Geoff's Unicorn Stories
"The Enchanted One's"
This short story was started in October 1996 whilst on holiday and is inspired by all those who've worked
long hours writing books on unicorns, painting them doing webpages about them and even
completed a PhD on unicorn lore,
(Congratulations Bruno Faidutti).
"Utter waste of time it is !" muttered Pete to his wife,
"Interfacing, objectives, corporate image, achieving goals, utter garbage it is !"
Pete started to put on his coat, "Going for a walk, see you later love !"
He'd decided to take a walk to wind down a little, he wasn't enjoying
the company training course, he'd never asked to go on it after all.
He decided to take on of his favorite routes down to the pool about
a mile away. He passed a field with a mare and bay foal quitely grazing.
The foal stopped and looked up at him, then began to walk across
to the fence towards him. Pete went over to the foal, and gave
him a gentle pat and stroked his head. The mare came slowly
over too.
"Hi Mum, nice son you've got" he said quietly, he stood there for a while.
The foal nuzzled him, "Gotta go now I'm afraid".
He started to walk down the path alongside the field and watched the foal
walk alongside, following him. This never struck him as odd in any
way. He'd always liked horses, they would often come up to him
when he was walking or even turn to look at him if they were being
ridden or led past him on the lane.
A short while later he reached the pool, sat down on a tree stump
and stared into the water. He began to imagine a unicorn, gazing
at it's own beautiful reflection in the quiet surface. He fumbled in his
coat, found his notebook and a pencil, stretched out and lay
on his side on the grass and began to sketch a unicorn.
The young unicorn stood by his mother watching his rippling
reflection in the pool.
"But why can't we visit that world ?" he asked.
"It's too dangerous for us" replied his mother "they've stopped
believing in us and what we are. they'd hurt us !"
"All of them, all of man ?" exclaimed the foal, "that's, that's unthinkable !"
"Well not all of them, replied his mother softly, her large dark eyes
opened wider, she lowered her small grey head and pointed her long
bright spiralled horn towards the water.
"Look child, tell me what you see"
Then foal looked down into the water then looked at his mother in surprise !
"I don't understand" he exclaimed, "What is that creature ?"
"Well, tell me what you think !" she laughed softly, her soft fine
mane wandering in the gentle breeze.
"It looks like a man creature" he said, lowering his head to take a
closer look at the image in the pool, "It's covered in that strange
outer skin that's made of dead creatures and plundered earth"
"But what else do you see child" she replied "look deeper"
The foal stood for an age and stared at the image.
"The aura ! " he cried, "it's more like ours !!"
"Yes, this is one of the 'charmed ones' " she said, and slowly
lifted her head, the image faded then disappeared.
"Can I go in and meet it ?" asked the foal, preparing to jump
into the pool and pass into the world he had seen.
"NO child, it's not for us" his mother said firmly "Come with me
now and I'll explain".
The two unicorns walked together back towards the woods
following the line of the stream. The foals mother began to
explain what he had seen in the pool.
"Most of them had stopped believing in us, we could not live in their world
so we had to find some way of keeping the magic alive for their sakes.
There were a few who still believed in us we called the 'charmed ones', so we
visit them in their dreamworld, a safe place which borders between ours and
their own realm. That way they keep us alive in their world !"
They carried walked slowly on, their light steps floating silently over the fresh grass.
"But how do they do that ?" asked the foal, turning his head towards his mother.
"They speak of us, create images of us, tell stories of us" she replied. "They seek for
there own kind throughout their world so that they can talk about us, sometimes
they search for a memory of us through their history of time, to find out what we
really are, and put what they find into words so their world will not forget us".
She stopped, and looked into her sons young bright eyes,
"They're charmed by us, because through them we can live in their world !"
Pete woke up, stretched out and picked up note pad and looked at the
image he'd drawn. "You'll return one day unicorns !" he laughed and
made his way home.
(c) Geoff 8/11/1996
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