Storytelling Week 2: The Quest For the Golden Deer

It was a warm, summer day in the Dandaka forest. The wind was whistling through the leaves, the birds were chirping, and a rare golden deer had made it's way into the forest. Two inhabitants of the forest, Rama and Sita, were enjoying their time away from the business of royal life that the cottage had to offer. Sita decided, in the early hours of the morning, to indulge herself in a stroll through the garden. As she walked, she smelled the sweetness of honeysuckles and daisies, and she happened to look up to the horizon. Standing in the sunlight was the twinkling pelt of a golden deer. Immediately, Sita knew she had to have the deer. So she ran inside and asked Rama to acquire it for her, so it could be their pet. Without delay, Rama grasped his bow and arrow, and started chasing the deer.
"Why am I doing this?" Rama asked himself. "Sita is ridiculous, she is demanding, she is always whining about wanting something new, for once I should not hand her what she desires at the flick of her finger."
Rama pulled an arrow from his quiver, pulled back, and fired. His arrow, however, did not hit the golden deer. Thus, the deer was frightened and ran away. Rama scurried to attempt another shot at the deer, but soon realized that he had only brought one arrow because of his pride in his shooting ability. So, Rama sulked back to the cottage, ashamed of his miss, but also secretly happy that Sita would be denied her desires.
Upon his return to the cottage, Rama was utterly dumbfounded. Instead of his wife waiting for him to reappear, he found and empty home. Sita had been abducted, and it was his duty to reclaim her. After speaking to others in the forest, Rama found out that Ravana had been the perpetrator. Ravana was an evil rakshasa, who had been utterly infatuated with Sita upon hearing who she was. Ravana had convinced one of his friends to pose in the form of a golden deer, in order to distract Rama. When the deer claimed Rama's attention, Ravana swooped in to abduct Sita. Although Sita screamed, Rama was so far into the forest chasing the deer that he could not hear her. Thus, Rama set out into the forest with his quiver, bow, and arrows, to reclaim his wife by force.

Ravana approaching Sita. Source: Myths and Mythology 

Author's note: I chose to rewrite this story because of the questions that it evoked from me while reading it. I noticed Rama's inability to say "no" to his wife, and wanted to give a different twist on the story, where Rama is annoyed by his wife, rather than blindly endearing. This story comes from Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.