
woods was the deer. Not only the one,
but five of her companions as well. “What the hell are you looking at?” Jacob
asked sarcastically. The doe’s continued to gaze at him, and if he didn’t know
better, it almost appeared as if they were smiling and laughing at him.
“Oh
this is just bullshit,” Jacob muttered as he pulled out, heading for home once
more. Unseen by Jacob, the deer stood their ground and watched his truck fade
into the horizon. Once he was out of sight, the animals turned, slowly walking
further into the woods.
~◊~
To purchase “Oh, Deer” go to Amazon.com
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