That Moment

 A few weeks ago, I was on a highway road near a mountain crossing for deer, and came upon a deer that had been hit and wounded just a minute or two before, but was still alive. It tried, but could not get up, and just laid in the road. As I passed the deer, who was in the left lane {I was in the right lane}, I could see out of the corner of my eye on the right side of the road, the mate of the fallen deer. He looked on with concern, but was very still and quiet, not moving at all. As I passed him, I made eye contact with him in that moment.

This really shook me and as I finished the drive to work, I shed tears the rest of the way. When I was able to, I called and reported the wounded deer in the road so that it could get help as soon as possible, even just to be out of the pain it was in. I still have not traveled that road to work since that day. It's a beautiful stretch of road in the river bottoms, but I won't go that way, at least for now. Probably in concern for not wanting to be in a situation of harming a beautiful, innocent creature, but also, the memory of it makes me very sad.  

My heart breaks for those deer who did nothing wrong at all. It makes me sad for a fallen world where the creatures that I adore so much can be harmed in any way. It is something that I just cannot understand why it is allowed to happen in the natural world. I cannot tell you the number of times I have cried my eyes out for an animal, any kind of animal, whose heartbreaking story has come my way or affected me. 

I'll never forget those deer.