That Deer Haunted My Dreams
by Sierra Rose
(Jackson, MI, USA)
This happened to me last May on the Friday right before Memorial Day Weekend. I am a caregiver for an elderly client and work in the evenings. It was approximately 11 pm when I was driving home on a rural road and all was calm.
Suddenly I caught a movement on my left out of the corner of my eye. It was a deer charging across the road and right at my car. I saw its face and eyes and it looked as frightened as I was at that moment. It hit my car at my front left headlight and then slammed against my side of the car before disappeared from view.
Driving on, I was looking for a parking lot to stop at and call the police. However, feelings of fear and disorientation took over.
There was something hanging from my side of the car. It was, of course, the left rearview mirror, smashed and hanging by a thread, but for a few seconds I really thought it was a body part from the deer.
I was so unnerved I drove into a ditch. Only then, could I see it was the mirror. Another driver stopped to help and told me the deer was lying on the side of the road and trying to move its legs.
Despite what happened, I felt sorry for the deer, for the whole incident. Its scared eyes haunted my dreams for a quite a while afterward.
Now when I drive that route at night, I drive slower and pay attention to the sides of the road. I never want to see another animal in those circumstances again.
