Chloe, Animal Whisperer Extraordinaire

Title: Chloe, Animal Whisperer Extraordinaire

Kairos/Audience: I usually tell this at family gatherings when talking about cute or funny childhood stories. 

Story: It was early in the morning.  So early you couldn't tell if it was the morning or the middle of the night. My Spongebob Squarepants alarm clock burst into the "F.U.N" song, signaling time to get up. My feet, clad in fuzzy pink socks, touched the floor and I shuffled to my closet. I shimmied out of my pajamas and into a green camouflage t-shirt I had secretly stolen from my little brother. With sneakers in tow, I crept down the stairs.

I was on a mission. For the past week, a deer had been living in our woods behind my country farmhouse. During hunting season, we always saw families of deer bounding through our fields and woods. But this one kept coming back. I, being an 8-year-old animal enthusiast, had tried many times to run up to touch the deer. But my dad informed me that deer are skittish, and typically hang around when it's dark and there aren't as many people out. That very night, before going to bed, I made a plan to find the deer the next morning. 

I rounded the staircase, and crept out the front door. "Chloe? What are you doing, sweetheart?" My father rocked in a chair, under a dim porch light, enjoying the warm summer breeze and early-morning scripture study. "I'm going to find the deer," I confidently informed him.

"Oh, really?" my dad peered over his glasses at the dark woods at the edge of the field. "Alright. Let me know when you find her." I marched down the porch steps and gathered up a bucket of feed. A few minutes later I stood at the gate, about to march into the dark unknown of the woods. I had always been afraid of the dark. My confidence began to melt. I was half-tempted to ask my dad to go with me. But I knew I should be brave and do this on my own. I dropped the feed bucket, and ran back up to the porch. "Not doing it?" Dad asked. "No, I am," I stated. "I just forgot a flashlight." Flashlight in hand, I wandered back to the fence. I picked up my feed and marched to the woods. 

The trees were large and scary. I was sure the boogey man was standing right behind one of them. But all the sudden, I heard a rustling in the leaves, and my flashlight landed on the small doe. She stared at me with big eyes. I stared back. I slowly shook my feed. To my surprise, she stepped towards me. Inch by inch, we crept towards each other, until the deer was eating feed out of my hand. I stood there for a moment, mystified by this intimate connection with nature, completely forgetting the scary darkness engulfing me. After a minute of snacking, the deer leapt away, and I ran all the way back to the porch. Breathless, I told my dad of my adventure. 

"Wow, Chloe. I'm impressed. Honestly, I didn't think you'd do it. But see? That wasn't so scary was it?" I shook my head with a beaming smile on my face. I tiptoed back up to my room and slid back into my fuzzy socks and into my warm protective sheets. Mission accomplished. 

Retelling

Title: Nature Scary and Sweet

Kairos/Audience: To my dad, telling him of braving my fear of the dark woods.

The woods, a thicket full of Georgia pine and oak [definition], stood tall and looming, a natural fence around our house. While a seemingly scary place to me, a white-tailed doe had found sanctuary in the woods. The morning I went looking for the deer, I left the house before the sun yawned and stretched itself over the horizon [personification]. Donning my camo shirt and hat, I was prepared to go on the biggest adventure of my 8-year-old life thus far. 

With feed, fashlight, and a firm conviction [alliteration], I faced the woods. I crept through the large and looming trees - monsters waiting to grab me at any moment [metaphor]. Should I turn back? My stomach was watery. No, I wanted to do this. If I didn't find the deer now, I never would. My dad told me how deer run away in the daytime, and I did not want to miss this chance [authorities]. I pushed forward, through the branches, through the brush, until my flashlight was met by two large yellow eyes. They gleamed in the stream of light. I held out a quivering hand, offering feed to the deer - letting her know I didn't want to hurt her. Cautiously, the gentle creature stepped towards me, until she trusted me and was eating out of my hand. I touched the top her head. Her fur was brown and soft; her nose black and cold [ellipsis]. 

The scariness of the woods melted out of my thoughts as I shared a moment of trust with this animal. Nature could be scary, but the deer taught me that amidst the scariness, nature could be sweet [comparison]. After that early summer morning, the woods didn't seem so scary to me anymore. While the trees seemed ominous and terrifying, they were really just protecting some of nature's sweetest creations.