Submitted By:

Necolyn Gayle Uba

Submitted To:
Mrs. Mary Michelle J. Claro

HOME READING REPORT

TITTLE:

The Deer Thief

AUTHOR:

Bruce Wood

PAGES:

4 pages

A hunter was out hunting one day on the

forest and killed a deer. Since it was very late in the day, he
couldnt take the deer home. He skinned it. He hangs it as
high as he could on the branch of a tall pine tree. The
following day he returned for his deer, but the deer was
gone. He searched the area for tracks. When he found
clues, he went to the justice of peace for help. The justice
of peace asked him if he had any idea as to who stole the
deer. The hunter replied that he had seen the thief and he
didnt know who it was, but he could give an accurate
description of the man who stole the deer. The justice of
the peace said if he knows something, tell him what kind of
man heist. The hunter replied that he is shorter than him,
he is older, and he had a yellow bulldog with him. The
justice of the peace asked how the hunter knew all that.
The hunter replied that he knew he is shorter than the
hunter because he had to put some logs beneath the tree to
reach the deer. The justice of the peace asked how he knew
he is old. Then the hunter replied because he took short
steps, like an old man. The judge was convinced and
granted permission to look for a man fitting
that description. After searching for some time, the hunter
and the justice of the peace arrived at a house. They saw a

SUMMARY:

yellow bulldog. They knocked on the door and a small, old

man appeared. Then they searched his barn and found the
stolen deer. So the hunter, by using his wits, had tracked
down the thief who had stolen his deer.

SETTING:

On the Forest

Leslie, Zack, Ted, Zacks Neighbors,

Zacks Grandfather, and Pothatch.

CHARACTERS:

After the death of his life-partner, Ted moves to a tiny

resort town to start a new life. He opens a shop, and his best friend,
the supernatural Dream Guide Leslie, opens a coffee shop nearby.
Things progress normally, but the lack of a prospective mate in the
town bothers him. However, he notices that one young guy, Zack, a
loner in his early twenties, seems to be stalking him. What Ted
doesn't realize is that Zack is the ghost of a local man who was killed
decades earlier before finding true love. Ted is the only one who
consistently sees Zack, but others in the town glimpse Zack
occasionally. The combined sightings reinforce Ted's belief that Zack
is alive. At first, Zack shows up driving a 1956 Chevy BelAire, but he
stops at a distance, and doesn't get out of the car. Then he starts
walking by Ted's shop, dressed in an old red hunting jacket, with a
Bowie knife attached to his belt. Eventually, Zack appears inside the
shop, startling Ted and seeming startled himself, as he fumbles for
words.Ted is flattered by the attention, which he perceives as
flirtation. One night, Zack shows up in Ted's house. After the shock
wears off, they start to get to know each other. Zack tells Ted about
how he's been persecuted by his peers, abandoned by his parents,
and shunned by his neighbors. His grandfather, Zack's only
defender, put a curse on the town. They now fear the woods on East
Road where Zack lives. During their courtship, someone breaks into

PLOT:

Ted's neighbor's barn, where a fresh-killed deer is hung up. The

thief dresses the deer, steals the meat, and leaves the bones. When
the police investigate the bizarre theft, they find that the deer was
killed on East Road, and suspicion falls on Zack. Zack becomes
obsessed with revenge against the people who wronged him, and
uses it to manipulate Ted into having a tight bond with him. Ted
believes every word, and gradually falls in love. Leslie sees that the
relationship is jeopardized by Zack's vindictiveness, and confronts
him. Feeling responsible, since she had been playing matchmaker
between them, she tries to set things right. Without revealing her
involvement to Ted, she enlists the help of her senior Dream Guide,
Pothatch. When Pothatch arrives, he is appalled that Leslie hadn't
discovered Zack's personality flaw earlier. He also finds it very
amusing that he was once Zack's Dream Guide, and had provided
Zack's first sexual experiences. While Ted sleeps, Pothatch confronts
Zack and forces him to remember their relationship. Zack recoils
from Pothatch and tries to send him away. Unaware of Pothatch's
intervention, Ted hides Zack from the police. However, he is
troubled by the possibility that he may not know the truth about his
new boyfriend. He enlists the help of the local newspaper's editor to
investigate Zack's stories, and discovers that Zack died nearly fifty
years ago. In shock, Ted assumes that the Zack he knows is a conman. Meanwhile, Zack eventually shows the vulnerability Pothatch
had been waiting for. Without hesitation, Pothatch gives Zack an
ultimatum: Choose him or choose Ted. If he chooses Pothatch, he
will be thrown into an endless superficial party. By choosing Ted, he
will have the love he yearns for, devoting himself to being Ted's lifecompanion. Finally, Zack must abandon revenge and reveal his
nature to Ted. If Ted accepts it, they will be together forever. When
Ted confronts Zack about the veracity of his stories, turmoil ensues.
After an evening of unexpected revelations, Ted awakes to hear Zack
in the shower. Ted removes the Bowie knife from Zack's belt and
heads for the bathroom. When Zack opens the shower door, Ted lies
bleeding on the floor. Later, Ted goes to the coffee shop. The door is

locked and the windows are papered over with a FOR RENT sign.
Going to his own shop, his key does not fit the lock. His windows are
papered over, too. Ted drives out to East Road and walks into the
woods. Zack is there, leaning on his BelAire, smiling.

PROBLEM: The hunter kills and steal deer on the

forest.
SULOTION: When the old man came and talk to the
hunter not any steal again.
MORAL LESSON: You shall not steal.