Paradise

Annubis aches at the familiarity and the strangeness that clings to Promise’s grown frame. It did not seem all that long ago that she was the child that he had chosen as his own, pressed tightly between him and Hymn as they shared late night stories in the dark hours of night. Even now, the fond memories resurface and he longs for just one more of those nights together if only to hold onto her innocence a little longer.

But as she pulls away from him, his multifaceted eyes can see the change that his heart longs to deny. Where once there was wide-eyed wonder and naive youth, Promise has aged. Wisdom, knowledge and experience are evidence in the faint lines that crease her brow and wrinkle her velvet muzzle. She has been forced to care for herself and her mother in a way that he should have…. And he blames himself.

It was all his fault.

Guilt tugs at his heart, at war with the anxiety and worry for Hymn’s continued absence. He had hoped that whenever the mother and daughter pair finally allowed the mists of Avalon to lift from around them, they would be together. He had hoped that he would see them again as ageless as they had been when he first followed them to the Commons on the main island. It is a fool’s hope, but that does not stop him from doing just that. Hoping.

Her laugh, small as it is, lightens his soul. Multifaceted eyes glitter in the bright sunlight as for the first time since their disappearance, a warmth returns to his heart and a genuine smile tugs the corners of his whiskered lips upward. He had prayed to hear that laugh again.

But that light in his eyes wavers as her feminine features subdue. Once again, the prickling sensation of Hymn’s absence begins to resurface. Had something happened to the gentle mare? Had she…. Fallen? He didn’t… couldn’t even dare to let that thought linger in the forefront of his mind. Dark lashes blink away those thoughts as he searches Promise’s eyes for some signs of an answer.

’..better..’ That one singular word is enough to draw a relieved sigh from his lips. Like a heavy boulder lifted from square across his shoulders, he cannot help but to smile. He bobs his head as Promise continues to explain that Hymn no longer needed guidance and constant encouragement to eat and drink. He had been worried the day they disappeared into the deepest parts of the jungle. Hymn had been…. Broken. Her spirit, her will to live… all of it seemed to have disappeared with the life of the small still-born child. More than once he feared he might find her skeletal frame decaying among the rotting leaf-litter of the rainforest. It was one of the near-constant nightmares that haunted his dreams and kept him pacing the jungle paths late into the night. Hearing that her daughter, who stayed by her side when Hymn would see and talk to no others, felt secure enough to be able to leave the mare alone for extended amounts of time is a relief he did not even realize he needed. He drops his gaze to the green grasses underfoot, fighting back the swelling emotions that threaten to consume him.

’...She misses you…’ those words draw his gaze to her pale eyes. The softness in her voice is tender and filled with a longing that once more has him pressing against his broad chest tightly.

”I’ve missed you… and her. I have missed you both terribly. If…. If I had known…. If I had r…realized…” he chokes, fighting a losing battle against the tears that silence his usually overly confident voice. If he had known that Hymn would fall so deeply into depression that he would lose this precious time between them…. If he had known, he would have gone after her. He made a promise to protect her with the same breath that he had promised her he would keep Promise safe. In his eyes, in his heart, he would always know he failed her in more ways than one.

But he would never do it again.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, the gruff sterling stallion draws back to give his daughter room once more to breathe. An impish smile tugs at a corner of his dark lips. ”I would love nothing more than just that.” he murmurs, dipping his head gently, his golden eyes searching just beyond the line of sight, hopeful and yet somehow knowing that Hymn is not that close. Without Promise to guide him, the secrets of Paradise’s deep jungle pockets would remain just that…. A secret. ”Will… will you take me to see her? And maybe tell me a little about what all I’ve missed? I feel like I’m looking into the eyes of a grown mare now not my bright little bird.” he murmurs with a hint of amusement lingering in his voice. Tenderly, he reaches to her again, ruffling the long locks of her dark mane that no longer stood up in awkward frizzed tufts.

No. The little bird was no more. Instead of a chick bouncing back and forth within the confines of its nest, Promise has become the beautiful songbird with brilliant plumage just waiting to finally stretch her wings. A whole new set of concerns and worries to haunt his mind at night but even those future ‘what-ifs’ are put on the back burner for the unknown that still waited just beyond the darkest corners of Paradise.