clarity, paint me bright like stars in the dark of night
It was good to see that fire in his eyes—to see that joy that spread through his lungs, thrumming there steadily as if it belonged, as if there was nowhere else it could possibly be. She squealed as he snapped at her flank, the noise delighted and wild and free. Running is when she felt the most alive; running is when the world melted away and there was nothing but the here and now, the joyful and endless mystery of life.
She checked herself to keep pace with him, following whichever path made the most sense, their breaths coming in rhythm with one another. But as the path opened up slightly, she let loose, the strange power from the quest flooding through her very bones. For a moment, she thought to Time and his love, and she wished them well—wishing them a lifetime of joy in each other’s embrace, in each other’s company.
She shook the thought free at the sound of his hooves, the steady pounding.
Laughing, she rocked back a little, letting out a throaty call before rocketing forward, completely lacking in any sort of inhibition, stripped of any self-conscious behavior. In this moment, she was nothing but the sun and the wind and the ground beneath her hooves. She was nothing but this race, the thrum of his heart calling out to her, the sound of his breathing steadying her as they took a curve and dipped lower.
“Don’t give up now!” she called over, her wild mouth twitching into a smile before she tapped into some internal resources, calling upon a supernatural endurance, and flattened out, tail streaming behind her.
This was life, she thought, the speed causing tears to spring to her eyes.
This was exactly what living was supposed to feel like.