NEMAIN

For the first few weeks of her life, Nemain had lived a sheltered life at her mother’s side. Though her sire had spoken of other horses and other foals like her, she had not quite believed him. As she grew bolder however, she had spied them through the gaps in the trees and when she was finally allowed to accompany her sire on an outing, she’d met her first friend. The other filly had been a muddle of different colours and though younger than Nemain, stood taller. The filly, Hollowshank, was forgetful, often forgetting Nemain completely in those first few days but once Nemain started spending time with her each day, the girl started to remember.

Hollowshank and the other foal’s mothers all stuck together and Nemain often wondered why her own mother didn’t join them. Why did she hide away in the trees when it was so much fun out in the open with the rest of the herd? For a while, the spotted girl felt bad for leaving her mother alone and tried to go back as often as she could, but as she grew, she found the solitude to boring and uncomfortable to bear.

Scuffling playfully with Hollowshank, Nemain did not even notice when her silver-haired mother slipped from the comfort of forest and out into the open. It was only as she darted away from her friend – who Nemain was pretty sure had now forgotten she was meant to be chasing her – that she heard her mother’s nicker. Stopping only briefly to huff to herself about the distance that was still between the herd and her dam, the spotted filly whinnied back before racing over the distance that separated them. ”I won all the games today, Mama. The other foals aren’t very good.” or maybe she was just better at cheating.

d o s e . o f . p o i s o n