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She simply could not bear the weight of the Thicket’s looming darkness any longer. Under the velvet blanket of night, it only grew more boisterous—toads loudly belching their throat songs, an odd owl inquiring into the darkness. In any other mood, the seal brown girl would have found such cacophony soothing in its repetition, but tonight it only drove her away.
Pilar dove into the oddly calm ocean, her white legs working through the surf until her hooves left the sureness of sand and carried into the water’s buoyant embrace. With her nose pointed toward the Crossing, she swam fervently until the shoreline of her residence was but a distant shape behind her. Her mind did not wander from the task at hand; the swim was a welcome physical exertion that distracted her from some of the consequences that could result in her leaving the protection of the herd.
At last she arrived on the shore of the Meadow, her dappled brown coat darkened by dampness. She shook off the excess water, the drips from her black mane and tail pooling at her feet before spraying the saltwater unapologetically around her. The full moon of autumn gleamed overhead and Pilar breathed in the cool night air, relieved to hear only the gentle shush of the waves upon the beach. She already felt more relaxed, despite her solitude. Finally, she had space to run… to see for miles without an entire forest walling off the world.
Pilar smiled and kicked up her heels before springing into a spirited gallop over the sands, the seafoam kissing her ankles as each rolling wave reached in and pulled the sand out from under her. Tossing her head, she whinnies into the night—a call wrought with satisfaction, meant for no one and everyone.
pilar
all I am is meant to bleed and bloom
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