TitleAponi walked along the forest’s edge, her soft child-size moccasins making no sound in the mossy undergrowth. Her passage was not totally secretive though, her shapeless dress jingling with small sounds from the many strands of beads and shells she’d sewn on it.
With a glance back to the village to make sure no one was watching her, she slipped through the trees. The young of the village weren’t allowed to go into the woods on their own, but exploring the woods was her favorite thing to do. She was sure the stories the Elders told of wild boars carrying off little children to eat was more to scare them than to warn them of any real danger. Any wild pigs that she’d come across were more interested in snuffling in the dirt than in her. She felt as comfortable among the needled pines and hardwoods as she did by her own hearth.
Aponi wandered, picking up nuts discarded by the trees, bits of odd colored fluff dropped from fastidious birds, even a few tiny old bones not yet taken by the earth, and dropping them into her shoulder bag. Hidden in the wild undergrowth was where she found the most interesting trinkets to make into necklaces and adorn her dresses with. She made a point of collecting berries and nuts to bring back, as well, so if anyone asked where she’d been, she could simply show them what she’d been doing. And of course, the yellow mushrooms. When she brought back the delicious mushrooms that grew at the base of the trees, grandfather never bothered to ask where she got them because he loved them in his stews. Grandfather probably knew where she got them because he told her not to tell anyone else about the mushrooms she brought back for him. She wondered if there was something more to the mushrooms than just their good taste, but grandfather wouldn’t talk about them.
After a few hours of wandering and collecting, Aponi spied a flat log.
A perfect place to rest, she thought. Settling herself on the log, she pulled a scrap of jerky from her belt pouch, broke off a piece and stuffed it in her mouth. She chewed contentedly on the dried meat while she sorted through the bits and pieces she’d collected.
Absorbed in planning the different ways she could use her new finds, Aponi paid no attention to the rustling of leaves and twigs announcing the passage of a medium sized animal. Many different animals called the forest home and Aponi had encountered them at one time or another. Some were so used to her comings and goings, they no longer took fright at her passing. It did not occur to her to look up when she heard something pushing through the bushes. A passing thought of a possible deer looking for roughage was the only acknowledgment that she gave the noise. The rustling stopped quite close and then she heard snuffling, like her grandfather’s horse when he smelled something odd. Aponi held quite still, but raised her eyes to see what had stopped near her small resting place.

Fear struck her heart as she saw the pale colored beast looming in front of her. Instantly the tales of wild boars came to mind. Just as quickly, Aponi realized this was no wild boar. There were no tusks hanging from its mouth and this honey colored creature was too pretty to be any ragged old boar, she thought. It was bigger than any of the wild boars she'd seen. Even the Elder’s stories hadn’t described the hairy beasts as being this big. It seemed big because she was sitting, but she could tell it was smaller than her grandfather’s old paint. And it was looking at her rather quizzically. Pale eyes blinked in a cream colored face while it’s nostrils flared in a toasty brown muzzle trying to determine her scent. Tilting it’s head, it’s pale bunny rabbit ears twitched back and forth. Aponi giggled at the way the ears flopped. It’s head jerked up, it’s brown feather mane standing up in alarm.
The sudden movement startled Aponi. She watched the creature for a moment and realized it was watching her as well. She wondered, could this be… Aponi recalled a story her grandfather told her once about a time that he’d ventured into the woods as a young boy. He told her of a strange creature that he’d met while exploring. He’d gone back to his family and told them of what he’d seen, but they didn’t believe him and he was forbidden to go back to the woods. He stole back to the forest anyway and looked for the creature, but he never saw it again. Aponi remembered some of her father’s description of the creature, including the long ears and a feather tail.
“You don’t look like you want to eat me, but maybe you’d like something else to eat,” Aponi said more to herself than to the honey-colored beast watching her. It’s ears flicked forward at the sound of her voice. Pulling the jerky from her belt pouch, Aponi broke off a piece and tossed it to land on the ground in front of the creature. It glanced at the dried meat on the ground, then back at her. Aponi sat very still as it cautiously lowered its head to sniff at the dried meat. She was disappointed when the creature didn’t seem interested in her offering. It stood there and watched her, almost as if it was waiting to see what she’d do next. She fished around in her shoulder bag, wondering if the curious creature would like berries. Her fingers brushed against the mushrooms she’d collected. Pulling out a mushroom with a cap bigger than the palm of her hand, she thought if her grandfather loved them so much, maybe the creature watching her would too. Aponi held out her hand showing the large mushroom. The creatures nostrils wiggled. Taking a step forward, it stretched its head towards the mushroom and sniffed. A smile spread across Aponi’s face. She leaned forward, stretching her arm out, the mushroom lay invitingly on her open palm. She could feel the animal’s warm breath as it sniffed her hand, then velvet soft lips brushed her skin as the mushroom was gently lifted from her palm. Aponi’s eyes opened wide and her mouth hung open in amazement at the elegant creature.
