"A Magical Meeting"

"Come look at this Mom !"
Emmy was looking out of the large window towards the paddock. She could see
Fari, one of their young Arabs trotting gayly round, his tail high in the air
and his handsome neck proudly arched. He floated freely across to the wooden fence
then suddenly turned round and stopped as if to look at something.

"Wow !" exclaimed Emmy's mother as she came across to the window,
watching the horse put on more of his display set against the background
of the mountains in the distance bathed in the evening sun.
"Can't wait to see him move like that in a show ring, he's going to be
something real special !"

"But what's he doing it for ?", asked her daughter.

"Don't know, but isn't he wonderful" her mum replied.

 

-------
 

"Fari heard something on the wind, lifted his head and looked into the distance.
He couldn't see anything, but he knew something was nearby. He stood staring
into the distance with his large beautiful eye's for a while, then turned back and
headed over to his water trough.
Sensing something behind him he suddenly turned round to see a small
unicorn that had approached silently and was looking at him over the fence.
He stood for a while with his eyes almost popping out of his head, then headed
cautiously over.

"What are you ?" said the Arabian nervously, staring at the small exquisite creature
with soft white hair that looked rather like himself, except for a long single spiral
horn that grew from her forehead that seemed to glow faintly with a delicate pale bluish light.

"You know horse !" said the unicorn softly, "Your an Arabian and no Arabian was born
without the intelligence or instinct to work that one out !"

"Oh your a unicorn, so that's what you look like !" replied the Arab, feeling a lot more
confident now. He flicked his head up quickly, tossing his soft dark grey silky
mane in the light breeze then trotted with long extended steps round his paddock
till he'd come back round to the unicorn
"Wow whatta day ! Hey unicorn, don't you think I'm handsome eh?" he said gleefully

"And they say unicorns are vain" replied the unicorn sadly, "Don't flatter yourself !
OK your particularly handsome for your breed, and I've see a good few over the thousands
of years since you started out in the Arabian deserts !"

"What !" exclaimed the Arab "How long ?"

"I know you heard me" said the unicorn in a soft almost purring tone "never heard of an Arab that couldn't hear a pin drop at fifty yards or didn't know he had a noble heritage !"

"But you said thousands !" exclaimed the Arabian, whinnying at the top of his
voice as he trotted quickly back to the unicorn, then stopped abruptly in front of the fence.

"You've got a lot to learn about me !" she laughed "and a bit about yourself I think !"
The unicorn walked delicately round the paddock fence over to where the water trough
was. The Arab followed round on the inside of the fence, snorting in indignation

"Learn what ?" he said "you said yourself I was intelligent"

"But sadly yet not wise" replied the unicorn "but that'll come with time, your young yet"

The unicorn lowered her head and slowly moved her bright horn through the gap in
the fence till it touched the surface of the water in the trough.
"There isn't a pool near here so this will have to do" she said.

The Arab watched quietly as it rippled the surface of the water. Then amazed
he saw the images form within it. He saw his own kind being being led in the
deserts of Arabia by men in light flowing robes into the tents where they lived.
He saw them honour and prize his kind. He saw the Blunt's, Lady Wentworth
and all those others who were inspired by his beauty and versatility and spread his
kind throughout the world ! From the unicorn he learned of his heritage !
In joy he wheeled round, reared up then ran round the paddock several times
at a gallop with his tail flying in the air behind him.
He stopped slowly, nostrils wide and eyes bright then walked back over to the unicorn.
"Thank you" he said "now I know there's true magic in you !"

"Now you know why they prize you above all other horses !" said the unicorn.
"Don't let them forget that now, remind them, it's not what your worth, it's
what you are, your courage, strength, beauty and nobility that makes you an Arabian,
it's your heritage that makes you so special"

The sun was low now and cast long delicate shadows as the unicorn
started to walk away.
"Will you come back again ?" shouted the Arabian at top his voice.

The unicorn stopped and turned round again, "Yes, some other evening
maybe but I can't say when" she replied.
"But I've got plenty of time"

 

-------
 

Emmy and her mother watched Fari go back to his water trough,
then stand quietly grazing as the evening began to turn into night.
"He's real special said her mum, but there again they all are".

The Enchanted One's  

"Utter waste of time it is !" muttered Pete to his wife,
"Interfacing, objectives, corporate image, achieving goals, utter garbage it is !"
Pete started to put on his coat, "Going for a walk, see you later love !"
He'd decided to take a walk to wind down a little, he wasn't enjoying
the company training course, he'd never asked to go on it after all.
 
He decided to take on of his favorite routes down to the pool about
a mile away. He passed a field with a mare and bay foal quitely grazing.
The foal stopped and looked up at him, then began to walk across
to the fence towards him. Pete went over to the foal, and gave
him a gentle pat and stroked his head. The mare came slowly
over too.
"Hi Mum, nice son you've got" he said quietly, he stood there for a while.
The foal nuzzled him, "Gotta go now I'm afraid".
He started to walk down the path alongside the field and watched the foal
walk alongside, following him. This never struck him as odd in any
way. He'd always liked horses, they would often come up to him
when he was walking or even turn to look at him if they were being
ridden or led past him on the lane.
A short while later he reached the pool, sat down on a tree stump
and stared into the water. He began to imagine a unicorn, gazing
at it's own beautiful reflection in the quiet surface. He fumbled in his
coat, found his notebook and a pencil, stretched out and lay
on his side on the grass and began to sketch a unicorn.
 
