Amy returned with the refreshments and found me, sat on the chair along with an empty bed. She put down the tray.
“He’s gone”
“Where did they move him?”
“They didn’t move him”
“What?”
“He’s dead”
She fell silent. I got up, made his bed and left the room. As I walked out, I heard her break into tears, but I didn’t turn back. It was just reaching midnight when I got out of the hospital, and I walked into the car park only to find my car missing. I stormed into the reception asking what
had happened to it.
“You mean the one just by the Pay & Display machine? Oh, it got towed”
I was filled with frustration. I plodded the way home, dragging myself to my dirty, horrible home. But just as I was coming to the start of my road, I noticed something shaking in a toppled trash can. It was hairy, by the looks of it. I approached slowly, watching it wobble violently. As I got closer, I saw it’s colour in the dim light of the street lamps. It was pink. A hairy, pink shaking thing was in the bin and I was slowly getting closer to it. What was I thinking!? I very cautiously knelt beside the bin, staring at it thoughtfully. I went to grab it and it pulled away from me instantly, into the bin. I was confused at this point, and slowly lowered my head until I was looking deep within the can. At the very back of it was a pink, shuddering creature. It had four legs and huge, bushy pink hair and tail. It appeared to be a foal, but something was quite off about it. Its head was rounder, and its muzzle was very small, almost as small as a human nose, instead of being the whole front of the head. It had a picture on its flank, looked to me like balloons. She was staring at me, scared and alone. I reached into the can and she scrambled away from my hand, avoiding my grasp. I eventually got a hold of her and held her in my arms. She squirmed around, squealing and shaking but slowly adjusted to the cold and rubbed up against my chest, feeling the heat radiating from me. She rolled over in my arms to face me. She was looking directly at me. Her gaze was so innocent, something I hadn’t seen in a long time. She broke a small smile before yawning and closing her eyes. She began to snore. I continued my journey home quickly and also cautiously to make sure no-one saw her. I returned home and lay her in my big leather chair, my usual reading spot.
I sat there, on my sofa next to the chair, facing the blank TV. Where did she come from? What is she? What do I do with her? So many questions ran through my head, but I didn’t have enough time to answer them. I picked her up slowly and walked over to my room. I lay on my bed, her in my arms, wrapped in a tight hug. I soon dozed off. She had made my tragic night a lot more happy, but I’m not quite sure how.
7Am. My alarm goes off. I smash my hand down on the button and slowly rise up out of bed. I find pink hairs all over my bed and suddenly snap back into reality. SHE’S GONE! I jump out of bed and run into the lounge and look around. I slowly find my gaze reaching the top of my Christmas tree and see her, grasping the top. Her squeals of excitement are identical to that of a human child. This filly is definitely special. She jumped down from the tree and onto the sofa, prancing around the room with glee, that was until I grabbed her and stopped her in her tracks. She squealed and looked at me, with those cute little puppy eyes and pouting her lips.
“Ok, fine, you can play”
I put her down and she ran around again, screaming with laughter and getting her hair absolutely everywhere. I sat in the leather arm chair, rubbing my eyes after the rough start to the day. She stopped, looked at me and trotted over to me, smiling. I yawned and smiled back, and then she continued to run around the room. It was as if she saw me in a not-so-happy mood and had to make sure I was ok before she could carry on. She seemed to understand my speech, but couldn’t talk herself. Perhaps I could teach her? No, that’s stupid, I thought. She continued to make a mess of my living room. This was one heck of a Christmas Present.