laurie's blog: "Stories"

Unicorns New World Jola had been thinking, that the evil creatures were so prevalent in Uni’s world because there were no unicorns there to protect and inspire the good souled creatures. It had been on her mind for days, and finally she asked Uni and the children if they wanted to go there again. Also she had a maddening thought running through her mind. If that door had been opened on purpose, who opened it, and why? Her smile widened as the thought came to her that for whatever reason the door had been opened, only good had been spread, they had silenced the song of the siren, with her immortal lover, Chenny had no need to ever sing her song any more, and she had earned the respect and friendship of a unicorn herd with her quick actions and her intelligence in interpretation. Sheen had earned a reputation far above anything she could have imagined with the gentle dryads, to them he had become almost a God when he risked his life to save one of their own, even though he was still a child, even the trees seemed to bow as he passed. Recently her parents had been divorced, so Jola wanted to take her mother with her, Uni did not understand divorce, he could only see the two people who had given him so much love, had been there for him when he needed help, they had become HIS parents too, and he loved both of them very much, she had tried hard to explain it to him, but he was incapable of understanding. So she had decided to tell him that her father would join them later. Saying goodbye to friends took a long time, but when at last all the tears had be cried, and all the hands shaken, they set off to find a doorway, to a new life. Uni had his arm around her, the children followed with their grandmother, all were happy and excited, but Jola was a little worried when the door they found was in a different place, and it was open. Inside they saw a huge icy palace, with a woman standing in the doorway, fighting with all her might. Uni became the white unicorn again, Jola the black, Kasandra a pretty Piebald unicorn and Sheen a young, black unicorn stallion, and together they charged as a herd, a family, into the crowd of harpies surrounding the embattled woman. The woman, wearing a huge fur coat looked at them in shock, she said her voice showing that shock, “Unicorns? What magic is this? The unicorn herd died off a thousand years ago, in the battle against the demons.” Uni sad in a sad voice, “Then we are truly the last of the unicorns?” as his horn speared an attacking harpy from the sky. The stench of the harpies was terrible, but he found the breath to ask if Jola’s mother could shelter inside, and he explained that she was an older human and could not help in the fight. As she approached the doors with the woman still fighting just inside them with a spear made from ice, Jola’s mother said, “Just give me a spear like yours and I will show you what a human will do to save the lives of her grandchildren.” The woman gestured and suddenly there was a spear in Jola’s mother’s hands, and within seconds she had buried the icy head of it in a harpy that was attempting to claw Kasandra’s eyes out. Uni had six or seven harpies attacking him, Jola had three, the children had only one each because both the woman in the fur coat and Jola’s grandmother were now protecting them. Suddenly a harpy came from nowhere, screaming and heading straight for Sheen, the strange woman gestured, and it turned to ice, falling to the ground and shattering. Jola managed to gore one of her attackers as it dropped filth on her and tried to claw her, just before it’s death it had started to swear, and the thought ran through Jola’s mind that their filth was not only on the outside. Uni twisted and his horn flashed, killing two of the evil shrieking harpies in one blow. The rest retreated, showering them with curse words, but then flew towards the safety of the hills. With the danger passed for now the strange woman introduced herself as the Ice Queen, and almost immediately, a flock of red fairies popped into view around her. These are my babies she said with a proud smile. They went to look for help when the harpies attacked. “Come inside please. “ The Ice Queen asked them all, but when he stepped inside the large double doors Uni felt his hooves begin to slide and told everyone to change to human form. Following the now human Uni they all gasped with wonder as they saw the splendour of the Ice Queen’s palace. “It’s like a fairy tale.” gasped Kasandra, who had been reading all the fairy tales she could put her hands on lately. The Ice Queen turned to Uni and said, “There is much need for unicorns in this time, evil is growing out of control.” Uni nodded and soon they were all disgusting the nature of the world they had decided to make their own. Uni put his hand on Jola’s, and smiled with love into her eyes, she had brought him home again, it was something he needed, in his heart and in his soul, and his beloved wife had recognised that need and made plans to fix it. His love was growing even more for this wonderful woman.

