When I was younger I walked in the Meadow, a beautiful place that was actually called Sunken Meadow, located along Route 25A and Sunken Meadow State Parkway. I entered through a break in the fence and took long walks. I saw a Unicorn there. I spied it from a distance as it grazed peacefully on some grass. I just kept walking. I lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply as I walked. It was a quiet, secluded area of Meadow but full of life, and rarely would I see another person walking.
I don't know why, maybe for the simple reason that I was not enthralled by the Unicorn or perhaps it was because I really was something of a ****** at the time (now that I think of it, I believe there is a tale of a Unicorn that can only be caught by a ******, because it comes and lies in her lap or something like that), but anyway, I certainly was not enthralled by the Unicorn, and for whatever reason it fancied me and came and walked beside me. I lit another cigarette and rolled my eyes. Unicorns are for girls whose fathers buy them brand new shiny sports cars, Unicorns are for girls that giggle a lot and although they look good, they don't have brains and so have to have Unicorns.
As I walked, the Unicorn walked beside me. So I started noticing that it had an elegant beauty, its white body full and alive. It had very pretty blue eyes that reflected unlimited possibilities. Its horn seemed to attract butterflies, as I noticed there were quite a few, more than usual butterflies fluttering about. In essence, I did notice that the creature was quite extraordinary, but I assure you I still was not enthralled, and it had absolutely nothing to do with me.
I continued to take my walks, always bringing a pack of cigarettes, and smoked as I walked. There would be the Unicorn walking beside me. I guess I just sorta, kinda got used to it walking beside me. Still, for God's sake, it didn't mean anything.
One day the white horse quickened its pace to a steady trot gaining ground in front of me. It kept turning its head back to look at me as if it wanted me to run with it. I figured it just wanted to see if I could catch up with it and keep up with it, and so I began to run. I had always been a fast runner and took first place in the 500 yard dash, always completing the marathon races as well. I ran beside it for awhile, not taxing myself in the least and when it slowed back down to a walking pace, I too slowed my pace and continued to walk. I laughed in the sunshine that day and said to the horse outloud, "Oh, I know how to run!"
This went on for some time. I took my walks regularly and always out of nowhere came the white horse strolling beside me. One day, the Unicorn stopped and stood still right in the middle of the grassy path and lowering its front legs to the ground, it bowed its head and seemed to be offering me a ride upon its back. A kind of confusion welled up inside of me as I at first considered it might be fun to ride upon the white horse, but then secondly I considered that I had no affinity or interest in such a creature and surely there must be some mistake. A great distrust and anger came over me. "You stupid, stupid thing," I exclaimed. "Get away from me," I yelled in a loud and angry voice.
And so the Unicorn gracefully rose to its feet and took several calm steps away before rearing itself up on its hind legs, neighing loudly as it ****** its head up towards the heavens. I could see that in that moment its horn emanated a bright white light. It all happened so fast. When it came down, back to the ground, it turned and began to gallop and then bolted like lightening deep into the Meadow's woods.
Heck, I was glad it left and relieved. I never wanted that thing around me in the first place. Anyway, I was just a girl, and I drove a beat up 1969 Chevy with rust spots that I purchased myself. I was a bit shaken up by the whole thing, so I lit another cigarette to calm my nerves, and after that I went home. I never went back to the Meadow after that day.
In the years that followed, sometimes I would see a figurine of a Unicorn somewhere or I would be at a friend's house and they would have a picture or a painting of a Unicorn. I would get a funny feeling for a moment, but then would think to myself, "What is the big deal?" I saw a Unicorn once. So what?
That was years and years ago. It's even been years since I even acknowledged a painting or likeness of the white horse with the silly horn sticking out of its head. I mean, what exactly is a Unicorn, anyway?
So they say whoever controls the past controls the future, and I do believe there is a song that says the future is all the past or maybe the song says the future is all but past. But I have never been so very good with the working out of Chinese puzzles. As the years progressed, I matured. Instead of drinking alcohol in over-abundance every chance I got, I drank bourbon on occassion and in moderation. Instead of smoking cigarettes in excess, I smoked one or two cigarettes in the evening before retiring to sleep. I no longer wore blue jeans but cotton slacks, which I ironed before putting on. I mellowed, and the mellowing was a wonderful thing. I became busy in my work and did well. I was somewhat introverted because of the nature of my work, and I spent long hours indoors not getting a whole lot of excercise.
One day I decided I would start taking some walks for excercise and good health. It had been years since I had even been in a Meadow, but I managed to find a pretty Meadow much like the one in my younger days. I had to drive all the way across town to get there, but it was worth it. I began to take walks there and delight in the surroundings. I started feeling somewhat hearty though I had picked up the terrible habit of smoking regularly again.
One sunny afternoon as I was walking along at a steady and even pace, I thought I saw part of a white horse through some of the bushes. My heart started to beat rapidly, and for one moment I had the feeling of understanding something that I had never understood, but the feeling was fleeting, and it escaped me. And there it was. Was it the same Unicorn? No, it was not the same Unicorn, and it was a different Meadow, but it was a Unicorn, and it was walking beside me.
I just kept walking, pretending that nothing had changed, but my heart was beating strongly in my chest and I was elated that the white horse was beside me. I wanted to look at it, but I could not. Instead, I spied casual glimpses of it as we walked, turning my head just slightly as if I were only turning to view a bush or tree that was coincidentally in its direction but certainly having nothing to do with the blue-eyed creature itself.
We walked for some time as I secretly enjoyed my company more than I can ever say. Then the White Horse went into a steady trot, turning its head back to look at me as it slowly gained ground ahead of me on the path. As the distance between us widened, I started to run to catch up with it, but I couldn't run very well because it had been 15 years since I ran and I had been smoking too heavily and lost my breath easily. I mean, I tried to run, but my body just couldn't do it.
I started to laugh. "I am old," I exclaimed out loud, and tears just started running down my face as my laugh backfired somehow in my emotions, and I started to cry. I fought the cry off as best as I could, but a great knot was forming in the center of my throat choking me and I was losing the fight and that is when I started crying and hollering at the Unicorn to slow down but I knew it wouldn't slow down, I knew it was just going to keep gaining ground in front of me until it was so far ahead of me and then gone. I was a pathetic blubbering mess of tears and snot running out of my nose as it went further and further away and then disappeared.
For one moment there, I had had this vision of running beside it again, even grabbing hold of its mane and jumping on its back. How ridiculous of me, I thought. I couldn't even run. And with that, I fell to my knees and released my great loss in a surrendering cry, a loss that I did not even understand in the first place. An all-encompassing defeat and loneliness came over me like a black cloud and a deep well of emptiness filled my being.
Its mouth slobbered all over my elbow, and it nudged me gently with its nose on the back of my shoulder as it stood once again beside me. "Quit slobbering all over me for God's sake," I said to it, as a kind of half laugh half cry sound came out of my mouth.
The Unicorn lowered its front legs to the ground, its head bowing slightly as its horn emitted a luminous, white light. I got up off of my knees and went beside it, pausing for a moment as I looked into its blue eyes. I swung my leg over its firm body straddling it as it gracefully got to its feet. It stood for a moment as if to say, "Behold the woman on the Unicorn." I stroked its neck with my hand and arm and petted its mane as we began to move along at a steady pace down the grassy path of the Meadow.
The End.
Copy Right Lynn Guevrekian
Short Story Fiction
Creative Writing
smoking is bad for your health. This is not a story about my life. This is fiction written using a first person narrative. I never drank much alcohol in my life, never drove a Chevy and grew up in upper middle class America. My Dad was a biomedical engineer.
