Unfortunately for Jeff, that change took the form of her luck finally running out. Up till now, the small influence of her human mind had kept her safe from most dangers that shortened the lives of the other deer around her. However, today, she had let her guard down at just the wrong moment, allowing a pack of wolves to pick up her scent and zero in on her.
When they appeared, the doe reacted instantly, leaping away and racing off. The echoes of bone-chilling howls spurred her on faster and faster. Jeff experienced a thrill as she watched the trees whiz past. She could never move this quickly as a human, and even the wolves stood no chance.
After a while, she stopped to rest. Just when her heart began to slow, howls rang out. The wolves sounded unexpectedly close. Startled, she leapt into motion once more.
A few miles later, she tried to rest again only to find the pack closing in like before. It soon became apparent that while she had them beat in terms of speed, they could keep up their own pace almost indefinitely. If this continued, they would simply outlast her. She tried to pace herself, but that only meant never having a chance to rest at all.
Several hours later, she could barely walk. Her tongue hung out of her mouth, and she felt sure her pursuers could hear her ragged panting. Sweat streamed down her legs, and her vision had gone blurry. When the howling started up again, she only twitched and staggered on.
It was not enough. All at once, her pursuers emerged from the shadows and merciless teeth easily dragged her down. In her exhausted state, it almost felt like a relief when those jaws found her throat and everything faded to black.
The wolves howled in triumph. Their cubs would eat well tonight, but first, they had their own stomachs to fill. By midnight, the moon rose high over a pile of gnawed bones that had once been Jeff. Scavengers had taken what the wolves had left behind, and nature simply moved on. At least, for a little while.
If anyone had been present, they might have seen an odd phenomenon. It was subtle at first, a ghostly image that flashed by in a split second. Then, it flashed again. And again. Slowly, the manifestation grew more frequent, each appearance lasting a bit longer until one could clearly recognize the shape of a doe just like the one that had recently become wolf food. After a while, the blinking stopped altogether, and the doe gazed around her in confusion.
What happened? Wasn’t she supposed to be dead? Jeff stared down at the grisly remains under her hooves. Carefully, she stepped out of them and left them behind. In a daze, she moved through the trees. Something was different. Did she die after all? Could this be some kind of deer afterlife? Whatever it could be, her mind felt clear, much clearer than she had become accustomed to over the past year.
This idea dissipated as her belly rumbled. She was pretty sure dead deer did not get hungry. Now experienced in what to look for, she selected a nearby bush and began to munch away, chewing the fibrous leaves just like she chewed on these new sensations.
All at once, it hit her. Eyes went wide, and a mouthful of cud tumbled from her mouth. That was it!
Her deer instincts, the mind of the doe that had dominated her behavior for these last few seasons, all of it was gone! The doe was dead, but the human was still alive! Jeff had her mind back!