Unicorns and Griffins Chenny and her new merman had to dive below the surface as the griffins attacked, they were vulnerable to their attack themselves, and exposed in the open water, and Chenny’s song did not work against non human creatures, but he had taken Uni as close to the door as she could. Jola, caught in the open had to change back to unicorn form to defend herself and Uni. She warned the children to wait under the cover of the trees until they got a clear chance to run for the safety of the still open door, and then suddenly the trees themselves began to attack the griffons, branches whipped and stung until the griffins flew away in distaste. Then Jola was amazed as from each tree stepped a woman, or at least they looked like women, their skin was bark, their hair was fine twigs, and their clothes were leaves from the trees they lived in, but it was their voices that really made her eyes open, they were as soft as Uni’s, but they sounded like a breeze blowing through the leaves, and when they came together, they sang, in a harmony that made her cry, it was so beautiful that even Chenny lifted herself from the water to listen, and clap wildly when they had finished. Chenny spoke to Jola, “They are tree wives, dryads, they need your help, and in return they will help Uni.” “What can they offer?” She asked Chenny with so much hope, love and need in her voice, that a tear rolled down Chenny’s cheek, “and what do they ask for it?” Chenny’s voice, although normally smooth and beautiful, sounded broken and raspy with the emotions running through her as she said, “Dryads are the greatest natural healers the world has known, they are reputed to be better healers than the unicorns once were using magic, with herbs and plants. In return they ask only manure, as unicorn manure is the greatest known fertilizer, and it will cure the ills of their beloved trees.” Jola agreed in an instant, called her children to her and explained what they needed to do so the dryads would save Uni’s life. The children agreed immediately and left piles of manure around the roots of the trees, and then, when no one was looking, Jola left her own donation. All of the dryads were so excited by the amount and quality of their gift, that while some went on a search for necessary medical plants, the others all began to sing, with even Chenny adding her own beautiful voice to theirs, and, even surprising to Chenny, so did her merman add his deep and wonderful voice to theirs. One dryad left the group and looked at Sheen’s deformed leg, she said something to Chenny , and Chenny explained that this dryad thought she could straighten the twisted bones, but she was not sure. Jola was so excited, even Uni could not cure a birth deformity, and she could almost feel his excitement when she told him what the dryad might be able to do. One by one the dryads arrived back, their arms filled with rare herbs and leaves, all of them, except the one who had looked at Sheen, began work on the terrible wound in Uni’s stomach, and the last worked on Sheen’s leg, she wrapped leaves around it, wet them, and then going to her tree, she cut deep into its trunk, collecting each drop of the sap, but the tears were rolling down her face afterwards, obviously this had been a very painful for her to do. She carefully poured the sap over the leaves on Sheen’s leg, and asking the merman for help to help with the now softened bones, she had him pull hard, until the bones were once again straight, then she told Sheen to sit still until the bones had hardened again. Under the trees work continued on Uni, Jola watched with worry in her eyes as they packed leaves and ointments against his devastated body, while all the time Uni lay unconscious. It was there that the griffons again attacked, Chenny and the merman disappeared under the water, the trees started to shake, as if in anger, the dryad who had helped Sheen stood in front of him with her arms out wide, Jola knew it was an attempt to save her patient, so did Sheen, he stood to his feet, and charged the swooping griffon, his horn was too small to gore, but Uni had taught him to head butt, he put his head down and ran as fast as he could, while the griffon was watching the dryad it intended to attack, and when he hit, the shock threw him off his feet, and knocked the griffon from the sky. Jola was fighting the other griffon, its lion rear end attempting to claw her with its claws, it’s eagle head and talons tried to claw and bite her, its great eagle wings tried to buffet her from her feet, but she held strong, and suddenly rearing she kicked with her forefeet killing it, amidst a flurry of feathers and fur. They stayed with Chenny and the dryads for many days until Uni was fit to stand, during that time the dryads had made her a new dress from leaves, she thought it was so very beautiful, Chenny and the children began to sing together at night, and firm friendships were made, that would last a lifetime. When Uni was able to stand he left a pile a manure as high as a man beside the tree that had given its sap for Sheen. He kissed Chenny and hugged her for a whole minute, and with tears, they all went home once more, to a quiet and lonely house.

