build me up from bones, wrap me up in skin
hold me close enough to breathe me in
She has been blissfully happy playing in Tephra alone.
Well, not truly alone. Her multitude of siblings have visited often enough. Her parents have kept her both entertained and educated since the day she first opened her eyes to the sun. But everyone is so much older than she. And while the precocious filly is usually more interested in the adult’s conversations and motivations, anyway, sometimes she wants only to be a child. So when she hears about the playground (and her close proximity to it), she slips away from home and makes her way towards fun -
- and stops as soon as her feet hit the sea.
It isn’t too deep, the cerulean water that laps at the edge of her hooves. She can see all the way to the land across, to the green that stretches out to the playground beyond. But she’s never swum before. How much easier it would be if Mother came too! Radiant swallows the hard lump that rises in her throat and forces herself to take the first steps into the water. The waves are gentle as they bump against her red sides, buoy her bottlebrush tail behind her. Her eyes glitter like chipped amber with fear; she makes it across.
Once she pulls her soaking body onto the far shore (shakes, shines in the glow of spring) the filly lets out a delighted whinny. On the safety of land – with the earth rich and firm beneath her dainty feet – she races towards her destination. In no time at all, she skirts around the meadow and finds the playground. Tall, sentinel trees ring the border. Their bark is peeled in some spots. Radiant sees faces in many of them, wise and wrinkled and ancient. Logic tells her that they can’t be, though. Beqanna is born-again; she knows all of the stories.
A muffled shriek shakes her from her head. Today is meant to be fun, not factual, and the pure sound of youthful exuberance finally draws her in. The red roan girl spots the others almost immediately (passes one heading out, too, perhaps pulled away by her curfew. She says “hi,” to the filly before continuing on). One purple boy names himself Knight, and when the blue boy pipes in, she learns the rest of their names. “I’m Radiant,” she says, her voice as bright as lit ice. When she hears their plan to kiss the butterfly, she can’t stop the grin that worms across her lips. The chase is on! She forgets that she’s left home without notice as she jumps forward to help the other children. Instead, her happy eyes travel from Longclaw to Rapture to Ivar; the butterfly floats just in front of his face! “Danaus plexipplus. Or Asterocampa clyton.” She can’t help herself. “Oooh, I think she likes you!”
