It’s afternoon, but the sky is still dim. 

They are in the very midst of winter, and the snow that blanketed the meadow had long since lost its wonderland-like charm. Now, it was simply dark and cold; the trees like the skeletons against the slate-gray sky, the ground churned to muddied snow on the more well traveled paths. She avoided these paths for this exact reason, disliking the way the mud sucked at her hooves,  choosing instead the places where the snow was mostly untouched. It is no coincidence that this also led her to the quieter, less populated portion of the meadow.

She did not always mind company, but the coldness of the weather has seeped beneath her skin and into her bones, making her want to withdraw. It would be easy for her, too; shrouded in subtly shifting shadows, she could simply disappear into the dark and wait for spring to come. But that soft light that trails her every movement gives her away, her shadows haunted by the afterglow. As much as she loves it, it made it difficult to hide.

With yellow-gold eyes she looks around, artfully avoiding meeting the gaze of anyone that might be nearby. It’s by accident that she sees him—like her, he is dark, a smudge against the bleak landscape. There is something different about his legs, but from this distance she can’t quite discern what it is. She stares at him with those strange eyes, the shadows shifting and rolling, offering glimpses of the iridescent coat beneath. “Hello,” she says into the silence between them, a silvery plume from the heat of her breath lingering in the cold air.

racine.