Taking Safety in the Shadows

I stabilized the straps of my bag to keep it from colliding against my back but the weight of me sent the heels of my boots through a thick layer of ice, a misstep that undesirably made my presence known to a pair of does. They bolted and I followed them in deep snow for about forty minutes. Eventually I caught up with them and, while her companion busily grazed on whatever brittle foliage she could find, this one stood with her eyes locked on where I was kneeling and neither of us moved in fear of being found by the other.