"Stay here," came mother's sharp demand, the words pulling Gnat from her daydreaming as the pair halted at the edge of the Falls. Eager to please her fickle dam, Gnat quickly settled herself amidst a strand of cattails at the water's edge, a content sigh passing between her pale lips.
"Are you going somewhere, mama?" she asked, peering up at her mother's inky form outlined against the swaying sunlit canopy. Her mother did not so much as pause to spare a glance at Gnat as she turned away, her tail whipping against her hocks and her ears pressed against the delicate curve of her neck.
"Yes. Away," was all she had said as her figure retreated into the thick underbrush.
"Okay mama, I'll wait here for you." It was not the first time her mother had left her alone with little to no explanation, but she had always come back. And so Gnat had no reason to believe her mother would not return this time as well. For a long while she napped, awash in warm sunlight and lulled by the soothing sound of the Falls. When she awoke, she found entertainment watching the frogs that hopped in and out of the water, trying her best to imitate the strange sounds they made. Each received a name, and she chatted away happily at them, sharing stories of all the places mother had taken her.
"She'll be back soon, Mister Webby," she informed the large bullfrog she had been talking to from where it sat perched on a half submerged log. "I think she'll like you because you don't talk much. Mama always says I talk too much. Do you think I talk too much?" The creature only blinked and croaked in response, a sound Gnat interpreted as dissent. "Thanks, Mister Webby. I like your company, too, even if you don't talk a lot."
Hours passed and the shadows grew long and still mother had not returned. She had never been gone more than a few hours before, and as the darkness deepened around her, Gnat began to grow concerned. Having long abandoned her nest amidst the reeds, she now paced restlessly along the pond's shore, pausing every few moments to peer into the forest for any sign of her dam. Above her the stars began to blink to life, the crescent moon ascending above the canopy and washing the small clearing in silvery light.
At long last, the sound of hooves and the snap of brittle twigs caught the young filly's attention. Her apprehension quickly dissipated, her small ears perked atop her crown and her wispy white-tipped tail wiggling happily at her back. "Mama, over here! Come meet my new friend!" Gnat spared a glance over her shoulder to where mister webby still sat on his log, "I told you she'd be back!"
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