Night Guardian.

The boy walks quietly into the calm night. On his way home after socializing with his friends. He's alone like he always is. It's pitch black, but he's walked this way so many times, that he has no need for a flashlight. He knows the house will be calm and quiet like always. He's tired...not to the point of exhaustion, but he is tired none the less. His mind travels to what his friends back home must be doing. Before he took this job, he'd go to the parties that he and his friends would throw. They were like one big family. Now, he's isolated from his friends and family. He needed the job badly. He knew sacrafices would have to be made. Still, if there was one person that he could've brought with him, it'd have to be his good friend, Julia. Although, nothing could happen between them, he still enjoyed her company just the same. He missed smelling the scent of her perfume. The way her eyes shaped when they looked at him. Her close-lipped smile. Most of all, he missed holding her in his arms. He could recall the day she sat next behind him as they read poetry. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. When Julia was around, the entire world would grow brighter. Now, all that surrounded him was darkness. All that could be heard were the sounds of his footsteps as he walked gently on the pavement. In the woods to his right, unknown to him, were three deer watching him. Two of them were do's. The third was just a fawn. They had been watching him for a while now. Although, they knew the terror that man brings upon them every year, they stood there like frozen statues and watched the boy walk home. No fear engulfed them. They watched him with great interest and fascination. Somehow, they knew the boy meant them no harm. It was almost like they could see into his soul. What they saw was a gentle living creature just like themselves. Another creature of the woods was drawing near. It was a lone coyote hunting for food. He sniffed the air. The scent of the boy reached his nostrils. He could almost smell the boy's blood. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting his flesh. He let out a low growl and started to move towards the direction of the scent. One of the deer heard the Coyote. One of the doe perked her ears. She spotted the predator. Looking at her little one and her sister, all three knew what she had to do. She purposely steps on a stick on the ground, alerting the coyote's attention to her. The boy hears the sound of sticks breaking in the woods. He stares hard into the dark. He can't see his guardians, but they can see him. The doe runs from the scene. The coyote pursues his new target. The other two run after them. The boy stands there alert until the sounds die out. Then, he continues his journey. Within a few minutes, the view of his temporary home glows under the street lamp. Slowly, he heads up the stairs and opens the door. He made it home safely again. He laid soundly in his bed, thoughts of home still floating in his mind. What became of his guardian? In the distance, he heard the howling of a pack of coyotes. A noble sacrafice from a noble animal. That night, a fawn lost his mother and his aunt, a sister. However, that's not what has saddened the two remaining deer. What's really saddening is that the boy will never know that his life was saved by an unknown night guardian.