Falls

Ah, the islands. Lilija smiled, standing at the treeline that broke into the wide, open area that had been used as an area for meeting and mingling (and more) for years. She hadn’t come here often as a foal growing up on the islands, but from time to time this place, among others, had found her at her dam’s hip while Freya traveled.

Older now, Lilija was no longer a foal following her dam’s hoofsteps. They’d been separated for some time now. Lilija had been bold and wanted to see the world for herself, but no matter how much time she spent adventuring and exploring she was victim to the strange pull that afflicted so many with this place. As fun as independence was, Lilija had grown up close to her mother and her mother’s side of the family. There had been plenty of visits to Tinuvel, and every so often, Lilija could swear she felt the chilling breeze of the cold, northern island.

She hated moving too far inland, too. She was too used to the briny smell of the sea filling her nostrils and too long spent without it would often bring on bouts of sadness. She felt rather aimless. Listless. She forgot who she was supposed to be.

In time the solution became obvious; Lilija’s time on the Mainlands was done and she was ready to return to the islands. Something told her it was there she would remember who she was. She wondered if any of her family still remained. One day she would travel to Tinuvel to see but, today…

Lilija took a breath and nodded, more to herself than anyone else. She took a step from the treeline, pulling her nearly all-white body out of the shadows and into the open. Her eyes (and ears) were pointed on the roaring Falls in the distance, wanting to draw closer to them. There was a reason they were this meeting place’s namesake, after all. Grand, they rose high with white water tumbling in grand volumes down into the clear pool of fresh water below. The closer one drew, the more they might find themselves dampened by the mist that rose off the water’s contact onto itself.

Lilija stopped at the bank of the river, just a little ways down from the Falls and smiled at how they looked now. They were still grand, of course, but she remembered them as being giant when she was a filly. She’d never thought she’d see something so large and remembered getting frightened when she saw horses playing in the water, thinking they’d be pushed under by the water and sucked away. Her dam had assured her they would be fine, but warned her against getting into the water until she was strong enough to swim… just in case.

Lilija’s wistful smile grew and her hooves splashed into the chilly, autumn water. It splashed over her fetlocks and she walked further in, peering at the wide opening of the pool ahead and the Falls tumbling down just beyond it.

~ ♥ ~