I saw the deer on the side of the highway, unmoving. Its eyes were open, filled with terror but also acceptance. Like it knew this day was bound to come, where it would end up as a limp corpse on the side of the road. I thought about its life, maybe it had children. I wonder what they would think once they found their mother on the side of the road. Dumped and discarded like it meant nothing like she didn't once have a life. I made eye contact with my father, his hands were bloody. I turned to the car, the front was dented and bloody. I realized what happened. My father was looking down at his hands, in horror, he couldn't fathom what he had done, even if it was accidental. I turned back to the deer, I wanted to reach down and close her eyes, give her the rest and sleep she so desperately sought after. Even after death. I looked up at the sky and prayed. I was never religious, nor have any beliefs of any kind. I prayed to whoever was listening, that this deer and every other deer before and after her would go to some kind of heaven. One with sweet tall grass, and sweet reunion where the mothers could finally see their mothers again. I prayed that they never have to be scared, run, and live in the constant fear of the fast lights on the rocky roads we called highways. I prayed that if they were killed for simply living, let Death be kinder than Man. We got into the car, and drove off.