The Darkest Hour [NN2021]

The morning before had started with vigorous activity for Lynn. The sun had risen, and all signs of frost had vanished for nearly a week. It was mid-April, and it was time for spring planting. She had been very busy since mid-January in the greenhouse starting seeds and carefully nurturing them for this very moment. Tomatoes, cabbage, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplants, corn, all kinds of peppers & flowers that a person could imagine. Some of the seeds Lynn will direct sow right in the ground. Basil, onions lettuce, carrots, turnips & rutabagas.

Lynn tossed and turned for what seemed like an hour, actually, it had been about 25 minutes. She reached from under the warmth of her covers for her phone. It was 4:27 AM. Her 8-hour nightly sleep quota had been met and exceeded. That is the price one pays for going to bed at 7 PM. You wake up far too early. This could become a new normal if she wasn't careful. The gardening activity would last thru the Fall.

The day prior, Lynn had put in an exhausting full day of Springtime gardening. No wonder she had crashed so early the night before. She didn't even recall having eaten any dinner before she fell asleep in her recliner with a cup of hot chamomile tea.

COFFEE. Yes...coffee. And some cookies! She was hungry. The thought of a freshly brewed cup of coffee made her smile. Lynn folded back her bed-covers, reached for her robe, and headed toward the kitchen to brew some coffee.

Lynn noticed a radiant light coming from outside her windows as she passed through the living room on her way to the kitchen. After setting the coffee pot to brew, she folded back the corner of the curtain from her kitchen window to see the cause of this brightness? It was a full moon. A BIG Full moon! She saw Deer. At least 7 of them! Deer, munching in the moonlight. Her heart sank. She felt nauseous just thinking about the damage she would find to her Roses? Her Strawberries? What about her freshly planted vegetable garden? It was now 4:59 AM. The darkest hour is just before dawn.

Lynn tried so hard not to think such diabolical thoughts toward the local wildlife for eating all of her Delicious plants-But for all the love, sweat, and tears she put into landscaping and gardening every year, it was so damn frustrating to have 3 Doe’s with yearling Fawns wipe it all out in one night!

Lynn tried to keep in mind the Good Book on such matters as this; Matthew 6:26 - “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”

Speaking of fowl, they have probably pulled the pea's out of the dirt by now! Lynn grumbled to herself... Yet, God feeds them all.

She managed a half-hazard smirk of disgust. She had half a notice to open the side door and turn the dogs loose on those menacing disdainful beautiful beast that prey on her garden! A bite here and a few mouthfuls there with no regard whatsoever for all of her hard-earned work. This isn't Lynn's first rodeo! She has back-ups in the greenhouse. Lynn will replenish what the wildlife has taken. At last...Let the Annual Deer games begin!
For she thought... "One day when the Poo hits the Fan...these creatures will feed me." A curse & a blessing.

And now, coffee. Ahh!

The End

a reply to: jensouth31

lol this is vert relatable , nice writing .

You made me laugh ty for that.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

You’re very welcome. I’m sure thousands of people can relate to that 😩

So good to have you back Jen.

a reply to: AccessDenied

Thanks AD! I just need to remember to check in from time to time! I will make a huge effort to stop by everyday 😘

originally posted by: jensouth31
a reply to: AccessDenied

Thanks AD! I just need to remember to check in from time to time! I will make a huge effort to stop by everyday 😘

☺💜

a reply to: jensouth31

An enjoyable read. Lynn coming to terms with her place in her localised ecosystem, and how those creatures that eat her garden might someday be necessary in nourishing her.

We have feral chickens all around where I live. They are very fast and fly all of their lives, having almost no body fat. My Darlin' traps them, and I kill, clean and cook them. We think of them as mobile MREs. We have tried before to wipe them out in our neighborhood, and have come to realise that nature always finds a way. Plus, once a hen has chicks, they are safe from us, at least until they mature into teens.

a reply to: jensouth31

I hate to be THAT person and ATS will probably hate me for this BUT...

Although I enjoy your writing style, the story as written isn't plausible.

From the little things like if Lynn's last frost is in April, then the last thing she would possibly do is do corn and squash starts and there are 47 different reasons for that... all of which a gardener should know.

To Lynn being a skilled gardener with a greenhouse, the ability and knowledge to do starts in one but she lives in an area with deer and has no concept of what a "fence" is.

In Lynn's world, do the deer only show up once a year in the spring?

If that is not the case, then why is she so excited about her "spares" in the greenhouse?

Does she not think that they will share the same fate when she puts them out too?

To the deer themselves....

There is no such thing as a yearling fawn. That is like saying they are a teenage infant.

You will not be able to tell the difference between a doe and a buck in April in the moonlight.

Or for most people, in the sunlight from 10 feet away.

Deer do not eat strawberry plants.

They will eat the berries though.

I have never been critical of another writer's OP the entire time I have been a writer here.

But your story has been rubbing me raw since you posted it because I've been doing starts in the greenhouse for 2 months and am starting my garden for the year.

Sorry.

a reply to: jensouth31

That was great