Oops!

I’m sorry, Brother! I didn’t know what I was doing until I did it! In fact, I still don’t completely understand my powers; I just know that my body grows warm whenever I start feeling especially scared or excited--and then, my skin sparkles and sparks shoot from it! How amazing is that, Mother? But, oh, poor Brother; I would’ve guessed that I ruined his nose, if I were aware enough to worry about it.

It didn’t scare him away, though. He was still there, his breath warm and his voice soothing, like it always is, like it would always be for me. The cries that still slipped from me were helpless tears of exhaustion and weakness--and yet, though there seemed to be a crowd of people trickling in, all just to see me, I remembered the fear I had been feeling begin to recede a little bit, as though there were not enough room in my body to feel terror, hunger, and pain all at once.

My brother approached me again, and I guess he recovered from the burns I had accidentally given him. I didn’t notice it; my focus was a shattered thing, speckled with tears and famine, and I didn’t notice his nose nudge underneath me until, suddenly, he was lifting my tiny little frame with the broadness of his head, his movements gentle and careful, giving me a boost to my ruined feet. I squealed louder in astonishment, hiccuping as I rose to my feet for the first time in my life. It was a doomed prospect from the start; as soon as I got my feet underneath me, my legs buckled almost immediately and I crashed to the ground in utter defeat. There was simply no way to even consider it! Standing upright, in such a state; even if my hoof were still whole and pain-free, I sincerely doubt I would’ve been able to handle it.

My Brother was patient with me, though, and so, so kind. He worked with me endlessly, treating me gently, letting his bulk serve as a crutch as I leaned and wobbled dangerously in every direction. I certainly wouldn’t have believed it were possible, had I been aware--but somehow he got me to my feet long enough to make my shaky way towards the blue and black mare who offered herself to me at that moment.

On one side was the iron side of my brother, supporting my first steps; on the other side was the mare’s careful encouragement guiding me towards the store of life-giving force. After that, it was some inner instinct that took matters into its own hands; it was an ancestral memory, deep and primal, that instructed my lips to latch, and my mouth to suck.

The effect was almost instantaneous--and so soothing, that it had to have been right. As the milk flowed through me, it felt as though a haze were being cleansed from my body, and a deep-seated throbbing of sorts that had previously wracked my frame began to recede. I drank as much as I could, though it probably was only a paltry amount for such a tiny babe; and when I was finished, I gave a tiny sigh of tremulous content, leaning back into my Brother as a wave of tiredness engulfed me. The air and the sand was warm, as well as my Brother’s side; it didn’t take long for sleep to crash upon me, and I lay myself down clumsily at my Brother’s feet, exhausted and happy, and very, very much alive.


[ MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. ]

talk talk talk