It had started as a normal day.
“Nuh, babeh! Nuh jump, pwese wisten to mummah!”
“Is otay, mummah! Am wingie bestest babbeh, I fwy from big twee!” The little winged foal giggled from the branch he was perched on. His miniscule wings fluttered as he did.
It had started as a normal day
It had started as a normal day, same as any for Cupcake, the stray fluffy mummah. She had woken up in her little nest in the woods underneath a tree, her soft body protectively wrapped around her foals as they slept, two earth fluffies, one pegasus. As usual, after wakies and lickie cleanie time for her babbehs, she had firmly told them her usual warning.
“Nao, babbehs, be gud babbehs, and stay in nestie fow mummah, otay? Mummah am gunna wook fow much yummy nummies fow miwkies,”
As usual, her little blue wingie baby, Cloud, her bestest and brightest stood up tall.
“Otay, mummah! Cwoud keep nestie safe!” He giggled and valiantly flapped his tiny wings. “Cwoud protect sissy and widdle big babeh bwotha,”
Her two other babbehs smiled, her little filly, Berry, a red earth fluffy stomped her gummy hooves on the floor. “Wingie bwotha is so bwave! Fwy again, fwy again! Show Bewwy!”
All the while, her big sensitive, a large and fat, positively rotund earth fluffy, happily chirped at his siblings. He was lying on the floor, as usual, eyes still half open. His name was Bear, named after a big brown creature she had seen on the teevee, back when she still had a big housie, and a human mummah who gave her sketties. Back when making good poopies was a matter of praise, not survival.
Her sensitive was big and brown, meeting all the known criteria to be a bear. Sometimes, during the dark time, as she held her babbehs, she would think idly on it, maybe her sensitive WAS on the way to metamorphose into a bear. If that were the case, she was glad to have given him that name.
Her mental wandering was cut short as Cloud climbed on a small rock that was in the nest and proudly flapped his wings. “Obsewve!” He hopped off, hoofsies extended and gently landed on the nest floor with a little “oomf” sound.
“Wao,” Berry smiled and continued doing her little stomping dance as she spouted a litany of praise and amazement at her brother. Words like “bwotha bestest fwuffy!” And “fwy highew, Cwoud!” Spurted out of her. Bear continued happily chirping and flapping his hoofsies at his siblings. Happy to be included, happy to exist.
“Otay, babbehs, mummah am going nao, wemembew what am said,” she nodded satisfied at her outstanding mothering and left her nest. She gently crawled out, and as she stood outside the entrance, at the base of the tree underneath which was her nest, she took a deep breath. “Otay, need find many nummies fow lots ow miwkies.”
She made sure to cover the entrance with the moss and plants that grew at the base of the tree, and then set off. If she was lucky, a few yummy fruits and yucky bugs would be on the menu.
The haul for the day was looking good. Cupcake had first found a big leaf, just lying on the forest floor. A big leaf! Leaves were extra yummy, and they could work as food bowls. She hummed happily and dragged her big leaf along.
First, yucky bugs. A few fat wormies on tree trunks she could reach. “Sowwy, mistew buggie, Cupcake am needs nummies. Fank ou.” she gently apologized to her food and thanked it as she gave it one, then two stompies with her gummy hoof and placed it on her improvised food bowl. One apology and one thanks for each wormie. It was an old lesson, handed to her by her human mummah, to always give thanks for the food.
Next, she wandered over to the spot she knew where berries grew. There were nice berries and meanie berries. Nice berries were good Nummies and made your tummy full. Meanie berries were also nummies, but gave tummy hurties. Bad!
She methodically plucked the meanie berries, carrying them in her mouth, being extra, extra careful not to bite into them. She would then toss them away. Meanie berries were not for nummies, and she wouldn’t want anyone else accidentally eating them. With that done, she went back, plucked some of the good berries and gathered them in her leaf.
Appraising her haul, berries and wormies, she got an idea. Leafies! Certainly, her big leaf was going to be in her menu, but small leafies were also good. She turned over, back to the berry bush. “Hewwo, mistew bushy, Cupcake am need weafies fow nummies,” she smiled gently at the bush. It did not smile back.
“Otay, Cupcake am gwabbing weafies nao, fank ou” she gently leaned forward with her muzzlie and bit into the bush. She would pull back, and take a muzzleful of leafies, then drop them into her big leafie.
