01-03-2019, 07:57 PM
"do you believe
in god?"
There was never a wild thing that did not love to run.
The sound of her hooves pounding in the damp earth pushes her on faster, faster-- until she is not North any more. She is not anything at all but the breath that heaves and the sweat that glistens and the moon-kissed mane and tail that tangle like seafoam. In this state she is something like a god.
The tall grass parts as she charges through, and it seems to do so in prayer.
(A memory-- "god is here" he said. The afternoon was unremarkable except it was hot. She was watching the sweat slowly bead on his neck until it rolled down his skin, taking her heart with it. "god is in all of us." And she laughed but only after he was gone did she realize it was because she wanted to believe he was right. And maybe in the end he was right, because what is god if not belief?
So she made herself into a god, and she learned it was lonely.)
It is over too soon. She wants to keep running even after she reaches the oak. She wants to go until she is deep, deep into the lush night-- until she is in a place where only dreams live. She does not.
The boy is not that far behind. North frowns as Rouhi comes close then steps back again. She notices the uncertainty that sits behind his eyes, but she does not press him about it. She is more concerned with other things-- "You let me win," she huffs. It is unclear if her insulted tone is genuine or teasing-- it might even be both. She feels dangerous, and even more restless than before their race, and when she laughs it is not that different from the way a tiger would yawn. She peers at him out of the corner of her eyes, and slowly smiles that siren smile. "What's my prize?"
It is not that unusual for a woman like her to feel like she could eat a man like him alive.
The odd thing about it now is that, for the first time, North feels like she could want to.
N O R T H
@[Rouhi] O_O