Youthfulness was a wonderful excuse to pay very little to the big, grown up problems in the world. Junco, barely passing his first year of being alive, was very much unaware of the drama encircling the adults who lived within the Inlet. The world was still too vast and curious a thing, and he wanted to explore it all. He settled with staying within the Inlet borders at the advice of his father, but now that he was growing older his adventurous heart was yearning further.
Skirting the southern shoreline of the Inlet, Junco made his fun stomping on little bubbles of air among the popweed, all tangled up in large piles along the sand. He giggled with delight at each one that popped, but even more so when one was particularly loud as it did so. Other yearlings had moved on to far more adultier things, seemingly obsessed with reaching their independent years, but Junco seemed quite happy still acting like he did as a few month-old foal.
From up the shore his father was half between watching him and half between dozing, his head drooping and his eyelids falling heavily down the more time that went by. He was already well into his nap by the time Junco finally stopped stomping on little bits of popping seaweed and trotted further inland.
The scent of his mother stopped the young colt in his tracks, excitement brightening his young features. Mama had been staying in one hidden area most of the time lately, and Junco thought it was quite dull. If Mama was not tucked away in her private little spot, maybe she would like to explore the Inlet with him! With a happy flick of his quarter-grown tail at his hind, the painted colt turned for the direction he could gather his mother was, his knees picking up a little higher with a bouncy, gleeful gait that matched his disposition.
“Mama!” He chirped as he rounded through the trees and found her grazing, a great big smile spreading across his freckled lips. “I was popping seaweed!” That would explain the heavily briney scent still sticking to him, particularly his legs, which’d been splattered by the seaweed as he joyously stomped on it.
His head tilted and he peered curiously at his mother for a moment before asking, “Whatcha doin?”
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