As Timmy played in the woods near his home, he
did not know that two large blue eyes were watching every move he made.
The watcher was hiding quietly behind a bush, observing
everything while Timmy’s games brought him closer and closer to the
watcher’s bush. Timmy
reached the large puddle right next to the bush.
Timmy
jumped into the puddle, delighting in the way the muddy water geysered
(splashed)
up around him. Jump! Jump!
Jump! He moved through the puddle in giant jumps, splashing muddy water
all over himself and the surrounding green grass.
But when he tried to make the next jump he couldn’t move.
His boot was stuck in the sticky mud beneath the shallow water.
He
tried to pull the boot free, but it only sank deeper into the oozing
mud. The mud pressed tighter against his trapped foot, and
everything he tried just made his foot sink deeper into the quagmire. (muck)
Finally he was forced to take his foot out of the boot and try to
pull the empty boot out of the mud while balancing on one foot.
Without his foot filling it, the boot came out of the mud more
easily, but Timmy started to lose his balance and put his stocking foot
into the muddy water to keep from falling. Yuck!
He pulled his foot out of the muddy water and did his best to
scrape the mud off his sock so he could put his boot back on.
Up
until now the owner of the blue eyes had silently watched the awkward
movements Timmy made while trying to rescue his boot.
But as Timmy balanced on one leg to scrape the mud off his sock
the watcher let out a childish giggle.
Timmy
pretended not to hear the hidden watcher laugh at him, but his cheeks
burned with anger and embarrassment.
Thoughtfully, he reached down to grab a handful of the sticky
mud. It felt wonderfully slippery and slimy. He wished his sister were around so he could throw it at
her. It was a shame to
waste mud of this quality. With a sudden inspiration, he turned and
threw the mud right into the bush where he’d heard the giggle.
“Hey!
That wasn’t very nice!” The
voice in the bush said
“
It isn’t nice to spy on people, or to laugh at them.”
Timmy said angrily.
“
I guess you’re right, but I was afraid of you.
And I was right. You’re
mean.” The hidden watcher said.
“I’m sorry” Timmy didn’t think he was
mean and he wanted to see this person who was so afraid of him.
‘It didn’t hurt much, did it?”
‘No,
but I’m all muddy and my mother will be so mad at me.”
“Maybe
I can help you get some of the mud off and your mother won’t notice
it.” Timmy started towards the bush.”
“You
won’t hurt me, will you? I
am very strong and I kick hard, and I can run fast.”
The voice sounded really scared now.
“Naw,
I really want to help you. I’m
pretty good at cleaning up messes.
My mom is really picky, too.
I’d hate for you to get in trouble because I ...WOW!”
Timmy had kept walking slowly around the bush as he talked.
He didn’t find another boy, or even worse a girl.
He found himself facing a very scared and muddy little horse. It
wasn’t much taller than he was, and was a dark chocolate brown.
It’s mane was pure white where it wasn’t spattered with mud,
and the mane was so long and thick that it almost covered the little
horse’s ears and drooped forward almost to its eyes.
“You
talked. I didn’t know
horses could talk.” Timmy
was surprised and excited.
“Horses
can’t talk, and I am not a horse.” The creature seemed very
offended. “Horses are common animals, and I am a fabulous creature.
I am a young unicorn.” It stamped its hoof and held itself up
in a proud manner.
Timmy realized it was true.
This wasn’t a common horse; it was a wonderfully special
creature. But he wasn’t quite ready to admit he had been wrong,
“If
you’re a unicorn, you should have a horn.
I don’t see one,”
The
little unicorn shook his head, causing his mane to move around.
Hidden under the thick mane was a small spiral horn.
Timmy reached up and
touched the horn lightly. When
the little creature made no objection, he started to pet the unicorn,
moving the mane around and exposing the delicate horn.
Feeling braver, he moved his hand up and started scratching the
marvelous animal behind one ear.
“That
feels good.” Said the little unicorn.
“But we’d better get the mud off my coat before it dries.”
Using his hands and handfuls of grass, Timmy was able to get all the mud
out of the unicorns coat. Pronouncing
the little creature’s name was a lot harder.
The name was a sound similar to a whinny and nicker combined.
After several failed tries, Timmy realized he would never get it
right.
