Common

I almost take pause when I sense the approach of another at my side, but her perfume fights the fog and warns of her arrival long before she is within striking range, not that I’d waste what little energy I do have on something as trivial as a nag. My already elevated head turns slightly as I try to glare disapprovingly at the multi coloured mare, but momentum pushes me forward and my lameness causes me to spastically jerk my head away as I try to keep off my injured leg. With mounting frustration I come to an abrupt stop, readying myself to release the ever-present thorns of anger that grow from the corpse of my self-hate. But then it speaks, and I forget completely of the cold.


”You what?” tumbles from my mouth rather ungracefully, the sheer absurdity of the situation spotlighting my non-existent charisma. I was once the most dangerous thing out here, I was the creature daddy’s warned their daughters about. I was to be feared, now, it is apparent, that I am to be mocked. ”It won’t be ‘pet’, that’s for damn sure” I scoff, eyeing the colourful nag in all her audacity. I notice her eye, scarred and useless and likened in appearance to our foggy surrounds. In the moment I wonder if this injury was inflicted at the same time as her other long-since healed wounds. I wonder if she earnt them in battle, or against a beast, or perhaps more likely they are the result of blatant mare stupidity. I ready my tongue to ask if she deserved it, but another soul disrupts our strange exchange, the Lagoon musk he wears already telling long before I am able to eye his painted, golden form.

”Humiliation has already taken place, but it aint belong to me” I say, reaching my nose out briefly towards him, more out of comradery than respect. ”Every stallion should be free to live without the queens order” I declare to the one eyed dame, scornfully eyeing her once more before turning my skull towards the golden brute.

I haven’t been a contributing member of the Lagoon in quiet some time, but I am wise enough to keep informed, enough to know that we are being graced by none other than the Lagoon Boss himself. My eyes sit fixated on his as he mentions “his” brotherhood, and I am stabbed by the memories of failed attempts to make something of my life. I would not have considered rebuilding the Lagoon as a dream to aspire to, but it definitely was a goal of mine, one that I failed at multiple times.

The palomino speaks again and I stare at him in perplexed silence, somewhat taken aback by his offer of a home. Why don’t I join his brotherhood? I convinced myself that leaving the Lagoon was in the best interest of my brothers and our home, that I was saving them from my ‘uselessness’, but perhaps my cause is not so noble. Perhaps leaving the Lagoon was my way of saving myself from the painful reminders of who I used to be, what I could have been and how far I have fallen.

Putting pride aside I feel compelled to accept. ”That is a generous offer” I begin, trying not to sound too eager or desperate. If it wasn’t for my dire need for safety I would be more suspicious of the two-toned Boss and his apparent poor taste in potential recruits. ”I better accept, it’s dangerous out here you know” I joke at the mares expense, flicking my dark pools towards her as my mouth twitches into a weak rendition of a grin. Although I don’t particularly value or respect the existence of the weaker sex, I can appreciate the foolhardy bravery and the comedic value of their determination.

’My pet’…pfft.

The sound of movement through the snow accompanies a somewhat familiar scent. Preoccupied with thought I turn towards the disturbance without much expectation; a dusty black painted mare. I squint through the morning fog as her familiar features stir the ocean of memories within me. I stop squinting, a look of recognition flashes across my unsmiling face before it settles into the sneer of displeasure. Of all the dames that could have come along to interrupt, why oh why did it have to be this one?!

I turn away from her with a groan, contemplating pushing on and leaving all three blue-eyed beasts to mingle without me, but though I can walk away from my kin with ease, I have never been one to walk away from a good opportunity, and dying with my brothers on familiar land instead of alone and nowhere, is a damn good opportunity.

As I shuffle my hind end awkwardly to the side so as to keep all three horses in view, the nag from my past mentions the years that weigh on my body. I flatten my ears in response and turn to bite the air between us, noticing her extended stomach ”Old habits die hard, huh?” I say coldly as I suppress my unlabeled guilt and embarrassment so as to look at her face. I remember those ice blue eyes, I remember how she made me feel. She was one of the reasons I wanted to do bigger and better things, she even gave me the opportunity, but in true Fallo form I shit all over it and left her and our child in harm’s way.

I turn back to the other two, prangs of embarrassment poking at my empty stomach. ”Women ey?” I huff to the Lagoon Boss.

FRIESIAN MUTT | SIXTEEN TWO HANDS | TWENTY THREE YEARS