calder

Hold back the river, so I
Can stop for a minute and be by your side

With winter’s arrival, the snow in the Basin had been constant.  Thankfully it wasn’t thick, heavy snow – but light, fluffy snow.  The wind from the mountains had a bitter chill, but it didn’t bother the large unicorn.  He’d been through worse.  The winters back on the mountain had been extreme.  All of his people were well equipped and well accustomed to handle such conditions.

It seemed that many in the Basin had learned to avoid the weather by sleeping in caves and such, safely tucked away from the elements.  The idea of sleeping in a cave made Calder uncomfortable.  Perhaps it was nothing more than claustrophobia that kept him from conforming to this norm.  But he suspected it went a little deeper than that.  He was most comfortable when he could see the stars above him.  When he could hear the wind rustling the leaves in the evergreens.  He could only find peace when the sounds of the night echoed in his ears.  That and the thought of being buried beneath the earth still weighed heavy in his mind.  He had seen the earth come alive and reclaim the land, taking his herdmates and his family with it and he wanted to be able to see the sky until the earth came to claim him too.  He didn’t want to feel buried before it was his time.  

He just couldn’t help but think, but hope, that he still had something to live for. 

The great brute let out a soft huff, his warm breath hanging in thick clouds in the cold air for a moment before dissipating into the night. The sun had long since slipped beneath the horizon and the moon hung proudly in the sky.  He found a place not too far off from the hot springs, where the snow wasn’t as thick and the tall trees and the sheer mountain face largely broke up the bitter wind.  He could see the snow swirling out in the open, and he imagined being caught out in the open would make for an uncomfortable night. 
 
He put his back to the wind, and with more elegance than you’d think was possible for a creature his size, the stallion folded his dark legs and settled into the snow.  The moon was bright tonight, and the light against the snow seemed to illuminate the Basin from the ground up.  It was quite a pretty picture.  He could get used to living here, he supposed. And with another soft sigh, he settled in, ready for a peaceful night’s sleep.