“That’s your name in unicorn language. We need to give you a name in people language.
How about if I call you Unee?”
“I’m
not sure if my mom would like it.”
The unicorn thought a moment.
“But I think I like it. You
can call me Unee. But I
can’t talk to anyone else. I’m
not sure I’m even allowed to talk to you.
Mom warned me not to talk to men.”
“Yeah,
my mom says the same thing all the time.”
Said Timmy “‘Don’t
talk to strangers!’ But I
don’t think it means you can’t talk to a kid your age you meet
playing. I think it means
don’t talk to adults or older kids you don’t know.
Otherwise you could never meet new friends.”
“That
makes sense,” said Unee. I
guess it’s okay if we play together.”
“Do
you think I could ride you, Unee?” Timmy grabbed Unee’s mane in
anticipation.
“No!
My mom says my back is too weak.”
Unee reared slightly and moved out of Timmy’s reach.
Timmy
shrugged. “Yeah, My
mom says the same thing when I try to carry my little brother.
I’ll hurt my back. She
never lets me do anything fun.” Timmy
gave a deep sigh. “Mothers!”
“Yeah,
Mothers!” snorted Unee.
Timmy
stepped over and put his arm around Unee’s neck and the two of them
walked together through the woods.
*****************************************
Timmy
took a backpack full of surprises to share with Unee the next day.
He had marshmallows and peanuts, a candy bar to split and a
couple of cookies. Unee
said he had never tasted anything so wonderful.
Timmy brought a book and wanted to teach Unee to read.
Unee thought he was too young to learn to read, but he enjoyed
looking at the pictures while Timmy read the story.
Unee
took Timmy to a place where sorrel grew thick.
Timmy liked to eat the leaves that tasted like lemons.
Then Unee showed Timmy the secret cave where the bats slept all
day. Timmy showed Unee the
best kind of mud to throw at others.
Unee couldn’t use his front hoofs to throw, but with a bit of
practice he learned to make a wet mud ball that he could kick with his
back foot. He told Timmy he
would save that trick for the next time the older colts teased him.
The
next day was similar. Timmy
took a pack with treats and a book.
The little unicorn loved the taste of the cake and the peanut
butter and jelly sandwich, but didn’t care for the oranges.
He led Timmy to find wild berries and crabapples.
Timmy took Unee to the creek to teach him to fish.
Timmy
had two sticks with line and hooks, and a small can of worms.
With hooves, Unee couldn’t put a worm on the hook, so Timmy
baited his line for him. Then
Unee couldn’t hold his pole. Timmy
thought a bit, and asked Unee if they could tie the line to his horn.
They tried it and Unee found he could throw the line in the water
and take it out very easily. They
sat together by the creek eating cheese crackers and talking.
Suddenly Unee felt something tugging on his line and he gave his
head a jerk. A fish came
out of the water to lie flopping and gasping on the grass.
“That’s
cool, Unee. How’d you
manage that? They always
steal my bait.” Timmy was
excited and a little jealous,
“What
do I do with it now?“ Asked
Unee.
“Take
it home so your mom can cook it for your dinner.”
Timmy replied.
Unee
looked at the gasping fish and
thought a moment. “I
don’t think I want to eat it, and I’m sure my mom won’t want to
cook it. Can’t we put it
back in the water? It looks
so miserable,”
Timmy
examined the fish. The hook
was easy to remove, so he took it out of the fish’s mouth and tossed
it back into the water. It
swam quickly away.
Unee
scraped his horn on a rock to get the fishing line off his horn.
“I don’t like fishing. Let’s
do something else.”
Timmy
thought a minute. He
didn’t think Unee would like to throw rocks at birds or catch
bullfrogs. “I have an
idea, Unee. I’ll run home
and get my ball. We can
play kickball. I bet
you’ll like that game.”
Unee
did enjoy kickball, and the friends had a great time that afternoon.
They
played other games in the weeks that followed.
They played tag, hide and seek, I Spy, and Twenty Questions. Unee taught Timmy some unicorn games with names Timmy
couldn’t pronounce.
************************************
As
time went by, Unee became restless.
He wanted to visit Timmy’s house, but he knew he needed to stay
hidden. Even Timmy
understood the need to keep Unee a secret.
