Falls

She drifted through the water at the base of the falls as though it didn't chill her to the bone.. Her pale skin shivered as she pulled herself from the water and shook the icicles from her fur. The frigid water had done the trick and she soon felt alive and prepared to face the cold winter morning. Well, physically anyway. You poor fool... Her inner voice chuckled and tried her best to feign she hadn't felt the thought like a living thing inside her. It made her belly churn, for Lenore would never feel alive. She stood on the outside and watched the living thrive. Most days it didn't bother her so, but when winter came and she thought of herds all cuddled close to ward away the chill, it weighed heavy on her heart like lead.

She drifted aimlessly, her small frame not quite pale enough to blend in with the snow properly. Her eyes, however, stood out like beacons if one were close enough to discern their depths. She soon found herself humming idly, the tune her mother had hummed to her years ago before she'd abandoned her that fateful day. It comforted her, for some unknown reason. It reminded her of a time she hadn't been alone. It reminded her of a time she'd almost felt loved; a feeling she'd not known since those first tender months of foalhood. She moved through the trees, peering around the falls and taking in the silence beyond her own voice as though it were and old familiar friend, and it was.

It wasn't long before either the cold or her own melancholy urged her back to the banks of the river that just barely pressed toward the falls, despite the chunks of ice forming within the water. She pressed her nose the snow and began shoveling a shallow hole to tuck herself into. It didn't take long before she was nestled in the small make-shift bed, the chill in the air seeming to dissipate just a bit a morning became noon. She pressed deeper into the snow and watched the world around her avidly, as though most creatures weren't tucked away from the cold. She'd not see much romping through the woods but those in search a drink. Still, she watched with expectancy, silent and thoughtful as she did.