I THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST CURIOUS DEER—UNTIL I SAW WHAT THE LITTLE ONE WAS CARRYING

While tossing hay near my fence, two deer appeared from the treeline, unafraid. The smaller one dropped a rusted key with a red cloth. After they vanished, I found a lockbox in the woods. The key opened it, revealing letters addressed “To the one who listens.” They spoke of the forest’s guardians—deer that weren’t what they

seemed—and instructed me to protect them and dig beneath a spiral-carved stone. I found it, unearthing a stone box with a shimmering symbol, to be opened under a full moon. Now, I wait, feeling watched from the woods, chosen to uncover the land’s ancient secrets.