Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The midnight unicorn
If you ever hear the doorbell ring in the middle of the night, don't answer it.
Otherwise, you'll end up with a unicorn.
It was a little thing, scarcely larger than a house cat. Thinking it a toy, I almost left it there.
Until it moved.
Once I knew it was real, I couldn't leave it out in the night. Seriously, what would you do if there was an actual unicorn on your doorstep?
It protested as I brought it inside. It was so light, with lanky legs.
Turning on the kitchen light, I set the creature on the counter. Grabbing a towel, I started drying its wet coat.
The unicorn wiggled beneath the cloth. Once it was dry, I ran a hand through soft, chestnut fur. "I would have expected it to be white."
At the sound of my voice, the unicorn twisted its head to look. "How did you wind up at my door, little one?" I asked, deciding that this was probably just a foal. It had a horn, but it was only three inches long.
The unicorn shook its head, and I smiled. "Don't want to tell me? Alright, but I don't normally take in strays," Seeing as I didn't have anything I thought a unicorn would eat, I scooped up the creature and left the kitchen. "I'll let you stay tonight, but come morning, we're finding someone else to care for you.
Who that would be, I didn't know. I wasn't the type to obsess over mythical creatures.
Especially ones that were no longer mythical.
"Besides, you could just be a dream." I told the unicorn as I set it in the bathtub. Grabbing some towels from the cupboard, I added them to the tub. The little unicorn watched me, head tilting slightly.
"Trying to look cute won't change my mind." I said, crossing my arms. "Either you're a dream, or I don't get surprised very easily when woken in the middle of the night." Yawning, I shook my head and turned away from the tub.
"Whichever it is, don't get too comfortable here. Good night." Flicking off the light, I headed back to my room.
When I went to crawl into bed, I found the beast curled up on my pillow.
"How'd you get in here?" Frowning, I lifted the unicorn and headed back to the bathroom.
"This is your bed." I said sternly as I set it on the towels in the tub. The unicorn gazed up at me with wide eyes.
"That won't work on me. Now stay." Leaving the bathroom, I made sure the door was closed.
Back in my room, the unicorn was yet again on my pillow.
"No, this is my bed." This time, I grabbed both the unicorn and the pillow.
"If it'll keep you in the tub, you can have the pillow." I said as I put both in the tub. The unicorn sniffed the pillow, and I made my escape.
Bathroom door firmly shut, I went to my room and shut its door as well.
Sighing, I got into bed.
And felt something settle next to my head.
Jerking up, I glared at the little unicorn. There it was. It'd even brought the pillow! "You're not going to win me over with an ability to warp from one place to another. If you won't stay in the tub, then at least stay on one side of the bed."
Grabbing another pillow and the blankets, I settled as far from the unicorn as I could.
Yet as I fell back to sleep, I felt the creature nestle beside my head once more.
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