The moment he hit the cold ground, gone was his warm sense of security. He was rushed to stand. Rushed to walk. Stumbling upon unsteady legs as she rushed on. He tried calling to her but his cries fell on deaf ears. I must keep up, he thought.
The hours wore on him. His breathing labored. She hadn't even dried his coat before they left. The gunk dried in hard clumps that crunched when he moved. It itched and he thought for a moment to stop and scratch his rump but settled with the whipping of his ebony fluff. His eyes never left her though she seemed to be getting further and further ahead. Move faster, he told himself.
His teeny black ears catch a rushing sound ahead. As his legs bring him close he watches his mother sink into it. He looks in confusion as she almost disappears and reappears on the far side. He sighs from exhaustion as she demands him to follow. Ok ok I'm coming Mother. He nearly falls in with a splash. Gangly legs kick his head to the surface but at this point he is pretty much floating. His strength has been ripped from his soul. Beady eyes watch her climb the bank and vanish again.
He washes up upon the other side, finally. Beaching a ways downstream and he rushes again to find her. She was searching for something as he came to her side with a shiver. Flopping his head from side to side to dislodge the water from his ears. He hadn't noticed the stallion until his mom stepped away from him. He stood, back arched in discomfort. She speaks then turns to him, flinging him into the sands. He does not rise. Does not flinch.
He was done.
She left him with a name and nothing more. Why even bother with a name? He was as good as dead now. The sand coated his wet auburn fluff. It had a sense of warmth that was comforting. So he remained still as the familiar pace of hoofbeats faded from his ears...
KAIODE