m e n k h e t

her patience was wearing thin. first the girl had come, blundering around her forest, her sanctuary, crashing though this and that and putting on her petulant airs… she even had the audacity to call menkhet pathetic. if she could guess, this one had been cooped up and was trying out life without mommy in a rebellious little fit that would last until winter when she would crawl pathetically back to wherever she came from. she was not worth picking a fight with. not worth the energy it would take to utter the words “get out.” in the end that’s exactly what she did… no attention was spared for her act and the lanky dark creature left in search of someone else to bother. it all worked out rather well.

since then menkhet had spent her time wandering through the trees, finding comfort in their groaning and creaking voices. it was dim, for the most part with little sun reaching the mossy forest floor through the thick pines. it was an old castle shut up for a long time, bits of sunlight streaming with specks of dust, and shadows strewn in every corner. it was hers and she had begun to fall in love with it. sorrow shook her every chance it could, rattling her heart and sanity. she spent much time staring into little pools of spring water, wishing to see her children at her side. they never appeared. she could only wish she had come to this place sooner.

gloom was hanging over the forest that day, casting everything in a dark grey light. rain would blow in every now and again, dripping down occasionally in big fat drops through the pine needles. she was in one of her favorite perches, the high side of a ravine above a small drizzling spring that seemed to seep from a crack between the rocks. she liked to stand and listen as the water ran, trickling steadily down. she was not far off from the edge of the prairie, which seemed to appear suddenly as one exited the forest through a small thicket. it had been quiet all day, just as she liked until she heard something over the quietude of the forest.

her head jerked upward, pulled out of her trance, and her ears dialed around wildly as they locate the source that had stirred her. there was rustling and whispers, muffled in the thick underbrush. the voices grew louder as she waited, head cocked to the side, barely breathing and peering through the trees down at the game trail that lead from the thicket deep into the belly of her home. it wasn’t long before she could see them, a little train of three creeping into a place they did not belong. the leader she saw first, was older and louder, not seeming to care that they were a disturbance. the other two followed cautiously and her heart ached when she saw their youth. they were just children, gangly in their adolescence and wary of the strange foreboding place. seshat, if she were still alive, would be just a little older than they. her ears laced back with menace… what was the older stallion thinking, bringing these innocent children to a strange place where dangers worse than her could lurk. she snaked her head angrily and started slowly and silently down the bank of the ravine.

she stalked them quietly, taking special care to place each hoof on the mossy forest floor bedded with old pine needles and soft rich dirt instead of clattering on the rocks. like a ghost she edged beside them, just close enough that she could watch but not be seen. anger ran like venom through her veins, and soon she was quaking with rage at the insolence she had been shown since claiming this land. there would be an end to it. she was careful not to come up behind the youngsters, not wanting to scare them into a deadly run through down-timber that might very well leave one impaled on a stob. instead she went swift and silent at their parallel until she had passed them. rage burned in her eyes and her body shook with anger when she finally turned and leapt out from behind a small rocky bank alongside their trail. she looked the part of a monster, both ears pinned back, tail twitching horribly, and her eyes lit with fury. she would teach them all a lesson.

with one satisfying lunge she was close enough to the rump of the older leader to snake her head out and bite forcefully, claiming him, and likely removing some hair from his spotted hide. there would be no more parades through her home. let him be the lesson. her voice shattered against the stillness of the place as she bellowed loud enough to scare birds from their nests as she addresses the stallion.

is it good fun for you to go traipsing through someone else’s home? and to lead children into danger no less? you will no longer have the choice you foolish creature. i am menkhet, owner of this land, and you are no longer free to leave.

mare : 5 : sooty buckskin : arabian mutt : 15.2 : kafkaesque
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