Unicorns and Sirens pt 2, A Shy Lover Jola had set her heart on finding an immortal lover for the lonely siren, but it was just as important to her that she find the right one. Someone who would love her for the rest of ever, and who would attract her love for just as long. With Uni and the children helping her she could see no difficulties, even in this strange world. But Uni was not so sure, within seconds he had spotted the spoor of minotaurs, the most feared pack creature in this world, only the mightiest of centaurs dared to challenge them, and on such occasions many died from each side. On a creature to creature basis only ogres, like their friend Bruce, were stronger, but they were rare, solitary creatures, mostly just as evil as the minotaurs themselves. Uni was on high alert, knowing that with their enormous strength, and deadly horns, his small herd would stand no chance, but Jola refused to listen to reason, she had made her mind up, and nothing was going to stop her now. Leading the way Uni sniffed the air with each step, testing for scents. Everyone was now in unicorn form, ready both to fight and to run, Uni had decided that the danger was too great to travel further in human form. They followed the river, with Jola pointing out a similar scent to what she had smelled on Chenny, until finally they came across a merman, trapped behind a huge rockfall, where he must have been for many years. His upper body was superb and his face so handsome that Jola instantly knew this was the man for Chenny. The merman readied himself for battle, until he saw the unicorns and he said in surprise, “ I thought the unicorns had long since been destroyed in this time? But be warned, there are minotaurs nearby.“ Uni changed back to human form so he could lift the merman from his prison, but before he left the water he grabbed a large, three headed weapon, that he called a trident, and carried it with him as Uni took him back the way they had come. He was very excited when Jola told him about Chenny the siren, it had been a long time since he had company of any kind, especially a siren of the beauty Jola described. As they walked back to where Chenny had been sitting, the minotaur jumped them. Uni put the merman down in as safe a place as he could find, then changed back to his white unicorn form, ready to fight. He called desperately to his herd to run and began a dance to avoid the minotaur’s fists and horns, he knew his agility was the only thing that would save his life. It was a deadly dance, a dance that could mean Uni’s life with a single misstep, but I was not a choice. Suddenly he stepped inside the minotaur’s huge fists and pushed his horn deep into the creature’s belly. The minotaur bent and roared in pain, but with a twist of his head, he disembowelled Uni, his intestines spilling out onto the ground from the terrible wound. Jola ran to the merman and changed to human form to grab his trident from his outstretched hand, and called to the children to distract the minotaur, but not to get too close, and they both ran straight in, barely being missed by his fists as he tried to crush them. Jola circled behind him and stabbed the trident with all her might into the back of it’s neck, killing him instantly. She knelt beside Uni, trying desperately to push his intestines back inside his belly, and then tore her dress into strips to bind his wound as best she could. Uni, still awake, did not make a sound despite the intense pain, asked her to take the merman back to Chenny, and despite her arguments and her fears, Jola did just that, and told Chenny of the mortal danger Uni was in. Chenny looked at her tears, and already knew of her love for Uni, and she suggested they all go to where Uni was lying, beside the river, and when she arrived she began to sing. Uni changed to human form before her song clouded his mind completely, and then the dying man staggered to his feet with Jola’s help, and while she readjusted his bandages, he started to stagger after Chenny, as she swam back towards the door they had entered through, leading him to safety. They had almost reached safety when they heard the loud squawking above them, and only the trees they were passing through saved Uni from the massive talons of the pair of griffons as they attacked.

