A deer was picking its way across the forest floor. Raye stayed perfectly still and watched it—a doe, she whispered to herself, noticing the smallness of the body and the lack of antlers. She’d always loved deer. They moved with a grace that fascinated her. The doe’s large ears were turned in Raye’s direction, but the animal must not have seen her yet. When it did, it would run away. Raye would watch it bound through the air—and after that, she would definitely change dreams.
The doe walked right up to Raye and stopped. Lowering her head, she said in a gentle voice, “Hello, dear.”
“I’m not a deer, you are,” Raye answered without thinking.
The deer had talked without moving her lips, and Raye had answered in the same way. She’d heard the words inside her mind. A tremor ran through her body.
“Yes, I am a deer,” responded the doe. She seemed to feel sorry for Raye.
That makes two of us.
“I didn’t mean the animal kind of deer,” the doe explained further. “Although that would be true too,” she finished and stood silently gazing at Raye.
The instant the words formed inside Raye’s mind, she knew that the doe had told the truth. Something about having four legs instead of two felt unmistakable. If the strange forest hadn’t distracted her, she would have noticed them earlier. Raye never forgot that first look downward at long brown legs tucked neatly beneath a smooth brown body. She scrambled awkwardly to her feet—all four of them.
The doe nuzzled Raye’s neck. “It’s hard at first, but you’ll get used to it. The rest of us have.”
“What’s happening? Where am I? Why don’t I wake up?” Raye shrieked into the doe’s mind.
“You are not asleep, dear. You have arrived in the world called Opora to join our group. Deer do not usually live in a herd, but we are special. God selects us from amongst all his creatures to protect the inhabitants of this forest. It’s an honor.”
Raye trembled violently all over. “I want to go home—and stop calling me that. I don’t like it. I’m not a deer!”
“You should lower your voice. We have enemies in Opora who can hear loud mind transferences if they are within range.”
The trembling in the new doe’s body became a quake. She stood on legs much too far apart to be comfortable. Her brown flanks twitched in jerky movements, and her large ears shuddered, though they stayed up and alert at the same time, moving in every direction as if they knew what a doe’s ears should do, even if Raye didn’t.