More and more the two friends talked about how to disguise Unee.
Unee
was bigger than most dogs, but Timmy thought he could make him look like
a large dog if Unee kept his head down and Timmy kept him covered.
Timmy
brought a blanket from his bed and put it over Unee.
Unee didn’t like it because it was hot, but he wanted to go to
Timmy’s house, so he didn’t complain.
He put his head down so he would look smaller, and they walked
toward Timmy’s house. They
stayed close to bushes and under trees.
Closer and closer they got, and no one paid any attention to
them. Soon they were just
across the street from the house. Timmy looked carefully and saw no one. So they went across the street and Timmy took Unee in the
back door.
Unee’s
hoofs made a loud sound on the floor, so Timmy pulled the blanket off
Unee and put it on the floor for Unee to walk on.
That made the sound quieter and the two friends reached Timmy’s
bedroom unnoticed. Timmy
made Unee lay down by the bed while he went to get some ice cream and
root beer. Then he went
back into his bedroom and turned on the TV.
Unee
loved the ice cream, but didn’t like the root beer. He
enjoyed watching cartoons on TV. When
the cartoons were over, Timmy pulled out some toys. Unee didn’t care much for the toys because his hoofs
couldn’t play with them.
Timmy
was afraid his mother would hear Unee’s hoofs when they left the
bedroom, so he put socks over them.
Then he put the blanket over Unee, and they snuck out of the
house and across the street.
Unee
was glad to be outside again. As
soon as they were in the woods he threw the blanket off and kicked off
the socks and trotted around for joy.
He was glad to know what ice cream and TV were, and he was glad
to know what a house was, but he was even happier to be back in the
woods. Timmy got his blanket back into his bedroom without his mother
finding out.
*****************************************
The
next day the friends played in the woods as usual.
They didn’t notice that two large blue eyes watched them from
behind a bush.
A
week later Unee had bad news or Timmy.
The Unicorns were leaving the woods to live somewhere else.
“My
Mom told me this morning. We
are leaving tonight. She
said a man has seen one member of our herd.
So we are going to have to leave.”
Timmy
was sad. “That’s
terrible. Do you know which unicorn was seen?”
“No,
my mother didn’t tell me.”
“I
wish it hadn’t happened. We
could have gone on being friends forever if that unicorn hadn’t been
seen.” Timmy felt like crying, but he didn’t want Unee to think he
was a sissy.
“I
know. But now I have to
leave. I need you to
promise you won’t ever tell anyone about me.
I don’t really understand it, but my mom told me bad things
happen when humans find out about unicorns.”
“Of course I’ll never tell, Unee.
I’d never tell anyone.”
“Do
you solemnly swear?”
Timmy stood up and
raised his right hand and put his left hand over his heart.
I solemnly swear never to tell anyone about my friend Unee.
Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Unee
seemed satisfied with that. Timmy
read the book he’d brought and they played tag.
They shared the peanut butter sandwich and cookies Timmy had
brought for lunch. Then
Unee led the way to an apple tree he knew of.
That afternoon they sat and talked.
Timmy didn’t want Unee to go away.
He wanted to stop it, to keep Unee here or leave with him.
But he knew Unee’s mother wouldn’t agree.
Late
that afternoon, Unee’s mother came to get him.
It was the first time Timmy had seen her, and he was surprised at
how big she was. Unee
looked so small compared to his mother.
Timmy
threw his arms around Unee. “I
will always be your friend. I’ll
never forget you.”
“I
will never forget you either.” Said
Unee.
“Will
you come back someday and see me?”
Asked Timmy
“If
I can.” Said Unee. His
mother stamped her foot, and he turned to go.
*************************************
Timmy
couldn’t hold back his tears anymore, and he was glad Unee was walking
away and couldn’t see the tears running down his cheeks.
He saw Unee reach his mother and take one last look back.
Timmy waved his hand and they disappeared into the trees.
Unee was gone
*************************************
I never told Timmy that
I’d seen him play every day with Unee.
I never told him that the unicorns had seen him with Unee that
day, and that was why they moved. And
Timmy never told me if Unee ever came to visit him after he grew up.
But I like to think Unee did visit Timmy after they were both
grown up.
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