With her breath caught in her throat Amaryllis quietly watched her father as he grazed absent-mindedly on the sparse patches of grass. For a few moments she contemplated how to break the silence between them. What was the best thing to say? What could she say after being a ghost to him for so many years? Eventually it was he that noticed her presence and stared at her in bewilderment and disbelief. He blinked several times as if to reassure himself that what he was seeing was real and not a figment of his imagination. The rain clouds had dispersed and the peak was being bathed in the bright early light of dawn. Her damp coat sparkled which aided her almost ethereal appearance.

She heard her name fall from his mouth as a faint whisper upon the mountain breeze. For a second she braced herself for the chastising that would surely follow. She had been gone for so many years, in that time she could have been goodness knows where, she could have even been dead for all he knew. If the tables had been turned she would have been angry. She watches as he takes a hesitant step towards her, and then another, followed by another. The distance between them is growing shorter but Amaryllis was not afraid. Even if he was angry he had never struck out at her before. And he didn’t look angry.

”Papa! She called out to him as she threw off the metaphorical shackles weighing her to the ground. Lifting her large feathered hooves she trotted the last few paces towards them. Her chest bumped into his and she lowered her robust head under his so she could firmly envelope his neck with hers. She whipped a teary eye against the tangled locks of his mane. Her concern for his dishevelled appearance could be addressed at a much later time because she didn’t want anything to spoil this tender moment. ”I’m so sorry Papa,” she sniffed, ”I didn’t mean to be gone for so long!”.