Unicorns and the Siren After their late breakfast, Uni and Jola took the children to a small wooded area near the horse paddock, but once there Jola saw a door sitting open in the middle of nowhere. Curious she called Uni over and seeing nothing dangerous they decided to take the children and explore. The air was wonderfully clean, and the long grass was delicious, the butterflys kept the children amused as they chased them all over the clearing. It was while she watched the children playing that Jola heard the singing, the most exquisitely beautiful song drifting across the clearing. Suddenly Uni’s and Sheen’s eyes glazed over and both started to walk jerkily towards the edge of the clearing, where the song was coming from. Jola and Kasandra followed them, sometimes moving ahead to see who it was singing. A short while after she smelt salt in the air, Jola saw the shore of a sea, and the singing stopped, and then she saw an intensely beautiful girl rise from the water, her waist length black hair wet and lying against her back, her dusky coloured skin gleaming with the salt eater, and rivulets dripping from her small, perfectly shaped, naked breasts. She saw the girl pull herself up onto a rock on a small reef, not far from the shore, and begin to sing once more, the same intensely beautiful song they had been following. Telling Kasandra to look after the boys Jola stripped to her underwear and dived into the water, after a few minutes she reached the girl as she sat on the rock, flicking her black, silver speckled tail in the water, and singing so beautifully that Jola felt tears come to her eyes. “Why are you doing this?” Jola asked, trying hard to shake the effects of the song herself. The girl’s beautiful black eyes opened wide in surprise, “It is my mating song, I’m calling for a mate. I am so very lonely, all of my loves have left me.” She said sadly, waving with her hand to show the bleached bones of men lying in the surf around her. “But you can’t keep men here with your song, that isn’t right.” Jola said, sad for the girl. “Oh no! The song’s effects only last a few hours. After that the choice to stay is theirs.” She said, the tears starting to run down her flawless cheeks. Jola wrapped her arms around her and hugged the crying girl, gently rocking her, like a child. The girl told her that her name was Chenny, and Jola felt her pain as they sat together “men do not live forever, to those like us, their lives are over in a blink of an eye, but they all must have loved you very deeply, each stayed you until their deaths, never wanting to leave.” Chenny, still crying, said through the tears, “But I loved them with all my heart, why wouldn’t they stay?” Jola was almost in tears herself now. How could she explain death to someone who never died? Immortality had indeed become her curse. “I will look for an immortal whose heart is worthy of your love?” She said fighting back tears, but for now we will sit with you and listen to your song, until the effect wears off my men. She called out to Kasandra to let Uni and Sheen swim over and to come with them, and when they all arrived, they sat and listened to Chenny’s song of love, until finally the song’s spell faded and they regrettably left once more. This time to find a lover for a lonely girl.

Unicorns and Mornings After Jola woke up with her arms around Uni’s neck and she kissed him softly, nibbling on his lip. She was still wearing her Prada bra and G-string, and she knew his eyes always followed her around the room when she wore that, but this morning she couldn’t tear herself away, she was too happy just holding him in her arms. But all good things come to an end, especially when you have children, and when Jola saw the bedroom door handle turning from the corner of her eye, she squealed, leapt from the bed, called out desperately, “Momma is getting dressed, don’t come in.” and ran madly around the room, grabbing clothes, getting dressed, until finally she looked at Uni, who was still fast asleep, lying on his back, completely naked. She grabbed the sheet, which had fallen on the floor during the night, tried to throw it over him, and only covered his head, and seeing the door opening yet again, quickly pulled it over him properly, and sat on the edge of the bed, trying hard to look like it was just an ordinary morning. The children burst into the room, both talking at once, and Jola interpreted as they spoke, getting a single sentence from the jumble. It was Saturday morning, and she had promised they would all do something together, she made a mental note to herself to never promise that again, and standing she turned to adjust the sheet over Uni. Immediately both of the children started to giggle madly, and Jola had the terrible sinking feeling that she had just done something very wrong, and as a breeze blew through the open bedroom door, she knew exactly what. Her dress was pulled up at the back, exposing her G-string and her bare butt, she felt herself blushing as she quickly stood and adjusted