Death of Innocence
by Karen A. Freeman
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Trees towered toward the night sky. Stars spelled out
the oldest of legends in pictures. A slim crescent of a moon
shown down on the clearing where the unicorns met. Hanli sat
in the shadows watching his mother and the other unicorns
make plans. He was tired of moving so often to new places,
but those strange two-legged creatures kept invading more of
their lands . . . and the unicorns kept moving on.
A couple raced out into the clearing, laughing and dancing in the sunlight. A bird flew up and away, deep into the forest, barely breathing, watching to see what terrible things these humans might do. The taller of the two reached into his shirt (Hanli, of course, didn't realize that it was a shirt.) and pulled out a stick, placing it up to his mouth. Somehow the stick produced the most beautiful notes. Notes that made Hanli want to get up and dance with the other creature. She was slender, with flowing hair, smoother even than his mother's mane, and much longer. The figure was curved and quite graceful. Hanli suddenly felt his mother had been quite wrong to listen to the other unicorns. There . . . in broad daylight . . . he stood and walked into the clearing. Despite the differences this night, Hanli slowly entered the clearing as had become his custom. Suddenly the long- haired creature burst into a series of short cries and Hanli felt a rope drop around his neck. Then a net dropped on him too. Several humans with considerably less grace formed a circle around him. They made hideous noises. Hanli struggled as they cut into his flesh. Blood gushed out. The two creatures he had first seen laughing and dancing now cowered in the same place he had slept while the others warned . . . A sharp pain went through his chest and Hanli no longer saw the clearing. |
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Graphics by Moriah's Web Jewels
©1985 Karen A. Freeman