If Regret had not been consumed by other feelings, he might have thought it comical the way she rolled across the sand. How she was able to spring right back up as if it had never happened; aside from the sand that still clung to her red form. The way she speaks, taking no regard for what he said or how he had said it, Regret almost wonders if she is deaf. The panic is rivaled with confusion, and he can’t help but simple stare at her speechless until she scurries up to his side and nearly wedges herself beneath him.


A grunt escapes the stallion, his belly sucking up and away from her as if she had struck him, although his hooves still do not move. Regret’s pinned ears splay to the side, and he can feel his heart practically doing flips in his chest. Death by the big cat would be a mercy to what he was going to face by being caught with this filly! Trying to think of something quickly, Regret decides to make an attempt on her own fear, so that maybe she will return to her mother, and he can simply disappear.


“Yes!” the sand-colored stallion exclaims, still finding the sound to be odd. “Big cat!” Regret looks out across the expanse of the Dunes, finding it strange that no adult had followed their tracks. Surely such a young filly would be missed by now?! He swallowed down a fearful shudder that threatened to race up his spine. “Shahin go home.” Back to the oasis, back to her dam, back to her family and herd. Back to a reality where he hoped she would soon forget the broken worded, scared stranger.


REGRET