her skirt, in the process, pulling the sheet off Uni. The children laughed even harder, as she ordered them from the room and tried to cover his nakedness once more. She closed and locked the door and sat, still blushing, on the edge of the bed, until finally the humour of the situation hit her, and she started to laugh, throwing herself on top of the still sleeping Uni, and tickling and pinching him until he was wide awake. She explained to the half asleep Uni what had happened, and together they hugged each other and laughed until they cried, but when Jola at last stood up again, she felt Uni lifting her skirt at the back, to see for himself. Jola giggled and slapped his hand, making him drop the skirt hem, and whispered, “Not yet, later.” but she did take off her skirt and pose for him, she loved the look in his eyes, and the feeling of extreme sexiness she felt. Only the thought of their children eating their neighbours garden to the ground kept them from going any further, and Jola finally put her skirt back on and emerged from the bedroom to make breakfast. Uni followed her, and his exploring hands produced a lot more giggling, but a very slow breakfast. It was the perfect morning to follow the perfect night, and when finally the breakfast was ready, she turned and kissed him, feeling totally loved and wanted.

Unicorn in Prada Uni had entered a competition he had seen on TV, Be Dressed Like a Movie Star, and to Jola’s surprise and extreme delight, he had won it. A week later Jola was caught completely by surprise as the world’s top designers knocked on her door. Sleek and slinky super models strutted through their door, TV cameras were everywhere, men and women dashed in and out, carrying materials, measuring and cutting, armoured cars carrying jewellery pulled into their driveway, and their armed guards carried boxes of display items inside, for Jola to choose from. Then there were hairdressers, make-up artists, style managers, and so many more that Uni stopped asking them what they did, and just greeted them as they came to the door. All the while Uni and the children sat on the front porch, listening to Jola squealing, giggling and gasping, Kasandra asked why, and Uni, who had no idea about clothes just shrugged and held his hands up, Sheen at last suggested that she was being Crazy Momma, and as that seemed to fit best, that was the term that all three started to use. A TV interview crew approached Uni, and they started firing questions at him as fast as they could, but it was a young girl trainee, standing at the back of the group who asked the question that everyone listening was suddenly excited to hear. “Are you both exclusive?” She blurted out, reddening and shuffling from foot to foot in embarrassment. As Uni started to answer her she was pushed to the front, much the annoyance of the senior interviewers, who were pulled back so she was alone at the front of the group with Uni. “My heart, my soul and my body are totally Jola’s, for now and forever.” And what about Jola, asked the young girl, her fear disappearing with Uni’s gentleness, and softly spoken words? “ Uni hung his head low, and his answer was even quieter than his normally quiet voice. “Exclusiveness is not something you can ask for, it is a gift, a gift of love, that can only be given by someone who loves you so much that they are willing to forgo the attentions of others for just one person. It is not an easy gift to give.” “And what do you think she means by doing this?” She was young and very pretty and wore glasses, Uni asked her name, and she answered “Cindy.” “That she is still looking for someone better.” Was his unhappy reply. “And that scares you?” Cindy asked softly. “It terrifies me, what if she finds someone better and never comes back?” Cindy could see that Uni was close to crying, so suddenly she reached across and hugged him. Inside Jola had been watching everything on the TV, as she watched her eyes hardened, her mouth set in a straight line, and her whole face hardened, until suddenly she marched out the door, grabbed Uni, and kissed him as hard as she could, right in front of everyone. “I just made my decision, and I made it well, there will never be anyone who touches my heart, my soul or my body, who is not you, because you are ma boo, and I mean that in every sense of the word. With that she went back inside, leaving Uni still standing and shaking slightly, in her wake. When she came outside again it was in all her new finery, Prada high heels made her already superb legs look even better, the grey Prada dress with it’s black duster, showed her hips to perfection as they gyrated, the golden Dolce necklace, the Gucci anklet, the superb Gabbana wristwatch, and her hair, with the small tail added to the back, the new make-up, all made her look so beautiful that no one looking spoke for minutes, they just stood open mouthed. She slid her arm through Uni’s, and said softly, “You ready lover?” He ran inside, and a few minutes later came out wearing Black cowboy boots, black