A deer stands motionless, transfixed by the flicker and flash of distant headlights filtered through the trees. Her ears twitch as she strains to hear the drone of the approaching car.

A man grips the steering wheel, tense and mechanical. He looks forward to reaching the outskirts of the city, where the artificial orange glow blocks out the night.

Normally the deer watches cars roar past from the safety of the trees, but this time is different; this time her hooves touch tarmac, not soil. She knows she should run but her muscles will not respond to her terror.

The headlights stroke the surface of the road, gliding over dust and dead leaves. The man squints to define a vague shape standing between the farthest reach of his headlights and the gloom. A sudden surge of adrenaline drains the strength from his wrists and ankles; the deer is illuminated before him.

Each animal recognizes life in the eyes of the other, but only for an instant. The burning light frees the deer from her paralysis and she scrambles into the darkness. Panic and instinct force the man to wrench the steering wheel away from the deer, away from the danger. The car swerves from the road; searing shards of glass pierce his skin, the stifled cry of crumpling metal rings in his ears. He smells the dry bark of an old oak tree then nothing more.

The next night, the deer returns to the road, but this time she stays under the cover of the trees. She sniffs the old oak tree and tries to make sense of the metallic odour that has seeped into the wounded bark. Again, her ears twitch, straining to hear the drone of an approaching car.

The drone becomes a roar and headlights dance across a police sign, “fatal accident here any information please call”. A woman in the passenger seat turns to watch as the only witness, silent and guiltless, escapes into the dense forest.