I select one nearby and look at him. Blue-gray, dappled, bright eyes and a ready smile. I squint my eyes, turn my head to the side... flicker, flicker. There. A vague blueish shape with a narrow yellow core. Stable and sure. Trustworthy.
I look at another, a doe this time. Pale, with wicked horns and golden hair. Look, squint, turn... flicker, flicker. Ocher outermost and thin, with bright red almost right to the edges. Dangerous, that one, might attack you as soon as speak to you.
I don't think other people know how to do this.
The buck goes to talk to the doe, inadvisable as that might be. They seem to get on nice, but I know better. It's the madness in her, hot and close to the surface. It slumbers in all of us, buried down however far, cool or mild as it may be. She's wearing a fake smile and she'll play it up, play it up until he's hers and she'll rip his throat out when it suits her.
It's foolish, disgusting. I stand, take my leave of this gathering, find cool shade and rest alone. I bow my head to the pool I now rest beside and drink.
Looking down, I wonder what I'd see if I squinted, turned my head... flicker, flicker...
