As a young child, I heard the stories and legends. I closed my eyes and shook my head,
telling myself that I must have been seeing things. However when I reopened my eyes, the
majestic creature was staring right at me. I reached out to her, and to my amazement, she nuzzled
my hand.
She was a beautiful, black mare. Her mane and tail was fiery red and orange. Her eyes
were as black as the night when a storm was brewing. I ran my hand down the length of her face
and she tossed her head into the air. She let out a soft knicker and inched closer, I reached my
hand out again. The creature turned and stretched. My hand touched her neck, and I petted her
towards her back.
When I reached her wings, I felt the mare tense up. I froze and waited for a sign to make
sure I didn't cross a line, I didn't want this creature to leave me. I wanted more time with a rare
beauty of the world. She turned and looked at me, I went to move my hand from the wings when
she unfolded them.
They were covered in beautiful, different coloured feathers. When her wings were folded
against her body the feathers that you saw, were as black as her hide. The underside of the
feathers were a mixture of red and orange, like her mane. I started to stroke her wings, and as I
got closer to the middle of her wing, I noticed that the feathers got darker in color. I felt
something warm and wet begin to brush across my fingers, I pulled my hand away. My hand was
stained with her maroon blood.
I felt the tears start to fill my eyes. Who would want to injure such a rare creature? I
started to look for the source of the blood. My fingers brushed up against a cold metal fragment
in between a few feathers. I grasped the fragment and started to remove it. The mare was in
obvious pain, as the metal started to make its way out of her wing. I tried to be gentle as I tugged
on it. I heard a snap, as the fragment came out of wings, I felt great disappointment and rage
towards the human race as I realized what the fragment was.
It was an arrow with a poisoned tip.
As I stared at the arrow, trying to figure out its origin, I heard a twig snap somewhere in
the forest behind me. I felt the mare’s muscles tense up and her weight shifted, she was getting
uneasy. The crashing of footsteps got closer and the mare looked at me with her sad eyes. She
turned away from me and laid down, She looked back at me with wonder. That's when I noticed
that her eyes were no longer dark like a storm, they were a bright burning blue. Something came
over me, it was like I was in a trance. I felt my body moving and I climbed onto the pegasus
back. She stood, tossed her mane and swished her tail before she took off running through the
woods. I was so overjoyed that the beautiful creature had trusted me that I didn't notice that we
were in the air until, I felt a feather against my leg. I ran my fingers through her mane, like a
comb.
The higher we got into the air, the more carefree I became. It was like I no longer cared,
or had feelings. My brain was fuzzy and the thoughts were unclear. I felt myself start to drift off
to sleep, the mare turned her head and gazed at me.
The next thing I know, I am falling through the air. My lungs can’t keep up, I am
struggling to breathe. My brain is no longer fuzzy, nor are my thoughts unclear. I remember the
mare, tossing me into the air. I hit the ground.
I saw was a orange and red feather, slowly drifting down towards me. The hunter with a
bow and arrows with poisoned tips stood over me. I tried to speak, to ask for help, but I couldn't.
The mare landed next to the hunter. He climbed on to her, raised his bow. He pointed it towards
me and let an arrow fly.