She also ate some of the leafies, but don’t tell on her.
Happy with her haul, she made her way back home, dragging her loot, humming a tune, ready to go back to the safety of her nestie, and eat some yummy nummies, and icky buggies.
Then, she saw it. Her mouth went agape, the stem of the leaf fell from her mouth and landed on the forest floor. Outside the tree under which they lived, on a tall branch, was Cloud, proudly posing, flapping his wingies.
“Cwoud!” She shouted worriedly and ran closer to the tree. “Cwoud, wat am doing, babbeh? Pwease come down fow mummah!”
Berry immediately joined her, pushing and prodding Bear along.
“Mummah!” She smiled brightly after taking a breath from rolling her corpulent sibling. “Cwoud am going to fwy! Fwy high!” She did her little dance, pounding the floor and giggling. Bear chirped and looked up, as up as his fat body allowed.
“Ye, mummah! Wook!” Cloud proclaimed, walking ever so closer to the end of the branch, balancing himself precariously, his wings flapping with every small movement of the branch.
“Cwoud, nu jump, pwease!” Cupcake pleaded with her beloved child.
“Am, fwy, mummah! Am wingie babbeh,” he emphasized his point by posing and flapping his wings.
“Nuh, babeh! Nuh jump, pwease wisten to mummah!”
“Is otay, mummah! Am wingie bestest babbeh, I fwy from big twee!” The little winged foal giggled from the branch he was perched on. His miniscule wings fluttered as he did.
“Babeh, Nuh ju-” her words were cut short as Cloud did exactly what she was asking him not to.
“Wingies fwy!” He smiled and yelled, his hoofsies extended, his wings furiously flapping. Berry smiled, Bear cooed and chirped. Cloud felt the wind on his fluff and his mane, he could see the sky, the treetops, the clouds of his namesake drifting lazily, knowing that soon he would join them.
He was flying!
Until he wasn’t.
The world changed in an instant. Suddenly, his wingies weren’t helping, he was falling to the floor.
“Wingies, nuh be meanies, hewp!” He could see it. His mummah’s face in abject horror, Berry, suddenly no longer doing her dancey, and Bear, his dear, little big babbeh brother, on the floor, on his back, oblivious. Calmly kicking his little hoofsies.
The floor approached even faster. Was he? No, no, he was Cloud, he was the bestest babbeh, he was the wingie babbeh, he was a flier!
“Wingies, go!” He yelled and flapped. Flapped like he had never in his life. Furiously, intensely. The floor approached even more, and then….
Then he stopped.
He was flying? He opened his eyes, his hoofsies almost had reached the floor. Almost.
He WAS flying. His little wingies now gently flapping as his body was kept aloft.
“Mummah, wook! Cwoud am fwying!” He giggled and did a little loop de loop. His mummah simply stared. “Babbeh am fwying! Fank ou, Cwoud, ou am bestest babbeh, evew!”
Berry danced and Bear stood up and turned to look at him with a smile. “Is otay, big bwotha, we wuv ou,”
Cloud started going higher. “Otay, mummah, Cwoud am haf to go nao, am fwy,” he started flying higher and higher.
“Babbeh!” He heard his mother yell beneath. He flew higher until he reached the clouds. He landed on one, it was warm and soft, and smelled of delicious milkies.
It was everything he had ever wanted.
CRACK
Came the noise. Cupcake stared and stared, and stared some more. The forest was suddenly awfully quiet. What had happened? Right, she woke up, cleaned her babbehs, got nummies for milkies, and then….
Then what?
She stared some more. Her Cloud. Her beloved little wingie, was on the floor. He had landed, that was good, right? She stared some more. His neck looked…wrong.
His face was staring up, into the sky, his eyes wide open, the blue reflected in his stare. His mouth was wide open too. “Wingies, go!” The last words that had come out before he…before.
A small trickle of bright pink liquid oozed our of his mouth.
It smelled like candy.
His legs twitched lightly, all of them turned to angles they shouldn’t be, because they would give him ouchies. Berry cried. “Mummah! Cwoud nee huggies fow huwties!” Bear flailed, terrified. Even he could tell something was awful wrong.
She couldn’t remember when she had begun screaming.
It had started as a normal day.