Che Quin

The Che Quin mare blinked her eyes rapidly, trying not to show the tears that threatened to fall. Ojala noticed her expression however, and immediately interpreted the look. "Ama, what's that face for? You're not feeling sorry for yourself again, are you?"

The comment hit far too close to home, and Ama felt herself getting angry. Her ears flattened back and she tossed her head. "Of course not!" The statement was contradicted by the tear that finally escaped and tracked it's way through the fur on her cheek to finally drop to the ground.

"Oh, really, Ama, just because we're talking about coat colors is no reason to get all upset. I have swirls, you don't. So what?"

Ama knew, in the small rational corner of her mind, that what Ojala was saying was true. She'd heard lots of times how pretty her coloring was. So what if most of those times it was her mother saying it? So what if no one else noticed her because her coat didn't have any fancy swirls or amazingly fantastic colors? So what if she looked like a stupid normal horse? Ama found herself staring enviously at Ojala's fabulous pink swirled coat, and suddenly decided that she couldn't take it anymore. In a flash of flying white mane she whirled and took off into the air. Normally she hated flying, because it showed off her clay-yellow wings, but today she just didn't care.

Her wings beat rapidly, forcing the air around, forcing herself higher and higher into the sky. Tears blurred her vision, and she barely noticed as she passed through the lower clouds. She continued beating upwards, straining as if flying high enough would somehow give her the marvelous coat color she longed for. Something that could be described as "glowing," "mysterious," "brilliant," or the ever sought after "beautiful." Instead she was "palomino." Ah! What a retched word! How she hated it!

She was high enough now that the air was becoming thin. She knew if she glanced down that she would not even be able to make out the figures of her friends below. Her wings beat more rapidly, having to work harder and harder to displace enough of the thin air to keep her aloft. Briefly her mother's words flit across her mind, reminding her how dangerous it was to fly so high. Her worries and ranting pushed aside the warning, however, and she continued struggling upwards. Her breathing turned into desperate gasps as her lungs tried to obtain enough air for her stressed body.

Ama's vision abruptly turned blurry. Her wings wouldn't beat for her, and she suddenly realized that she was going to fall. She blacked out.

A yellow and white object fell out of the sky, making small puffy ripples in the clouds as it pierced through them. From the ground, a black and brown object shot into the air, racing towards the falling one.

Ama slowly blinked her eyes open. Slowly the world around her came into focus, and she saw that she was lying in a small clearing surrounded by pine trees. After a few shocked breaths, she rolled up onto her chest. Oh! It hurt to move! All her muscles, but especially her wings, were crying out in protest against the movement. "Oooh," she groaned.

"You were really flying all out there," came a voice behind her. "I imagine your poor muscles are pretty tired right now." The statement was followed by a low chuckle.

Ama turned her head, and nearly gasped at what she saw. A handsome Che Quin stallion stood there, looking absolutely stunning. A flash of memory returned to Ama, and this time she did gasp. "You saved me when I was falling!" she exclaimed.

The stallion chuckled again. "Well, I couldn't stand by and watch such a pretty lady take such a hard fall."

"Pretty....lady," Ama repeated, hardly comprehending what this amazing stallion was saying to her. "You, really think so?"

The stallion looked at her in surprise. "Of course. Who told you otherwise."

"Oh, um," stammered Ama, caught off guard. "Um....no one, I guess." Ama paused a moment, letting the statement sink in. Suddenly another thought came to her. "Hey, you're horse colored too."

"Why, thank you for noticing," the stallion preened and began showing cheesily showing off for her.

Ama laughed happily, suddenly feeling much, much better.

Page last updated: Thurs. Mar. 17, 2005
Page made: Fri. Feb. 25, 2005