The Moon-Fire Filly
by Melody
(New Zealand)
As usual, the dinner was eaten in silence. The only sounds were chewing, and the scraping of cutlery against plates.
Lara Milloc pushed the fatty lumps of tough meat around on her plate. She couldn’t bring herself to swallow them, even though meat was scarce here.
*
My father was the first to stand. He pushed his plate away with one hand while wiping his mouth with the other. I glanced at my mother in time to see her wince at the bad manners.
“Right, well I’ll check the mares. The bay one was pacing a bit this afternoon”
With that said, he disappeared outside.
I cleared my throat. “May I go, Ma?”
My mother looked at me wearily. “If you help me do the dishes then yes, Lara. Esperanza can wait for a few minutes!”
I sighed and gathered the plates up. I dumped them in the sink, grabbed a bar of soap and cleaned the plates rigorously, while my mother rubbed at the roughly made cutlery. Soon, only little bits of hard fat were stuck to a few of the chipped plates, and I scratched them off with my fingernail. After dumping the plates on the table, I pulled my torn, cotton apron off, replaced it with a dark-green, woollen shawl and hurried outside, my heart beating nervously as I neared the foaling paddock that was just outside of the small stables. I clung to the fence and looked around the paddock, searching for the unmistakable coat of Esperanza, my silver-moon-coloured mare that I knew was going to give birth. No one believes me, though.
Suddenly, I saw her. She quite a long way away, in a little corner by herself; and she was lying down. I gasped, leapt over the fence and sprinted to her like a hare being chased by a wolf. My dress hitched up above my knees, which was good because then I could run faster. Oh, how I hate wearing dresses! I envy the boys who get around in loose-fitting trousers, and rode astride instead of wobbling around on side-saddle. I smiled slightly, saw Esperanza in front of me and quickly dropped at her head. She grunted in pain, heaving again and again, her eyes large. I soothed her by gently stroking her neck.
“It’s okay, Esper” I whispered, while crawling to her rear end.
One hoof was poking out. I bit my lip, then pushed up my sleeves and put my hand in. I felt a slippery leg, and managed to hold on.
“Go, Esper, go!” I cried, stuggling to keep a hold of the leg.
She pushed again, sweat coating her body. I pulled the leg, a strange popping sound happened. I screamed, thinking I had pulled the leg off, but no. It was settled neatly by the other, with the tip of a small muzzle sitting on top. I held onto both legs while Esperanza pushed again, and the head and shoulders came out.
“Good girl, Esper” I murmured. “Just one or two more pushes!”
Esperanza gave a huge push, her breath shuddering, and the foal’s body slipped out. Just the rear end to go, I thought.
“Please, Esper, please don’t die!” I said, tears running down my face as I heaved, trying to get the rest of the foal out.
She sighed, and I fell backwards as something bowled into me. I opened my eyes, and grinned. The foal was out!!
Esperanza lifted her head, and looked over. It seemed to give her more energy to see the bundle at her legs. She got up and turned around. I backed away, watching Esperanza lick her foal lovingly. She didn’t need any help now. Esperanza nudged the foal, and it tried to stand, its gangly legs splayed out in front of her. I laughed, it looked so comical. The foal finally succeeded in standing, and stepped awkwardly to her mother. It soon began to nurse happily, bubbles of milk frothing at her lips. I waited until it was finished to see if it was a filly or a colt. It soon fell to the ground, giving a little burp of pleasure. I giggled, and went over on my hands and knees to see the foal. It was beautiful. It had a silver coat, with a greyish-black mane, and a black tail that were both equally short and fuzzy. There were a few differences though. Amazing differences. The foal, which was a filly, had a black nose, as did her mother, but the black was fringed with a fiery red colour. Her mane and tail, after looking closely, had streaks of red, and she had socks on all for legs, that ended at her knees. These socks, though, were red, tinged with gold and silver. I stared in awe at this miraculous filly. What would I name it? I had to think about that. The filly looked at me with big, expressive eyes that were fringed with long black lashes- again both lashes and eyes were tinged with red. I reached out to pat her, but she jumped backwards. It happened so quickly, I barely had time to realise she had moved. I shook my head in amazement. Who had sired this foal? I tried to pat her once more, and this time she walked forward so I didn’t have to stretch. Then it was my turn to jump. As soon as my hand touched her, a sort of rippling shock fizzed up my arm, and I scrambled back. The filly looked confused and trotted back to my side. I patted her tentatively, but I received no shock. Her coat was incredibly smooth, almost like moving your hand across the top of a stream.
© 2009 Mel.
