The wood-handled grooming brush glided smoothly over the equine's back, upsetting the dust that had gathered there during transport. Robert Massura wanted everything to be perfect, and that included making the white coat glisten in the brilliant, early morning sunshine. He ran the wide, bristled brush in great sweeping strokes over the animal's beautiful coat – over the withers, across the back and powerful hindquarters, to the dock of the tail, then slightly lower, sweeping across the strong shoulder and trimmed barrel. Each stroke was as much an act of love as one of necessity. Massura watched the dust particles glimmer in the bright sunlight as they scattered into the air.
He covered every inch of the beautiful mare, dislodging enough dust to recover the brilliant sheen she'd had in the images he'd seen. Exchanging the wide body brush for a soft hairbrush, Massura brushed through the elegant white mane resting on her neck. He used slow, deliberate strokes, intent on making her look her best. First impressions were always the most important, and he wanted Saidi's reaction to be one they both would remember for all eternity.
The mare cocked her ear back, calmly listening to Massura as he groomed her. His strong, low voice spoke to her, telling her how much his beautiful daughter was going to love her. The fact that she couldn't understand his words meant nothing. His soothing voice was all that mattered.
Massura traded the hairbrush for a hoof pick, and with a gentle pressure on her coronet and shoulder the mare lifted her foot obligingly. She'd been shoed at the breeding farm, but Massura was sure to examine her cloven hooves closely and remove any dirt or rocks they may have picked up in transport.
Once he finished with her hooves, he stepped back to admire her striking silhouette. She was definitely the most magnificent creation he had ever laid eyes on, and well worth the exorbitant amount of money he had to pay for her. "A scientific miracle," they'd called her. Massura disagreed, for he didn't believe in miracles. In his mind, if there were a will, there would always be a way to do anything. All one needed was the desire, the means, and the money to pay for it all. And if he didn't exactly have the means, he could always hire someone to do it for him.
After a moment's reflection, Massura stepped to the side and retrieved the lavender saddle pad from its box. Lying next to it was the box containing a new Australian stock saddle. He'd really spared no expense for this gift. He was one of the richest men in America - he could afford to give his daughter the best money could buy. Saidi's mother had always admired the elegance and comfort of the Australian saddles, and with such a deep seat and the tall saddle horn it would be far safer for a young girl. His little girl. It was hard to believe today was her eleventh birthday. Where did time go? It was a shame her mother couldn't be here today.
It took him a short while to get the saddle properly adjusted. She was a tall creature - almost sixteen hands high. He was slightly afraid that she was too much for Saidi to handle; except so far she'd shown the gentlest demeanor he'd ever seen in a mare. And Saidi was an accomplished rider, despite her young age. Her mother had placed her on horseback before she could even walk. She'd graduated to a pony at the age of four, and was riding her mother's Arabian by the time she was six. For her seventh birthday, her mother had picked out a beautiful Palomino gelding, whom Saidi had affectionately named Trigger.
He adjusted each of the stirrups to what looked like a good length for Saidi's legs, and then retrieved the breast collar from its box. It connected across the chest to either side of the saddle, holding it in place so it didn't slide backwards down the equine's back. With the new saddle it was hardly necessary, but it added a nice touch to the ensemble. The silver, lavender and black details on the light brown leather stood out nicely against the white coat of the mare.
The lavender motif that Saidi loved was also apparent in the matching bridle Massura had bought. He pulled it from its wrapping, handling it gently. Having it altered specifically for this equine had cost more than the bridle itself, but it was necessary. Ordinary bridles slipped up the horse's nose, forehead and over the ears as you worked the bit into the mouth. With this beautiful animal, that wasn't quite possible.
Standing to one side and talking softly to the mare, he encouraged her to lower her head for him, slipping the bit between her teeth as she parted them. Using two hands to guide the leather, he stretched it up both sides of her head. One strap crossed the bridge of her nose, and he guided the other two pieces into place at the top of her forehead and behind her ears. The alterations he'd had done split the leather straps in these two places, and added buckles. It was necessary, because this mare had a unique feature in the middle of her forehead that prevented a normal bridle from being worn.
