09-24-2017, 09:13 PM
He appears suddenly. I blink rapidly, the wind had been against me, the stone his him from sight, and the crash of waves covered the sound of his approach. He is a boy my age, with a hide as bright as mine. That is where the similarities end though, for he seems at ease in this grey world as I had been in Sylva. The words he offers are as formal as his appearance, and I am reminded once again that this is not really where I belong. I am used to being the one to say those words (or at least words like it, for Sylva is always beautiful and needs apologize for nothing), and yet now I am on the receiving end.
“I just got here,” I tell him, “Mom brought us from Sylva a few weeks ago.” My tone is dry, dismal, a teenage girl upset at having to change schools. I don’t mean to meet his gaze, but I do look up in his general direction. I had intended to do a quick sweep of him. Tall, impressively built with eyes a captivating electric blue. It is something just beyond his shoulder that truly grabs my attention though, and I step forward without thought, trying to get closer to it.
“Do you see that?” I say aloud, unable to keep my attention from the flickering light any longer. “That glow there. Against the cliffs.” I gesture pointedly with my pale muzzle, the pink skin of his mouth quivering intently. There is a moment of uncertainty, and then I leap forward with enthusiasm. “Let’s go see what it is!”
Without waiting for confirmation from the colt, I press ahead, moving quickly across the firmly packed sand and toward the source of the strange vision. I do not hesitate, not even with the scent of something acrid, something..off reaches my nostrils. I have never seen fire in my year of life. I was a child of deciduous forest; my home did not need a frequent cleansing by flame as some prairies and mountainsides do. The concept of smoke is an entirely foreign one, but it makes my eyes sting and burn uncomfortably as I hack up my accidental inhalation.
Through the streaming tears, I see something that looks like familiar movement. My nose quivers for and instant – damper and darker – and I am instantly sure that there is a horse on the other side of this hot moving golden…thing.
“Hey! Hey you! What is this thing?” My voice is rough from coughing, but I’ve realized if I step to the side and don’t breath in the black air that the warmth it casts is rather pleasant. “Is this yours?” In a world where almost anything is possible, it doesn’t seem odd for her to ask the barely visible other horse if this ball of light is under her control.
“I just got here,” I tell him, “Mom brought us from Sylva a few weeks ago.” My tone is dry, dismal, a teenage girl upset at having to change schools. I don’t mean to meet his gaze, but I do look up in his general direction. I had intended to do a quick sweep of him. Tall, impressively built with eyes a captivating electric blue. It is something just beyond his shoulder that truly grabs my attention though, and I step forward without thought, trying to get closer to it.
“Do you see that?” I say aloud, unable to keep my attention from the flickering light any longer. “That glow there. Against the cliffs.” I gesture pointedly with my pale muzzle, the pink skin of his mouth quivering intently. There is a moment of uncertainty, and then I leap forward with enthusiasm. “Let’s go see what it is!”
Without waiting for confirmation from the colt, I press ahead, moving quickly across the firmly packed sand and toward the source of the strange vision. I do not hesitate, not even with the scent of something acrid, something..off reaches my nostrils. I have never seen fire in my year of life. I was a child of deciduous forest; my home did not need a frequent cleansing by flame as some prairies and mountainsides do. The concept of smoke is an entirely foreign one, but it makes my eyes sting and burn uncomfortably as I hack up my accidental inhalation.
Through the streaming tears, I see something that looks like familiar movement. My nose quivers for and instant – damper and darker – and I am instantly sure that there is a horse on the other side of this hot moving golden…thing.
“Hey! Hey you! What is this thing?” My voice is rough from coughing, but I’ve realized if I step to the side and don’t breath in the black air that the warmth it casts is rather pleasant. “Is this yours?” In a world where almost anything is possible, it doesn’t seem odd for her to ask the barely visible other horse if this ball of light is under her control.