September Story Contest

Fire and Ice -- The story of two foals who run when a wild fire hits their herd.
by microphone & Black Mist  age12

Preface

The chestnut colt softly groomed his favorite playmate, and icy-colored filly. Suddenly he scented something he’d never smelled before. He decided it was nothing to worry about and anyway, who would believe him? Maybe Lokalae would, but certainly not Likle, the herd stallion. “Tekrae, is something wrong?” Lokalae looked at him concernedly. “No Lokalae, I’m fine,” “Tekrae, I know what’s troubling you. It’s that smell. We’d better tell Likle.” Lokalae turned and galloped up to the big bay stallion. “Likle, there is a troubling smell over there, by the pine.” “Tell the herd to be ready to run, Lokalae. Herd up the foals into a group Tekrae.” Likle sniffed around the pine, and detected the foul smell. He turned and galloped towards his herd. “Run my herd, run!”

The Story

Likle was beyond terror. He followed his fleeing mares unquestioningly, just wanting to get away from the fire that had started blazing behind them. Orange flames licked his tail, making it smolder. “Calinae, take the foals and go that way!” Calinae turned to the foals, pushing them in the direction Likle had decided on. Lokalae and Tekrae led the way, plunging through the thorny bushes and dodging around trees. Suddenly they realized that no one was behind them. But they had no time to think. They pressed onward.

Suddenly they found themselves in an open expanse of green. A little way off was a wooden fence. Three horses, all paint-colored mustangs, grazed on the other side. One, a chestnut pinto, raised her head and gazed at them, unafraid. “Hello little yearlings, what brings you to the human farm?” “Uh, we ran from a forest fire. We lost our herd and- and_” “I’m sorry little ones. Stay here until you grow up. That’s what these humans do. They rescue young foals and take care of them until they’re old enough to survive. Sometimes they tame you, like they have done to us. I’m sure they would like an icy one.” Lokalae shrunk back. She heard a twig snap. She turned, expecting to see Calinae, but instead saw a human tossing a rope over her head. She reared, but the human stuck something in her neck and she became drowsy, finally falling into empty blackness.

When she awoke, Lokalae felt stiff and tired. She was in some sort of box thing. She noticed Tekrae and the chestnut paint in the boxes beside her. A human entered the building it which they were kept. “Ah ha! You’re finally awake Ice.” ‘What?’ Lokalae thought, ‘My name is Lokalae, not Ice,’ “Don’t worry Lokalae, that’s what they do. They give you a different name to the one you had. Don’t be scared.” The chestnut paint nickered softly. “What’s your name?” Lokalae asked. “I’m Karnack. My owners named me after a city you see.” “What’s a city?” “A big place with lots of buildings, ones that even touch the very sky!” Tekrae stirred beside her. Lokalae looked at him. The human appeared with food. “Ah! Good, Fire, you see, I need a youngster like you to breed my mares with.” I started. He couldn’t be made to do that! “Tekrae, we have to escape.” “But look, we have food! We don’t need to leave. We have a much higher chance of surviving here!” Tekrae was digging into his dried grass with gusto. Lokalae took one sniff and turned her back. This was not her home.

The years passed and Lokalae refused to be tamed. Tekrae had almost gotten used to being called Fire. He was now a stallion by three months. The old stallion, Giant, was near retiring, after one more year.

One day Lokalae woke up and remembered something horrible. “I have a foal!” She thought. A mustang should never have a foal with a tame horse. She resigned herself to trying to find an escape route. She found a low spot in the pasture fence, and cantered towards it, prepared to leap! She landed on the other side! She was free! She galloped away.

* * * * * * *

Two months passed. Lokalae was starving. She had to go back. She turned and followed her instincts back to the human farm. There she huddled close to the barn until the humans found her.

Four months passed. Lokalae was well fed. She had even managed to let the humans know her name was Lokalae, but they still shortened it to Ice. Tekrae was the stud on the farm. Lokalae had a foal who’s name was Iceberg.

More years passed and Lokalae had foals with Tekrae. One foal was a perfect mix. Wild yet tame, and an icy chestnut color. When Lokalae and Tekrae were grazing with their five-month-old filly between them, the human thought, “Fire and Ice, as one.”

 

The End!

Thank you for reading this story! Here’s how to pronounce the names.
Lokalae (Low-k-l-A) Tekrae (Teck-r-A) Calinae (Cal-in-A) Likle (Lick-L)
Also, the humans find a whole herd of horses, safe and well. It turns out it was Likle’s herd. Lokalae and Tekrae were very relieved to know that their parent’s were safe and well.