The Deer, Amanda & other Short Stories
Dustin De Felice
The Deer, Amanda & Other Short Stories
Written By Dustin De Felice
Copyright 2014 Dustin De Felice
Fawn outline clip art courtesy of Mary Ann Labowski: https://www.clker.com/clipart-15688.html
Also by Dustin De Felice:
The Heartfelt Saga
The Fifty Questions
The Weekly Opposites
Los Opuestos Semanales
Helmsman
Timonel
Books Edited by Dustin De Felice
Teaching with Technology 2013: Educators Talking Tech
***~~~***
The Deer and Amanda
“Can you come get me?” Amanda shifted the telephone onto her other shoulder as she ran her fingers through her blonde hair.
“It’s three o’clock in the morning!” Nick mumbled into the receiving end of the telephone from his bed.
“I know, but I had a really bad day and I miss you.”
“Okay.” Nick rolled over and fell off the bed. He landed on the floor with a loud thud. “Ouch.”
“Nick, Nick, are you alright?”
Nick felt around in the darkness for the phone as he rubbed his head. “Yea, listen, I’m getting dressed now. I will see you in about an hour.”
“Okay. Hey Nick.”
“Yea.”
“Thanks.”
“You bet.”
Nick dropped the telephone into the cradle and fumbled around the nightstand for his keys. “Only two hours and I will be able to get back to sleep.”
Five hours later
“What happened today?” Nick steered the car onto Golf Course Rd.
“I guess I’m just homesick.” Amanda crossed her arms and shivered from the cold. “Is the heat on?”
“Well, it’s on, but that doesn’t mean it works.” Nick chuckled as he checked the rearview mirror. “Listen, I am heading back to Madison in the morning if you decide you want to go back, okay.”
“Okay, but I think I am going to sleep in.”
Nick nodded and glanced at the time on the radio. “It’s almost 5:30.”
Amanda nodded. “I’m really sorry.”
“I couldn’t be happier. I have to head back to Madison at about nine. That’ll give me about three more hours of sleep. I’ve done worse.”
“Look out!”
“Oh, my God!”
Nick cut the wheel to the left and slammed on the brakes. The car swerved missing the first two deer crossing the road, but the third deer froze in its tracks. Nick watched as the deer disappeared under the front of the car.
Amanda screamed as she heard the cracking of the radiator grill. “Not Bambi. Oh my God, you killed Bambi. Aaaaaagghh!” Amanda burst into tears and screamed louder.
Nick put the car in reverse and backed off the deer. He backed the car up about ten feet and pulled onto the shoulder. After taking some deep breathes Nick looked at the deer. It was lying in the middle of the road with its back facing the car. “How did its body get under the car?” He turned to Amanda, but she was still screaming. “Hey. Hey. Listen, I am going to check on the deer.”
“Bambi, you killed her, she was a free spirit…”
Nick rolled his eyes and opened the door. After getting out of the car, he took a few steps toward the deer. As he drew closer, he noticed the deer was still breathing. “Oh, boy.” He turned around and went back to the car. Ignoring Amanda’s mutterings, he dug behind the driver’s seat for his gloves. “It’s still alive.”
Nick slammed the door as Amanda started screaming again. Nick approached the deer on an angle and he watched as the deer’s chest stopped moving. “One less problem to deal with” he muttered to himself.
He walked up to the deer and looked at it for a moment. “What the hell I am going to do about this?” He muttered to himself again as he looked up the road. Although it wasn’t traveled very frequently during this late hour, the deer still sat right in the middle of the road. His eyes followed the road and he gazed over the golf course. “What the hell I am going to do?” He said out loud as he pulled his gloves out of his back pocket and slipped them on. “Can’t very well leave you lying here?” Nick bent over and grabbed the deer by its hind legs. He dragged the deer to the rear end of his Datsun 280ZX. He took a moment to look over the car and realized the best place to put the deer would be on the shortened, yet sloped back end. He dragged the deer behind the car and bent over to get a grip on its midsection.
“Ugh.” The deer landed on the back window with a loud thud. Amanda’s screaming followed from in the car.
“Oh, boy.” Nick took off his gloves and got back into the car. “Hey. Could you stop screaming for a minute?” Nick waited as Amanda collected herself. “Okay, we are almost home and then you can forget about this whole thing.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
Nick laughed. “As if I have any idea.” He started the car and pulled back onto the road. A few minutes later they drove up a large hill and he heard a large thump. “Dammit.” He checked the rearview and noticed the deer had fallen off. “Don’t.” Nick held up his hand in an effort to curtail another scream. He could hear her whimpering as he got out of the car.
He slipped his gloves back on and walked over to the deer. Not wanting to have the same thing happen, he dragged the deer to the front end of the car. After bracing his back, he tossed the deer onto the hood. The carcass landed on the hood with a deadening thud and a cracking sound as the head hit the windshield on the passenger side of the car. Amanda screamed as the head bounced right in front of her.
Nick stifled a grin as he jumped back in the car. “Could you do me a favor and hold onto its head?”
Amanda gave him a hard stare as she unrolled the window. He waited a few minutes until she had a firm grip on the head.
“We’ll be home in less than five minutes.” Nick didn’t wait for answer as he put the car in gear. As he drove on, he wished he had pushed the deer a little further over because the hind end was blocking his view of the road. After a brief drive, he turned the car into his driveway.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
“Nick, I’m really sorry for acting, well, you know.”
Nick smiled. “I know. Listen, why don’t you go lie down? I can take things from here.”
“Okay.” Amanda grabbed her bag and headed for the house.
Nick watched as she walked around the back. He then got out of the car and took a few steps towards the house. It was time to get some sleep.
