[Audio enhanced] After nurturing an injured baby deer back to health, a young girl's lone Christmas wish is to be reunited with the friend she lost.
IT WAS TWO DAYS before Christmas and young Maggie Dotson was already
being told that her Christmas wish would not be coming true. Paxton she was told, would
not be coming back.
A year before that December day an injured baby deer had been abandoned in the
woods behind the Dotson’s home. So weak was the little deer, that he hadn’t the strength
to run from Maggie’s father when he approached him.
As he carried the little deer towards their home, Maggie rushed outside and
greeted her father with great excitement.
“Wow, a deer! What happened to him, Daddy?” asked Maggie.
“Well, I’m not sure how he managed to do it, but he mangled one of his hoofs
pretty severely,” Mr. Dotson said.
Maggie leaned in to take a better look. “Poor little reindeer. Can we keep him,
Daddy?”
“First of all, he’s a white-tailed deer,” laughed Mr. Dotson. “And no, we can’t
keep him. He’s a wild animal, Maggie. I’ll do everything I can and then he’ll have
to be set free.”
While gently rubbing the little deer’s nose it licked Maggie’s hand, which made
her laugh. Mr. Dotson smiled and just shook his head. He proceeded to carry the little
deer to the garage.
After Mr. Dotson carefully placed the little deer on the floor, he asked Maggie to
go to the house and get his medical bag. The little deer was in luck. He was being
attended to by James Dotson, local Veterinarian.
In what seemed like two seconds to Mr. Dotson, Maggie rushed inside the garage
carrying his medical bag, and a handful of lettuce she had grabbed from the refrigerator.
Maggie handed her father the bag, and then placed the lettuce by the little deer’s mouth -
but he wasn’t interested.
“Why isn’t he hungry, Daddy?”
“Maybe he’s just too scared to eat right now.”
“I know what he needs,” Maggie said. “He needs carrots, because that’s what
Santa’s reindeer like to eat.”
“He’ll get plenty of food, alright. Right now he just needs to have his hoof
cleaned and bandaged.”
As Mr. Dotson placed a bandage around the little deer’s injured hoof, Maggie
became excited as the little deer began to nibble on the lettuce. And then, she pointed out
to her father that the little deer had markings above its eyes that looked like the sun. After
a quick observation, Mr. Dotson was struck by how much the little deer’s markings did in
fact resemble the sun with protruding rays of light.
It was dark outside and the temperature was quite cold. Despite her reluctance to
leave the little deer, Maggie’s father convinced her that he would be safe in the garage.
Maggie insisted that her father return with carrots and warm blankets for him. He
promised he would.
After he turned off the light in the garage, Maggie turned to her father and said,
“I’m going to name him Paxton, Daddy.”
“That’s a fine name for a deer, Maggie.”
“You really think so, Daddy?”
“Sure do.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure Paxton is going to be alright?”
“He’s going to be fine, Maggie. Now let’s get inside where it’s warm.”
Later that night Maggie could barely sleep. She kept getting up to view the garage
from the window in her room. Even though she couldn’t see Paxton, looking out at the
garage comforted her.
After she awoke the next morning, Maggie rushed down the stairs and was
heading for the front door, when her mother asked her where she thought she was going.
“I’m going to go see Paxton, Mommy.”
“Not before you eat your breakfast, young lady.”
To the dissatisfaction of her mother, Maggie wolfed down her breakfast. She had two
eggs, scrambled, and a piece of toast. Her glass of orange juice never left the table.
“Where’s Daddy? Is he in the garage with Paxton?”
“Yes, he’s in the garage tending to your little….” Before Mrs. Dotson had
finished her sentence, Maggie was out the door.
As Maggie darted into the garage she nearly knocked her father over.
“How’s Paxton, Daddy?”
“He’s doing fine, Maggie.”
“Is his hoof all better now?”
“Well, it’s going to take time to heal. Right now he just needs to work on getting
his strength back.”
Paxton was very timid as Maggie approached him.
“Why is he afraid of me, Daddy?”
“He’s still not used to us. This is a strange place to him.”
But with time and persistence, Maggie finally gained the little deer’s trust. In fact,
he was soon eating carrots right out of her hand. And when the holidays were over and
Maggie was back in school, she never left without feeding Paxton first thing every
morning.
Mr. Dotson could see the bond that his daughter felt for the little deer. That scared
him, though, because he knew Maggie would never be able to say goodbye. So when his
hoof had finally healed, Mr. Dotson came home early one afternoon to set Paxton free.
When Maggie learned that her father had released Paxton, she was devastated.
Mr. Dotson had believed it would be easier on Maggie that way, but he was wrong. His
daughter never forgot the little deer and she called out to him every day, hoping he would
hear her.
In time, though, Maggie did come to understand that deer are not like puppies, or
kittens. She understood that wild animals, even little deer, need to be in their natural
habitat. But that didn’t change how much Maggie cared for and missed Paxton.
Between the Dotson’s home and acres of woods lay a pond that always frozesolid in the winter months. It was a large pond, and many children would come over to
ice-skate on it. But the pond hadn’t frozen over that winter yet, because the weather had
been warmer than usual.
As Maggie stood by the pond one afternoon, it started to snow. Mr. Dotson saw
Maggie through the kitchen window and could tell she looked upset. Without having to
ask what was wrong, he knew.
Mr. Dotson felt guilty about having not been more supportive of his daughter’s
belief that she would see Paxton again. And even though he didn’t want to give her false
hope, he realized that no longer mattered. Maggie was hurting and he wanted to help.
As Mr. Dotson walked outside to greet his daughter, he carried a pair of
binoculars with him. He and Maggie would spend the next couple of hours in the woods,
where they searched for deer tracks in the newly fallen snow. But as Mr. Dotson had
expected, their search came up empty.
“I’m sorry we didn’t have better luck, Maggie.”
Maggie sadly nodded at her father, who was now carrying her because her toes felt like
popsicles. But then something happened! As they were exiting the woods, two deer were
standing next to the pond. One of the deer was female, and the other was a buck with
antlers. Based on the size of the deer, Maggie never considered that either could be
Paxton. But her father quickly reminded her of how much Paxton would have grown over
the past year.
As Maggie and her father edged closer to the pond, the doe quickly abandoned
her attempt at a drink of water. The buck turned and saw them staring in his direction.
But the buck stood still, barely flinching. Maggie, who was no longer being held by her
father, watched as he peered through his binoculars. As Mr. Dotson got a closer view of
the buck, something stood out through the falling snow; it was the markings above the
buck’s eyes. He handed the binoculars to his daughter, and whispered if she recognized
anything special about the deer with antlers. Maggie immediately recognized the
markings on the buck as Paxton’s. With great excitement, Maggie called out to him, and
then the two deer darted away. She continued to call out to Paxton, who briefly stopped
in his tracks and looked back at her. After a few moments, he darted off again to catch up
with the doe and then disappeared into the woods.
At first, Maggie felt happy, but her happiness soon turned to sadness. She felt as if
she had lost Paxton all over again. But her father explained to her the gift she had
received in getting to see him once more.
As Maggie stood next to her father, with the snow still falling, a carp jumped
making a large splash in the pond. It had been a long day. They went inside to unthaw
from the cold.
Many years later when Maggie told this story to her grandchildren, she reminded
them that the best Christmas presents often aren’t found under a tree, but in your heart.
AUTHOR, ARTIE KNAPP (WWW.ARTIEKNAPP.COM)
All stories copyright © Artie Knapp. All rights reserved.
These stories and illustrations may not be copied or used except for reading, education and entertainment purpose
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