Massura held the straps behind her ears with his little fingers as he secured the buckle to the strap running across her upper forehead. Once that was in place, he stretched the straps behind her ears and tightened the buckle securely. He scratched her affectionately behind the ears, and then ran his hand between them and down her forehead. Carefully, almost in awe of the wonderful job the geneticists had done, he circled the horn with his fingertips.
She watched him out of one blue eye as he gently traced the swirled pattern around the length of her fifteen-inch horn. She was about as close to perfect as she could get, and he knew in Saidi's eyes she'd be beyond imagination. Like most little girls, she'd been in love with Unicorns since she'd first seen an image of one at the age of two. As she'd gotten older, she'd asked why her pony didn't have a horn, and why her mother's horse didn't have one either.
"They aren't real, dear," her mother would chuckle lightly. "They're too magnificent a creature to live on Earth."
Not anymore, they weren't. Robert Massura had hired a team of geneticists just after his wife's death to create a Unicorn for his daughter. She'd lost her mother, and he wanted to give her something almost as special, and equally unique. Finally, after three long years of research and development, they'd created the final product. And magnificent was the only word to describe her.
The team had started off with the purest set of albino horse genes they could find, in order to assure that the Unicorn would blue-eyed and completely white. Into those genes they figured out how to splice in the genetic coding from an elk to give her cloven hooves. The hardest part was engineering the horn, so that it grew from the center of her forehead and had the slight spiral pattern from popular myth.
The end result was well worth all their efforts. The creature before him was better than any of the images Saidi had collected over the years, and unlike all of those, this one was actually real. And all hers.
Massura finished attaching a new set of split reins to the bridle, and then quickly cleaned up the empty boxes. Finally, he added the final touch – a big, beautiful silvery bow tied around the saddle horn. He gave the mare one last scratch behind the ears, and then smiled as he heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. Saidi was home from school.
He made one last sweeping glance over the fantastic creature before him, double-checking that everything was indeed perfect. It would only be a moment until Saidi appeared around the corner of the house, having read the note on the front door telling her to come around to the stables.
Her father heard her approach on the cobblestone walkway, and then there she was. It had been a cool morning for the month of May, so she was wearing long pants and her academy blazer, with her brown hair pulled back in a neat French-braid. Massura's breath caught in his chest for a second as he realized how much she looked like her mother. Tall, thin, and exquisitely beautiful, there was no denying that she was his pride and joy.
The young girl came to an abrupt halt on the path as her eyes landed on the Unicorn. The bag in her hand fell to the ground as she stood frozen in shock, her eyes wide. Her jaw mimicked the bag as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. Slowly, her eyes drifted to her father, and then back to the Unicorn. Then just as suddenly, she broke into a run.
Robert Massura braced himself as his excited daughter threw herself into his outstretched arms.
"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" she exclaimed, burying her head in his neck, and then lifting it to stare in wonder at the beautiful creature beside him. "Is she real?" she breathed softly, afraid it was too good to be true.
"Very real," he replied softly. He didn't trust his voice to speak at normal levels. Blinking, he was surprised to feel a tear run down his cheek. "Happy birthday, darling."
Unconsciously holding her breath, the child reached out a hand to tentatively stroke the mare's nose. A blue eye flickered, settling on Saidi, and the mare seemed to lean into the touch. Encouraged by the animal's response, her hand slid gently over the Unicorn's muzzle, stroking the soft skin.
Smiling broadly, Saidi released her hold on her father to stroke the mare's head with two hands. Slowly, she stretched higher, finally reaching up to brush the horn, almost afraid it would disappear if she touched it.
"She's perfect," she breathed softly, unable to tear her eyes away from the Unicorn. "What's her name?" she asked.
"She doesn't have one yet," her father answered. "She's yours, so you should have the honor."
The girl grinned. "Then her name is..." she stated, drawing out the last syllable as she pondered the perfect name. "Magic," she declared, "because that's what she is. Thank you, Daddy."
"You're welcome, sweetie," he replied. They said money couldn't buy happiness. Perhaps that was true, but this gift for his daughter was probably the best investment he'd ever made. The smile on her face, light in her eyes, and delight in her voice was worth far more than all the money in the universe. It was, in fact, magical.
The End