jeans, and a tight black shirt. Jola stared at him like he had at her, she wanted to whistle, but instead she took his offered hand, and they walked to her mother’s house with the children, where they left them for the night. At the nightclub they were treated like celebrities and let straight to the front, and inside Uni’s favourite song was playing, I Wanna dance With Somebody, by Whitney Houston, and they moved straight onto the dance floor. They moved straight into each other’s arms, their bodies flowing together, moving in unison. Jola stood on her toes and bit Uni hard on his ear, making his eyes open wide with surprise. She whispered into his ear, “Want to give up now lover?” He spun her around and then pulled her close and in return whispered, “No! I’m never giving you up. Don’t know if I could. Definitely know I will never want to!” It was a night of pure love, and at the end of it Jola could only remember seeing Uni’s eyes looking into her own, and feel his muscular body still pressing into her. She whispered only one word to him, “Boo.”

Unicorns and Angels It was Sheen’s fifth birthday and Jola was walking both of her children to their Grandmother’s house for a long awaited birthday party, Uni had to stay home to meet some people, but promised to be there as soon as he possibly could. When his visitors left he was only 15 minutes late, but he still set off out the door at a run, his children, were hugely important in his life, and he wanted to share every important event in their lives with Jola, but when he arrived the smile fell from his face, the entire yard was filled with motorbikes, mostly heavily customised, and he had a very bad feeling about what he might find inside. As soon as he set foot through the front dor, his worst fears came to life, two men grabbed him from either side, they were wearing the colours of the Hell’s angels, and he had heard a lot about the chapter they were from, they dealt drugs, had gone to court for attempted murder, and were heavily suspected of numerous murders, although no charge had ever been successfully pressed against them, they were considered armed and dangerous by the police. He could see his children unconscious in a heap on the floor, and further back he saw another man holding a knife to Jola’s throat. His eyes swung quickly around the room as he marked the position of every person in it, and then he acted, with a speed that belied his size, he swung the two men holding him together, and they met with a bone jarring crunch, that left both quivering on the ground, unconscious. Another tattooed man lunged at him with a knife, and he caught his wrist, twisting and breaking it, leaving the tattooed man screaming. Then the man holding Jola suddenly produced a sawn off shotgun, and aiming it at Uni’s belly he screamed, “Eat lead big boy. Guess you won’t be here when I do your wife.” and then he pulled both triggers. Uni was hit in the belly, and torn almost in half. The force was enough to lift him off the ground and throw him across the room, finally slamming him into the far wall, where he slid, bleeding, to lay on the floor, in a growing pool of his own blood. Jola screamed and changed, and the black unicorn reared over the remaining men, she was after blood, and they fought desperately for their lives, across the room Kasandra desperately shook Sheen awake, and together they both changed to help defend their mother, to their eyes the only unicorn left alive, and they charged across the room with childish bravery against the killers of their sire, but both were quickly battered into unconsciousness, they were too young, too weak for this kind of fighting. But Jola was not, and watching her beloved children go down under a hail of chains and fists was too much for her sanity. Inside her mind she screamed, “Wolves!” and attacked with all the insanity, hurt and loss inside of her. She gored, kicked, and bit, she tore and ripped the killers of her herd, she gave them no chance, just as they had not given any to her beloved Uni. The sickening sound of breaking bones echoed around the room as each man died, but she shed no tears for their deaths, until finally only the man who had killed her Uni stood before her, sweating as he tried to reload his shotgun. She broke it in two with a fore hoof, and then crushed his skull with the other. As suddenly as the madness had come it receded, and she raced to Uni, changing on the way. He was conscious as she reached him, and with the one hand he could still use he stroked her hair softly. Jola screamed at him, “Don’t you die on me boo, you are my man and I will not let you die. “ And her tears fell on to his badly wounded body, each one healing the terrible wound a little bit, Kasandra staggered over to them both, and knelt, still in unicorn form, by her father’s side. Sheen followed shortly afterwards, both children had massive amounts of cuts and bruises, but neither even noticed them, their sire was dying. Uni was delirious, and Kasandra asked Jola what he was