as I wandered the forest, the green leaves among, i heard a wild flower singing a song

it is one of the few times in petal’s life that she has felt real anger. it bites and scratches at her from the inside out ripping and tearing, plundering her broken heart. there had been a hot deluge of tears, both sad and angry, as she carried herself forth from the prairie, disgraced.

she thought of the war, looming over them, and worried for daphne. perhaps she should have encouraged her daughter to come.. but then who would tell jabari and dahlia where she had gone? and what if the dunes wasn’t a soft landing? she hadn’t wanted to drag her daughter into the unknown right along with her.. at least she was safe at the prairie for now. someday, if this stallion called bahadir allowed it ( the very notion of that disgusted her) she would see her daughters again.

she has rested well in the prairie since her trip to tinuvel… her body, small and lithe, has recovered it’s near perfect form and as she swims the stretch of sea between luthien and salem she looks like a glowing pearl cutting through the blue. she lets the anger propel her forward and up onto the beach of her new residence, small pink hooves sinking into the wet sand. her eyes, a frigid blue despite the hot summer sun pounding down, take in the vast expanse of tumbling sand hills… it is littered with palms in the distance but for the most part she can see only openness. it makes her feel naked, exposed. she had a new appreciation for the prairie now.. her tall thicket of grass along the shoreline hadn’t been much but it was private..protected. here, there was nothing.

she drifts inland, floating quietly above the sand like a flower caught in the wind. the way the sand shifts beneath her hooves is disorienting… and she isn’t used to the heat that permeates the air as well as beats down upon her. there is nowhere to hide, she thinks. she lowers her cream colored head, the tips of her ears and maw faded to a soft rust color, and lets out a soft breath, voicing her dismay and uncertainty as quietly as she can. she wondered what the stallion bahadir would expect from her.