it wasn’t if the small black mare was going to get into her next debacle…it was when. since she arrived at the islands it seemed she couldn’t help but go tumbling headlong from one incident to another. through her carelessness she had freedom stolen by the stallion rougarou, through bad fortune she found herself abandoned and alone in the desert, and heaven only knows what had happened with that grumpy old river rat near the falls. she was just a magnet for trouble. or maybe it was the other way around.

after her failed endeavor to make conversation at the falls she decided perhaps she had better stick to minding her own business for a while, not that doing just that in the desert all winter alone hadn’t seemed like enough… as usual she couldn’t suppress the energy that flooded her entire being, she relished it instead, taking long gallops down the beach, across the meadow, thundering through tall grasses and weaving through copses of trees that edged the falls. she was always in motion it seemed except for the short hours she would pause to sleep. her body was slick and dark, each muscle toned and hardened to perfection. it delighted her to think of how long she could run and not feel winded. other than lacking companionship she found these days to be enjoyable. alone but content to mumble to herself as she investigated this or that, to get lost in her thoughts as she snatched at the summer grass in the meadow.

this day was a little different however. each new flush of energy that throbbed through her veins sent her skittering a different direction, her morning spent pommeling the sand along the common as she tried to gallop her feelings away. it was finally getting to her that perhaps she would spend another winter alone and friendless in this place. the thought irritated her, for despite the fact she hadn’t ever particularly attached herself to anyone, she missed conversation, she missed connection with another living being. no one would miss her if she disappeared into that black swirling sea. no one would even notice she was gone. she was dark with sweat before she finally switched directions and headed away from the empty beach, her nostrils flaring with effort. she pushed along with an efficient trot, headed in the direction of the falls. before too long the path seemed unfamiliar, with a tang in the air she hadn’t noticed before. without too much concern she pressed onwards, too focused on that boiling need for motion to care if she wasn’t headed towards the falls after all. it wasn’t until she was knee deep in muck that she started to care.

the terrain had changed rapidly, the spongy turf that seemed springy and soft suddenly giving way beneath her into a brown filthy mud pit. after a few moments of struggling and lunging a squeal of distaste leaves her lips as she pulls herself up on firmer ground. now, with four brown stockings of mud she trudges onward, convincing herself that somehow she will still end up at the falls. there is no way she is going back through that mess.