saying. Jola answered in tears, “He is saying he loves us all.” It was then that Sheen noticed that his mother’s tears were slowly healing the massive hole in Uni’s stomach, he rubbed his small horn there too like Uni had taught him, and noticed the wound get smaller still, but it was still touch and go, for even a unicorn couldn’t reverse death. Kasandra imitated her brother and together the three of them began to drag Uni back from the yawning abyss, But it took everything they had, every bit of love of belief of strength, until finally Uni lay there in a peaceful sleep, his body had been healed, but his soul still felt the wound. Jola lay beside him just as she had so long ago and rubbed him softly with her horn, and nuzzled his face, he was her boo, the father of her children and not even death was going to take him away. She refused to allow it, death had, had his share this day, he would have no more.

Unicorns Deformed Jola’s parents were just as in love with Sheen as Uni was, especially her father. This was the son he had always wanted, to play ball with, to pass on all the things he had been dreaming of for so long, and just like Uni he refused to even see Sheen’s deformity. From the very start Sheen had the happiest life, he was loved as much as any child could be loved, there was never much money, but there was laughter and fun aplenty, and he and Kasandra were closer than twins. Uni taught Sheen how to be the leader of the herd, to drive off all attackers, to forage for new fields when the old ones became barren, to heal those wounded or sick, and Sheen responded excellently to these lessons, to protect the herd was as deeply etched into his soul as it was in Uni’s. It was the prime directive of all unicorn stallions. But it was when Kasandra started school that Sheen began to shine. Each day on her return home she would carefully teach him all she had learned, the songs, the dances, painting, and everything that excited them both so much. Their attachment grew and grew, he became her student, and excelled, for both it was a time of magic. Jola walked with both of her children to school each morning, and it was always a strain to bring Sheen back home with her, he wanted so much to go to school with Kasandra, but when it was time to walk there again to bring her home, he was always waiting, always ready, even though he did not yet know how to read the time, he was never late. When Kasandra went up a grade, Sheen’s knowledge started to increase, during the day he pushed Uni to learn more, and at night after Kasandra had taught him all she knew, he asked her to teach him his sums. Uni watched from a small distance, he had never been to school himself, and he felt the loss of it watching his colt and filly, eventually he asked Jola to teach him sums too, and Sheen helped him as well. He was proud of himself, but so much more proud of his herd, it shone from his eyes and from his smile. Kasandra was in fifth grade before it was time for Sheen to start school, but he was more excited than Jola could remember. He had been studying everything Kasandra and Jola knew for days getting ready for this day, and on the day Jola finally took him through the school gates, instead of turning for home, he smiled so much Jola thought it must have hurt. She watched them both as they walked in to the school hand in hand, and turned back once to wave to her, She knew Kasandra was there to help if he needed it and felt surprisingly at ease as she walked home. The next day Sheen asked Uni if he would walk to school with them, he was so happy to be at school that he wanted to show it off to his Sire, and so they all walked the short distance together, Uni and Jola both as proud as could be of both of their children. It was school that the billies started to approach Sheen. Kasandra moved forward to protect him, but he held her back and stepped up to them himself. The first group were only young boys, of a similar age to Sheen, and using his twisted arm as defence, he quickly dropped the two to the ground. Then the bigger boys approached, but this time Uni approached, “You can fight a little boy like cowards, in a group, or alone as men.” He said , still in his quiet voice, and watched as they all turned and walked away. He winked at both Kasandra and Sheen, and with Jola’s hand tightly in his, they walked home. Uni was so proud of them both, “They have passed their baptism of fire.” He said with a twinkle in his eye. But Jola asked him something he had never expected, “Uni, would you mind if I called you my boo? It means my one and only love, and I would be so proud to call you that.” she asked shyly. He picked her up around her waste and kissed her with all the love and pride he felt, and said, “I would be honoured.” you are everything I ever dreamt of, as a friend, a wife, a mother, and a vital part of our herd. To know you still feel that way about me brings tears to my eyes.” They held that kiss for a very long time before they slowly walked home together, arm in arm.

