I THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST CURIOUS DEER—UNTIL I SAW WHAT THE LITTLE ONE WAS CARRYING They came out of nowhere—just wandered up from the treeline while I was tossing hay near the fence. No fear, no hesitation. Like they’d been here before. The bigger one had a calmness to him, like he was guarding. But the small one? The little one kept tilting its head at me, blinking slow, like it was trying to tell me something. I laughed and pulled out my phone to snap this photo—“today I got some guests,” I joked, even posted it with that caption. But the moment after I took it, something strange happened. The little one stepped forward. Right up to the fence. And dropped something. At first I thought it was a rock or a clump of mud. But when ⤵️

Just gone. No sound, no movement. Like they’d vanished into the woods without a trace.

I picked up the key, my heart pounding. It was cold. Heavier than it looked. The red cloth was frayed at the edges, like it had been handled a lot.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about the little deer’s eyes. The way it looked at me.
Like it knew me.

Or was looking for me.

The next morning, I searched the woods where they came from. I didn’t expect to find anything. But after an hour, I spotted something — half-buried beneath moss and leaves.

A small, rusted-out lockbox.

My hands were shaking as I pulled the key from my pocket.

It fit.

The key turned with a grinding click that echoed louder than it should have in the silence of the woods.

I hesitated.

What could possibly be inside a box delivered by deer?