Summary

In "Odocoileus Virginianus—Cutaneous Deer Fibroma," the narrator, Jessa-Lynn, remembers her father, Prentice, teaching her and her brother, Milo, how to cut and skin a deer in his taxidermy shop, Morton's Taxidermy, in central Florida. While Milo was squeamish about the work, Jessa had an affinity for it. She admired how exacting and careful Prentice was about his process. She always wanted to be like him, feeling he was the only person who understood her.

The shop had been in their family for many years. Taxidermy was always a part of who they were, and became a way for Jessa to understand herself and the world. Years later, everything changed when Jessa found her father's body in the shop where he shot himself. Intending Jessa to find him, he left her a letter near his body.

In, Section 1, the narrative moves to the...