The young unicorn stood by his mother watching his rippling
reflection in the pool.
"But why can't we visit that world ?" he asked.
"It's too dangerous for us" replied his mother "they've stopped
believing in us and what we are. they'd hurt us !"
"All of them, all of man ?" exclaimed the foal, "that's, that's unthinkable !"
"Well not all of them, replied his mother softly, her large dark eyes
opened wider, she lowered her small grey head and pointed her long
bright spiralled horn towards the water.
"Look child, tell me what you see"
Then foal looked down into the water then looked at his mother in surprise !
"I don't understand" he exclaimed, "What is that creature ?"
"Well, tell me what you think !" she laughed softly, her soft fine
mane wandering in the gentle breeze.
"It looks like a man creature" he said, lowering his head to take a
closer look at the image in the pool, "It's covered in that strange
outer skin that's made of dead creatures and plundered earth"
"But what else do you see child" she replied "look deeper"
The foal stood for an age and stared at the image.
"The aura ! " he cried, "it's more like ours !!"
"Yes, this is one of the 'charmed ones' " she said, and slowly
lifted her head, the image faded then disappeared.
"Can I go in and meet it ?" asked the foal, preparing to jump
into the pool and pass into the world he had seen.
"NO child, it's not for us" his mother said firmly "Come with me
now and I'll explain".
 
The two unicorns walked together back towards the woods
following the line of the stream. The foals mother began to
explain what he had seen in the pool.
"Most of them had stopped believing in us, we could not live in their world
so we had to find some way of keeping the magic alive for their sakes.
There were a few who still believed in us we called the 'charmed ones', so we
visit them in their dreamworld, a safe place which borders between ours and
their own realm. That way they keep us alive in their world !"
They carried walked slowly on, their light steps floating silently over the fresh grass.
"But how do they do that ?" asked the foal, turning his head towards his mother.
"They speak of us, create images of us, tell stories of us" she replied. "They seek for
there own kind throughout their world so that they can talk about us, sometimes
they search for a memory of us through their history of time, to find out what we
really are, and put what they find into words so their world will not forget us".
She stopped, and looked into her sons young bright eyes,
"They're charmed by us, because through them we can live in their world !"
 
Pete woke up, stretched out and picked up note pad and looked at the
image he'd drawn. "You'll return one day unicorns !" he laughed and
made his way home

Lord of the Twilight.

It was twilight.    The silvery light of the waxing moon spilled over treetops clothed in early autumn’s green and gold finery.    The moonlight touched a few of the fallen leaves, highlighting a leaf here, a twig there, and throwing a mysterious aura around the trees.    The road was a ribbon of silver woven through fields of crumpled black velvet.    A faint mist drifted, blanketing the lands in a smoky silver veil.    The stark grey of a dead tree at the front of the nearby woodland stood out, pale and ghostly against the dark mass of trees.    It was nearly dark, and the sky was the deep purple of night, shot through with tiny points of light that glittered and sparkled crazily in the late evening.    A cool wind drifted idly amongst the leaves, waking the soft hiss of rain from the trees and rustling in the dry grasses.    

   It was the sort of mysterious night where things happen, magical things, wondrous things, a night where secrets emerge from their dark, well-hidden corners and dance in the silver moonlight.    And on this particular night, the magic that crept forth was in the shape of a beautiful creature the world had not seen for oh, so long.    A shape drifted out of the swirling mist, a creature so beautiful, so graceful, that it seemed that the night itself paused at the timeless elegance of its form.    

   The wind whirled again, dancing in and out of a long, blue-silver mane and tail, tossing the glowing, rippling waves of fine hair out around the unicorn.    For unicorn he was.    His huge, white form stood on slender, delicate legs of alabaster, tinged with twilight’s blue, and small drifts of the same stuff of his mane and tail floated around each cloven silver and crystal hoof.    His neck arched gracefully, with an elegant curve as it blended into a delicate head of blue and pearl.    His huge black sapphire eyes were edged with silvery lashes and set far apart, round as gems and glowing with magic and a deep, fey wisdom.    The chiseled lines of his face were dished and tapered to a small, dark skinned muzzle, set with huge, expressive nostrils that were flared as he inhaled the crisp night air.    His forelock wisped around a long, whorled horn that seemed to catch the moonlight and spin it forth brighter than before, so that it glowed eerily, translucent in its own light, silver – blue against the night sky.    He snorted and shifted restlessly, sending his silver beard swirling, then he reared, bounced a few times on steel muscled hind legs before taking off in a slow, graceful canter, neck proudly arched as he danced over the land that humans tended.    This place would flourish as never before.    

   He was free!    Elation coursed through his veins.    Freedom was in the cool night air, in the wind pushing the silk of his mane and tail into hills and plains and smoothing the satin of his sides.    It was the moonlight and the hard road under his silver feet, the ghostly whisper of the trees, and the fallen leaves underfoot.    He reared and plunged, singing his delight at freedom from his dark prison to the uncaring moon far above.    He trotted up the silver streak of road, cloven feet sounding like windchimes as they struck sparks off the hard surface.    Nearby, humans in their small, confining houses stopped talking and took a breath of the night air, and his presence, unsought, smoothed lines of care from tired faces.    The unicorn was joy incarnate.    

   The mist rose still higher, gathered around his silver form as he seemed to unravel, then only a cloud of silvery mist remained, and even that slowly dissipated on the twilight wind.