Bambi

Look how happy Bambi is. He's so cute and smiley.

Meanwhile....Prancer and Vixen are having a throw-down over Rudolph's ex-girlfriend. But Bambi doesn't seem to mind. He's footloose and fancy-free.

"Oh look!" Bambi says. "A tiny blue bird is fluttering over head. I think I shall follow it."

Prance prance prance....frolic bound prance. "Here I go! Dancing through the woods," Bambi says. "Oh little blue bird where are you going?"

Bambi's forgotten all about Prancer and Vixen's squabble. He's just so content with his life. He loves that little bluebird.

"Tweet tweet tweet," says the bluebird, "tweetly-tweet tweet."

"Oh I'm so happy!" says Bambi.

"Little bluebird," he continues, "you're my new best friend. I think I feel like singing. La la la...lalalalala LA LA LA LAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Little bluebird sings along. Bambi prances beside her.

Little bluebird flies over a fence, and Bambi, still stuck in lala land, closes his eyes bounds right over into someone's backyard.

"Ruff...ruff...."

The little bluebird flies away. Bambi opens his eyes.

"Oh no!"he says. "Little bluebird, where did you go?"

"Ruff....ruff..."

Back in the forest, Prancer and Vixen talk smack.

"Yo mama so fat, she sat on a rainbow and skittles popped out!"

"Oh yea? Well yo mama so stupid, she got stabbed in shoot out."

The fighting ensues....

"Ruuuuufff....rrruuuuufff..." Over in the corner of the big backyard, Chloe the dog wakes up from a nap.

"Oh," she says. "What is that?"

Chloe stands up and sees Bambi hop over the fence.

"I've never seen one of those before," Chloe thinks to herself. "I think I'll shall go say hi."

Bambi hears a strange noise...

"Rufff...ruff..."

"Little bluebird, where are you?" he says. "I'm getting scared!"

"Ruff....ruff..."

"Oh no!" Bambi says. "A monster!"

Chloe approaches Bambi, tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Hello!" Chloe says as she licks Bambi in the face.

"Ahhh!!!" Bambi kicks Chloe in the snout.

"Ouch!" Chloe says. "This kid must not be nice."

Chloe growls and bites. Bambi screams and squabbles and kicks some more. But Chloe is bigger and stronger and Bambi can't get away. And soon, little Bambi is dead and Dad is left to clean up the mess while Chloe resumes her day as usual.

You may be wondering what the heck just happened. You're heart might be a little broken and you're probably searching for some way to resolve what just happened....to find peace amidst the madness...to convince yourself it just isn't true and that all is right with the world.

Fortunately for you, this can remain a bizarre made up story. But if you want to know the truth...keep reading. If not, STOP.

My mom called me today around 1:30 in the afternoon. I was already a little emotional and was excited to see that she called. Mom's can always make sad situations better. Or at least we tried to convince ourselves they can.

"I just called to tell you a story," she said.

"Okay..."

"Its about your dog."

"What happened to Chloe?" I asked.

"She killed a baby dear this morning."

"SHE DID WHAT?"

"Yea," my mom said. "i woke up this morning and heard what sounded like a cow screaming. I got your dad and said, 'listen, that sounds like a deer.' Your dad disagreed, but I was sure it sounded like the sound of a deer that I'd heard on a tv show or something. So he went to check it out and Chloe had killed a baby dear."

My heart dropped. I imagined a cute little Bambi lying in our backyard and Chloe walking around like nothing bad had just happened.

"You don't think she did it on purpose do you?" I asked. Chloe had killed things before....a bird, a rabbit, an attempt at a turtle whose shell she couldn't crack.

"No," my mom said. "I think the deer probably jumped over the fence and Chloe went over to play. The deer probably got scared and attacked so Chloe attacked back. It was just a little old thing and Chloe was bigger than it. You're dad cleaned it up and called the sanitation people to come pick it up. He said it wasn't really that bloody."

I hung up the phone and felt a wave of sadness. Chloe is not a bad dog. She's a really good dog. Sweet and funny. She's just curious. I don't think she intentionally hurt a deer. In fact, I've never seen her growl or snap at another dog unless the opposing party did so first. But the voice of a dying deer keeps echoing in my head and I can't help but think that Chloe has no idea what just happened. She's a dog. She doesn't know what she did was wrong. Heck....she probably doesn't even know that she just ended another life. It makes me mad a Chloe for being so vicious. For know what other people will think of her when they read this post, but I know that killing was not her heart. And while I hate her for killing the deer and I feel so sad for the deer, I want Chloe to know that I forgive her. Or do I? But the thing of it is....she doesn't even know she needs to be forgiven.

So now I'm left with this dilemma...to love my dog or to stay angry at her for doing something she didn't know was wrong. And it seems so silly, because after all....she's a dog. But maybe there's some sort of lesson to be learned.

I don't want to get all philosophical and start preaching about forgiveness. In fact, I don't even want to end on a sad note. But life isn't always funny. Sometimes it sucks and sometimes its hard. And sometimes we have to face reality.

Chloe killed a deer. That's all there is to it.

And Prancer and Vixen got shot with an arrow because they were so busy bickering that they didn't see Robin Hood swinging through the forest. Now they're roasting over a fire for someone else's dinner. The End.