FREE [ a short story ]

[Miss ALIBI!]

The first thing I saw the very first time I ever opened my eyes were my mother's own big brown ones looking down into mine, the ones I somehow knew were the same as hers.

I felt damp and a little cold, and looking around, I saw, for the first time, my true home. A dished out oasis in the tall mountains, grassy slopes upon each rolling hill. I saw the pine and oak and birch trees that lined the valley, protecting it from the outside dangers and giving us a place to shelter in bad storms.

I was born with this knowledge, I suppose. I could feel it deep in my bones, down to my very soul. I was wild, and I was free.

---

Mares tend to wander away from the herd for a few days while they birthed their foals- I'd been born underneath a willow tree in a secluded little dip in the earth. I heard the mockingbirds sing of my arrival to the jays, and I perked my big ears and looked around more. There was a little pond in the side of the hill, but my dam gave me the stay-away-from-there look.

Lifting my tiny nose to the sky, I fell back a little. Well, this was different. Why did I fall? I blinked, and looked down at myself. My coat was what my mother called 'buckskin'. I had a 'tan' pelt with 'black' 'legs' and a black 'muzzle' and 'mane' and 'tail'. I knew what each thing was as she pointed them all out on me.

Those hard things at the bottoms of my legs were called 'hooves', and I breathed through my 'nostrils'. She told me lots of other things as I stretched my achy limbs- who wouldn't be sore after being cramped in a tiny, dark space for so many moons and then getting tossed unceremoniously out into the big world?

Hunger gnawed at my tummy. Instincts drove me to stand, and I shakily tried to lift myself up onto those wobbly legs of mine. My knobby knees buckled and I landed in a heap at the hooves of my amused mother. She whinnied softy, but I could sense the niggling worry she had for me. Jeez, I would be fine.

Snorting, I tried again, and again, but each time I fell. Finally, I did manage to hold myself up on the gangly things, sitting there for a moment and retaining my balance. For a little while, at least. I confidently lifted a leg and started toward Mother's milk, but I stumbled and fell once more. Come on! If Mother could do it, I could to! She made it look so easy.

I stood again, carefully putting a hoof in front of me. I wobbled again, but I didn't fall. I snorted proudly for a moment, and took another step, this time moving a back leg. Then a front, then the other back. It worked! Vocalizing a triumphant nicker, I lifted my head and took a long drink. I knew Mother was proud of me, too.

After my nursing, I laid down alongside my standing dam. She said she had to keep watch for things like coyotes, wolves, lions and bears. Whatever those were.

As I closed my eyes, a realization dawned on me. I wasn't sure, exactly, how I got my name, but suddenly, I was called Crow.

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[Miss ALIBI!]

2 days later

Me and Mother were still at the little oasis, but she'd told me when I woke up this morning that we would have to go back toward the herd unless we wanted to be eaten by some predator. She had taught me many things in the past suns, and I'd gotten much stronger already. I asked her if growing up would be so fast, and she gave me a wistful look and said, "It'll seem like many long winters to you, but it'll happen in the blink of an eye for me." I didn't quite understand, since I'd only been in the world for a mere two and a half days.

Before we left, Mama made me take a long drink and she herself gulped down several swallows of water from the pond, nibbling on spiky green stuff called grass for a little while. When she was convinced it was sunhigh, we set off at a brisk walk in the direction of the herd. She'd said that my father, Red-winged Blackbird, had promised not to leave the immediate area until she returned with his foal, so we wouldn't have too far to walk.

I grew tired just after losing sight of my birthplace, as if the sight was what had given me the spry energy. Mama said that if I hadn't been bouncing around so much I would have lasted longer.

To ease the weariness, my mother told me about the herd; the stallion was of course Blackbird, a 'stunning black brute with eyes the bright gold of the sun'. Apparently, I had the same eyes. The lead mare was a blue-eyed bay- brown with black mane, tail, muzzle and stockings- named Fawn. She had a blue roan filly with a white star on her face named North Star, and a gray yearling colt called Birch.

The three other mares were Wildflower(a palomino with brown eyes), Patch(a brown-and-white paint) and Windy Field(another gray horse). Wildflower had a newborn colt as well, a gray-eyed palomino paint called Morning Sun, but he wasn't Blackbird's son. Wildflower had been stolen from another herd recently, and Sun had just come along with her.

Before long, we approached the last place she'd seen the herd. All at once, scents bombarded my nose; they smelled vaguely similar to Mama, so I guessed they were our herd. Mama said I was right, and that she was proud of my already good scenting skills.

"Dove!" I jumped slightly, and the earth began to rumble beneath my feet as the neigh echoed to us from our left. I ran under my mother's belly to hide, peering under to see who'd yelled. Who was Dove?

And then I saw him.

Blackbird and the herd were running toward us. I knew right away who he was because of his fur color, as black as the midnight sky and his eyes a glowing, sunny amber. He was... stunning. That was what Mama had said of him, and she could hardly insult such a beautiful horse. Mama was dull in comparison(not that this made me love her any less).

"Dove!" The stallion whinnied, and I blinked. Dove must be my mother's name! I looked at her. I wasn't sure what a dove was, but I suspected it was white, like Mama.

"Greetings, Blackbird." she said calmly as he skidded to a halt alongside her, shaking his head and nipping playfully at her neck.

"Where's our foal? What's its name? Is it a colt or a filly?" he asked, eagerly trying to look around his mare to catch a glimpse of the new member of his herd. I blinked and pressed closer to Mama. I peeked under her belly again as the thundering of hooves stopped, and saw the rest of the horses, easily outpaced by my father. I felt a swell of pride for him, but continued to cower.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Mama countered in amusement. She turned to me and gave me a warm look. "Come on out, Crow. Our family wants to see you."

I hesitated. What if they didn't like me? Gulping, I took a few trembly steps forward and cleared half my body of my mother's protection, blinking my own sunny eyes up at the ones mine had mirrored. Snorting, I shied back behind Mama, but she would have none of it. She took a step back- much longer than my strides- and then pushed my rump forward with her muzzle. I let out a surprised whinny, unable to stop myself from lurching forward several steps.

Timidly, I looked up and at Blackbird and his herd. They snorted and nickered in gentle laughter, and slowly, one by one, they approached me. "A little filly, huh? She's a purty thing, ain't she?" the brown-and-white mare said to one with a pale coat of blond. 'They must be Patch and Wildflower, and that little colt next to Wildflower must be Sun,' I thought, and raised my head with a tad more confidence after the compliments.

"Uh... hullo." I said, abashedly. The two mares smiled at me kindly and I risked a glance at my sire; he was standing next to Mama, neck arched and chest puffed out with pride. I let out a bubbly little nicker, something two-legs would call a giggle. "Daddy looks funny!"

I hadn't really noticed what I'd said, but Mama watched with with amusement sparkling in her green eyes. Blackbird snorted and relaxed, but he appeared to be humored as well. The rest of the herd had let out more snorts of laughter. He stepped forward and stretched out his neck, extending his nose to mine. On instinct, I mirrored his movement and touched his nose.

A spark of something I later learned was called "static" passed between us and he yanked his head back, shaking his head in approval. With that, he backed up again and reared, kicking at the sky with a neigh of happiness. And with that, he turned and burst into a quick canter, not nearly as fast as when he'd come to greet us, since I couldn't keep up as well. Nevertheless, I darted forward with more confidence I thought I had and raced up alongside him. I know he wasn't going all out, but it certainly boosted my ego.