Day
1
For
a long time there was darkness. Thoughts of comfort and warmth enveloped her, telling
her of things she did not yet understand. The one who thought to her was never
absent for long from her mind. And after a while she reached out as well, first
brushing against the other’s mind with hers, then staying longer until there
was a bond between them. There, in the mind of her mother, she saw images of a
world beyond the darkness. It was a world bright and green and vast. Slowly she
became aware of voices outside. They were softly spoken, far and close but
never distant. One in particular spoke to her always. There was excitement.
Laughter. Then a melody, sung to her quietly at times and loud at others. And
when her mind reached out to the one who spoke and sang to her, it embraced
hers within it instantly.
Then
suddenly there was pressure on her body. The voices outside became louder, more
urgent. Her heart rate increased until her mother’s thoughts reminded her,
assured her silently that all was well. The light came; flickering at first,
breaking through the dark and creating patterns inside her eyelids. She welcomed
the cool air and took her first breath willingly, inhaling deeply the scent of
it. When she opened her eyes, she could not focus on anything at first. But for
a moment she saw the darkened shape of her mother’s head against the window and
she thought it the most beautiful thing there was. Then the brightness of it
all made her close her eyes again. Her mother’s nose nudged her, began to lick
her face until it was clean. Experienced hands began to rub down her body. The
sun that came through a gap in the wood planks of the stall illuminated them as
they worked, as they dried her fur and removed the water bag. She recognized
two of the hands, smaller than the others, as belonging to the one who had sung and spoken to her. She
felt her joy as they went very methodically up and down her spine and over her
head cleaning it from any remaining residue of her birth.
When
she stood up, the girl wanted to help her but the old man gently held her back
so that she could get on her feet by herself. She had to sit back down several
times before she could stand. And when she stood she swayed back and forth, adjusting
her hooves on the floor trying to hold her balance. After a while she took an
uncertain step. Then another and yet another after that. Her ivory coat began
to dry and her mouth found her mother’s belly and she stilled her hunger. And
throughout it all she heard her mother say one word in her thoughts over and
over again. She did not know what it meant and she would not hear it again
until much later, until almost a full year had passed. But at that moment she
heard it and she knew it was her name. And her name was Wind.
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