Jola was home on maternity leave, and she had Uni drag a desk into the living room so she could still do her accounting work, but her real motive was to watch Uni. Never in her life had she seen children act as good as they did for Uni, it was obvious that each loved him like a father, and that Uni loved each and every one of them as his own children, the little living room was filled with pure love. Most of the children brought their own lunches, but not all parents could afford that, so at lunch time, Uni made them lunch himself, getting the food from their own fridge. No one went without, and his lunches were so popular, that soon all the children were asking for them. He made up a story for each sandwich , a song for each drink, for the children, as well as Uni, and even for herself, it was a magical time. But Jola’s accountant mind soon figured that Uni was barely making any money at all, and she decided to talk to the mothers herself. The next morning, she asked them all to walk with her, so that Uni would not overhear, mentioned that he was spending almost all of the little he made on feeding the children who had nothing, and was again surprised when some of the mothers started to cry. She quickly found that it was not only the children who loved Uni, and at lunch time she had another surprise, each of the mothers turned up, all with food especially wrapped, for their children’s lunches, and stayed to serve it and to listen to Uni’s special stories Uni was a hero to these hard working mothers, not only did their children never get sick there, but he taught them respect, and love for each other, he gave them hope, and made each feel special. One mother said to Jola as she left, “If you ever get sick of him, just tell me.” Jola smiled and said, “I’m not letting him go, ever.” They all laughed, it was the answer they had all expected. Suddenly Jola felt her water break, and headed quickly to the horse paddock where Kasandra was born, asking one of the mothers to let Uni know before she left. The paddock was vastly different, the stallions had never been replaced, some of the injured mares had died from their wounds, the remainder were older, but still came to Jola’s aid, and her baby was born quickly, a colt, but there was something terribly wrong, its foreleg was horribly deformed. She wanted to cry, she felt she had let Uni down, he so much wanted a colt, and she felt the tears running down her cheeks as the new colt staggered attempting to stand and reach its milk. At home Uni felt the baby born, and suggested to the children that they go for a walk to see the horses. With squeals of delight they all set off, and within an hour they had reached Jola. She was still in unicorn form, so only Uni and Kasandra recognised her, but both noticed her tears flowing. “Oh hun, he’s beautiful, “ said Uni with a huge smile on his face, and Kasandra sat beside hum hugging him, with a huge smile on her face as well. As Jola hadn’t named him yet Uni suggested Sheen, and helped him stand so he could reach her teat, where he suckled greedily. After little Sheen had finished drinking, Uni left him with Kasandra and the other children while he walked Jola out of sight to change back to human form, and when she did, she was still crying. He held her tightly and said how lovely she was and how proud he was of her and their new baby boy. “Do you really like him?” Asked Jola, her tears starting to dry. “He is just what I wanted.” Uni said, his smile widening further. Suddenly Jola was hugging him with all he strength, “I was so worried you wouldn’t, so very worried,” “He’s wonderful,” Uni said laughing, “And just look at Kasandra, she thinks so too.” Uni picked up his new son and called the children. With his new baby in his arms, Jola hugging his arm tightly and Kasandra holding his hand, they headed home. He felt complete, with everything he had ever dreamed of around him.

Björn Casapietra - The last unicorn