The Longest Winter
Chapter 6
The mare waited until she heard the old woman’s rocking chair slowly come to a stop. The fireplace crackled as she gently fell asleep. The mare’s ears swiveled around, trying to detect any other possible danger nearby.
An owl hooted from a distant tree as the moon rose above the mountains to replace the sun. The wind gently flowed through the forest. The mare could hear nothing else. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and rolled onto her side.
Her hungry babies eagerly latched onto her breasts. The green earthy got the lower nipple as usual, but the second, upper nipple was up for grabs. The brown alicorn and his sister battled their way upward, climbing over their chubby brother in an effort to reach the milk they so craved. This time the pink unicorn female made it first as her brother tumbled down into the dirt. The brown foal squeaked in protest as his sister claimed her prize.
The mother grabbed the brown foal and cradled her in her arms as he let out one peep and chirp after another. She licked his face and head in an attempt to calm him down, but he continued to struggle and attempt to squirm from his mother’s grasp. Suddenly the mare had another memory flashback. She remembered a song that her mother used to sing. The mare remembered being cast aside but still able to hear her mother sing it to her favorite babies. Tears rolled down her face as she struggled to process the painful recollection. But one good thing came from it; the song.
“Momma wuv babies…” her voice cracked as she begun to sing while hugging her child. “Babies wuv momma. Momma give miwkies. Babies gwow big an stwong.” She repeated the lines over and over, her voice still a little nervous after her traumatic experience of the day.
It seemed to work. The brown foal stopped squealing and fighting her. It began to suck on its little hoof while cooing as his mother cradled him. The other two foals continued to eagerly drink milk as their mother sang to them. But she was still paying attention, the green earthy had drank enough, it was the brown foal’s turn. She grabbed the earthy by his scruff and, as predicted, he protested. She pinned him to the ground to hold him still while she gently used her nose to push the brown alicorn towards her teats. The pink unicorn was able to keep her grip on the top nipple as her brown brother moved below to the bottom one. He immediately began drinking eagerly. The green earthy continued to squeal in anger as his mother pulled him into her arms. She started to sing the song again.
“Mamma wuv babies. Babies wuv momma. Momma give miwkies. Babies gwow big an stwong.”
The feisty green male began to calm down as he listened. He began to suck on a clump of his mother’s fluff as he slowly drifted off to sleep. The other two foals eagerly drank the rest of their mother’s milk before falling asleep as well. She curled inward, bringing them all inside of her warm belly fluff and covered them with her tail. The porch was warm tonight thanks to the previous warm fall day and the fireplace radiating heat down below.
The mare woke up multiple times from nightmares about coyotes and mean humans. Her brain simply wasn’t able to forget her frightening experiences of the day. Each time she listened for a moment before going back to sleep. Thankfully, the woods barely stirred each time.
Soon the mare heard the morning birds chirping as they pecked around the house. She blinked her eyes a few times before noticing her foals. They were pushing against her hoping for milk. She rolled over and granted them the half tank that she had left after a night’s sleep. The pink filly and the brown colt managed to beat their earthy brother to the finish line for once. They drained their mother dry before he even woke up. His mother later heard his cries as he squirmed against her belly, begging for milk that wasn’t there.
The mare snorted as she sniffed the crying colt and placed him on her back. He continued to complain while gripping her back for support. He was hungry, and he was adamant about it.
The mother paused before venturing outside of the porch. The hole that she had once climbed through was now an ominous gateway. A gamble with death waited on the other side; coyotes, humans, and who knows what else. Her hoof hesitated before stepping out. Flashbacks of the previous night kept racing through the mare’s mind. But she needed food. If she was lucky, the food that she had dropped the day before would still be there.
The mare poked her nose out first and took a sniff. The cool morning air smelled fine. She slowly stuck her head out and looked around cautiously. The coast was clear so far. Step by step she slowly walked out from the porch. Her ears swiveled around above her head, listening for even the slightest sound of danger. Once she realized that she was safe she quickly trotted over to the bark she had dropped.
She breathed a sigh of relief after finding that the onions were still there. She hastily gathered them all back into the bark basket she had worked so hard to break from the tree. Once it was full again she quickly trotted back towards the house.
She suddenly noticed movement in the house window above her. It was the old woman. She was peering down between parted curtains, watching the mare. The mare froze for a moment in fear, but soon found the courage to keep moving forward. She placed the bark full of onions just outside of the hole in the porch and began carrying them inside. She placed them in the corner in a pile. Her winter food storage was off to a good start. She snorted and stomped her hoof with pride.
It was then she heard thunder.
She peeked through the porch hole and a raindrop hit her nose. Dark clouds rolled above her in the sky, and the wind began to pick up. The mare shrank back into her shelter, disheartened. She wouldn’t be able to gather food for a while, and the ground beneath the porch was soon going to be a wet, muddy mess.
But the gears in her head hadn’t stopped turning just yet. If she acted quickly there might still be time to make a nest to avoid the wet ground. She quickly left the porch again and headed towards the woods. She felt another raindrop, then another. She had to be fast or risk her foals getting wet. Their fear of water combined with the cold might prove fatal to their small, sensitive bodies.
The mare found what she was looking for: leaves, and lots of them. She grabbed as big of a mouthful as she could and ran back to the porch. She crawled inside and placed the leaves against the brick foundation where it was warmest. But it wasn’t enough, she needed more. She wasted no time and ran back out to the woods.
She heard thunder again as she ran. She bolted as fast as she could, feeling her squealing foals clinging to her back for dear life. She felt bad for ignoring their cries, but her mission was for their sake. If she could get just a few more mouthfuls of leaves her plan would be a success.
One more run complete. Another thunder clap. Another run. Another thunder.
The mare’s leg muscles began to burn as her hooves ached in pain. She was almost done. Just one more run. She was nearly out of time and endurance. Another thunder clap, this time it was very close. The raindrops were beginning to pick up, and small bits of hail were beginning to fall. She gritted through the pain radiating throughout her body and grabbed one last bunch of leaves. She sprinted back to the porch one last time, just as the storm finally approached. She was a little wet, but not soaked. She placed the leaves on top of the pile she had collected and climbed on top. It should be just high enough to avoid the wet ground below.
She snuggled triumphantly into her new nest and allowed her babies to finally come down to feed. The mare watched them carefully, switching them around to make sure each one got their share of milk, singing the nursing song as the fed and rested in her arms. After they were done the mare felt her eyes begin to droop. The sound of the rain above her on the cottage roof was soothing, although her babies squirmed in close, shivering with fright from the thunder. She pulled them into her fluff and sheltered them with her tail.
“Shh it’s ok babies. Momma’s hew.” She whispered softly as she cradled them. Soon they were all asleep for a well deserved rest. The mare was able to stay asleep this time, dreaming of onions and cozy nests.