drag my teeth across your chest
to taste your beating heart

She emerged from the sea, one dark wave among the others, stumbling a little as her hooves finally found purchase on solid land again. Dawn was only just beginning to peek tentatively over the horizon, and she stood bathed in its weak light, her sides heaving with exertion and dripping with saltwater. As she waited to catch her breath, she cast her mismatched eyes over the unfamiliar landscape before her. In the distance, she spotted a mountain – harsh and imposing against the otherwise open skyline.

She felt a pull in her chest and, as always, heeded her instincts. Without pausing to shake the water from her body, she headed for the mountain.

The air was cool here, with the chill of early morning, and it nipped at her skin through the dampness. She would have shivered had she not been so focused on her path. By the time she reached the foot of the mountain, the sky was flushed pink and amber with the morning’s arrival. She paused a moment, pointing her white nose upwards as she took in the size of the climb ahead, then she began.

Her gait appeared stiff and uncomfortable, and as the incline of the ground increased, so did the discomfort in her joints – exacerbated, no doubt, by the hours spent in the cold water. Her bony hips swayed erratically from side to side, and her slender legs faltered here and there where a stray rock or divot surprised her, but she gave no impression of being phased by the journey.

Once she reached the top she would be able to see everything. She would be able to see where fate had pushed her, and decide what to make of it.

FISHBONE
FISHBONE