Autumn trotted into the valley on frosty hooves turning leaves the color of candle flame Apples blushed red Pumpkins glowed like moons Arabella rode in her father's old green truck bouncing over bumpy roads the tires puffing up dust clouds
In a cornfield they passed two deer peered out from the drying stalks The stag's antlers rose like lightning bolts The doe wore a pale fur necklace at her slender throat Their coats were the color of ash and earth their ears the shade of cows cream Corn leaves rattled like ghosts around them
Papa pointed and chuckled My grandpa used to say that deer were tricksters They could disguise themselves as people and walk among us Mama laughed her voice tinkling like Arabella's charm bracelet My grandmother told me the same thing I believed her Arabella smiled and waved to the deer just in case it was true
Both animals stared back their eyes as dark and mysterious as a moonless midnight The truck rumbled onward
