I THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST CURIOUS DEER—UNTIL I SAW WHAT THE LITTLE ONE WAS CARRYING

Without thinking, I slipped the locket into my pocket and decided to follow them.

I walked cautiously toward the treeline where the deer had disappeared, the sound of their soft hooves crunching in the dried leaves ahead of me. The woods were dense and dark, the late afternoon light filtering through the branches like beams of gold. But there was an eeriness in the air, something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The deeper I went, the more I felt like something ancient and mysterious was unfolding.

The trail they led me on wasn’t long—maybe half a mile—but it was enough to leave me with a sense of wonder and unease. Eventually, I came to a small clearing, and at the center of it stood a massive, gnarled oak tree. Its branches stretched up to the sky, and the ground around it was covered in moss and thick undergrowth.

The deer had stopped by the tree, and the little one turned to look at me one last time before it bounded away into the woods. I stood there, feeling an odd sense of anticipation. It was as if the tree itself was waiting for me.

I slowly approached the tree, feeling drawn to it in a way that was almost magnetic. Something told me to look around, and when I did, I noticed a faint outline in the dirt—a shape, like something had been buried or hidden there long ago.

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