Does that sort of thing happen often?
Zilpah has to hold back a laugh - not a mean laugh, mind you, just - this is a Desert, of course sandstorms happen! Instead, she smiles gently and says, “Well… sandstorms do happen here when a storm rolls in sometimes, or there’s a lot of wind. But if you mean a funnel like that, then no, like she said, nothing like that before.” Come to think of it, it was a tad bit odd. Something that precise, and that isolated…. no, Zilpah hadn’t seen anything like that in the whole time she’d lived here. And she’d seen the freaking Desert flood, which was a miracle too. Oh well. Weird things happen here all the time.
But then the other filly (not the scared one, the one with the cool changing eyes) acts like one of the trips, and Zilpah can’t help but go into big-sister mode. “Of course I won’t tell! My little siblings are always running off and playing.” She nods then, confirming the older little girl’s words. “And she’s right. My Ima - I mean, my mom - is the Queen and she says everyone is welcome here. We can be your family. I’m Zilpah, by the way. What are your names?” She pauses and smiles shyly, an idea just now occurring to her. “Ummm… I don’t have any kids yet… I could be your mom if you want… ”
Zilpah is more than seven years old. It’s about damn time she had some kids.
Zilpah
a song of sand and snow