um, ashley? - Printable Version

The pain woke her from her sleep in the early hours of a bleeding sky. The sun takes it's firsts breathes as she gasps in return.

The foal was coming.

Marlyn lies there, amongst the flatten grasses, sweat prickling across her brow as she waits for the clutch of pain to pass.

One...two...three...

She rolls to move her feet under her, panting lightly.

One...two...three...

Another contraction cracjs through her like a lightening strike. Marlyn grits her teeth as she sucks her breath through split lips. "Ashley?" Her voice is strained and high as she calls for him, her rock, her comfort.

Marlyn wants him there. She wants him to witness their child's birth. She wants to know he is close so she is safe but the baby would not wait for no one. Contractions send Marlyn whirling and dizzy as she must lay back on her side, her body taking over and she begins to push despite her will to wait.

The birth would be quick, there was no mistaking that but for now Marlyn rests with a soaked mane stuck to her neck and the sound of gulls squalling in her ear. Her heart beat drums and she attempts to slow it with rhythmic breathes. She hopes Ashley would find her but if he were off in another land, playing ambassador to Ischia, then she would understand. He loved Ischia and was a fierce protector of the island. She would not hold his absence against him. At least they would still be together even after the birth.

Marlyn