The mushroom was gone quickly and the creature looked at her bag and then back to her expectantly.
Far off thunder called Aponi’s attention the sky peeking through the pines. The afternoon was getting late and the forest would be dark soon. “I need to go,” she said. “but here’s one more.” Pulling another mushroom from the bag, she offered it and it was readily taken. She put her gatherings back in her bag and slowly stood up. She took one last look at the golden creature. She noticed the pale dappling on its neck that grew darker as it spread back across its rump. “You really are prettier than any horse I’ve ever seen,” Aponi said. The creature flicked an ear and appeared to look indignant. Aponi was sure the animal couldn’t understand her words anymore than the tribe’s horses could, but she said, “I’ll come back tomorrow.” Aponi backed away slowly, then turned to retrace her steps back to the village.
*************
Aponi had planned to visit the forest the next day in hopes of seeing the creature again, but one of the village women had other plans. Put to the task of peeling potatoes, Aponi hoped to get enough done that she would be let go early enough to make a short run to the woods. The afternoon sky grew dark earlier than usual with threatening storm clouds. Even she didn’t dare enter the forest when it was dark.

It was several days before Aponi was able to escape the village and visit the woods again. The rain storm had continued all through the next day, then the following day she was needed to help clean up the debris the storm winds had strewn about their village. Aponi helped gather the grass and thatching that had been torn off of some of the huts. The materials would be needed to repair the grass roofs that been torn by the hard rain. Having been erected by a small copse of trees, her grandfather’s tepee had suffered no damage during the storm. They did get some rain through the smoke flaps though which quenched their cooking fire. The tribe no longer migrated, but some, like her grandfather, chose to continue living in a tepee rather than changing to a mud and grass hut like many of the others.
Finally, this morning, there was no one about when she looked out the entrance of her grandfather’s tepee. She quickly slipped out and quietly made her way past the other huts. Once safe within the forest, she gathered mushrooms on her way back to the log where she’d first seen the mushroom-eating creature several days past.
With her bag full of mushrooms, she hurried to their meeting place, the jingling strands of beads and bones on her dress announcing her passage through the damp forest. The humid air hung heavy with the smell of fermented leaves. Her moccasins and dress hem were soaked with dew from the undergrowth still damp from the passing storm by the time she came to a stop by the fallen log. She looked around, seeking any sign that the creature might be here. Birds flittered about among the wet pine needles glistening in the growing morning light. It was earlier in the day than when she’d been here before, but she’d hoped that the honeyed creature would be here waiting for her.
A silly notion, she thought to herself. She tried not to feel disappointed when it was nowhere to be seen.
After all, she thought to herself,
I didn’t come back the next day. Or the next, she sighed, her shoulders drooping. She sat down on the log feeling as if she’d lost something valuable and she couldn’t understand why. Aponi pulled a large mushroom from her bag. She trailed her finger around the mottled pattern on the saffron-colored cap, remembering the touch of soft lips against her palm. Recalling her grandfather’s story, Aponi tried to remember every detail of her own meeting with the unusual creature, wondering if she’d done anything that might prevent the creature from coming back.
Lost in the reminisces of that day, she didn’t notice the soft rustling of damp leaves on the forest floor. Warm breath on her hands roused her from her thoughts. She looked up to see the familiar cream-colored face looking down at her. She smiled and offered the mushroom to the brown muzzle whose nostrils were wiggling with the appetizing odor of the fleshy fungi.
“I was afraid I wasn’t going to see you again,” Aponi said quietly. “I asked grandfather to tell me the story again of when he came to the forest and met one of your kin. He never again saw the one he met.” Aponi rose from the log and moved to stand beside the creature. She slowly reached out a hand to touch the cream colored neck. The soft skin shivered at her light touch, much like the village horses when they tried to shake off the flies trying to light on them. Aponi slid her hand down the neck, reminded again of the similarity between this creature and the horses of the village. “Our horses have names. Do you have a name?” Aponi didn’t expect an answer, but she liked talking to the animal that seemed content to let her feed mushrooms to it. “Grandfather’s horse is named Soole.” She didn’t expect the creature to understand her words, but Aponi hoped it would feel the tone of her voice and understand that she wanted to be friends. “I need to call you something,” she continued in a gentle voice. “Let’s see, what should I call you?” she wondered.
SatinkaThe word came into her head almost as if it had been spoken. She glanced around wondering if there were spirits about. Pine boughs gently waving in the morning breeze was all she saw. Aponi had never heard of the spirits talking to anyone except the Elders. It seemed odd the way the name had popped into her thoughts, but she liked the sound of it. “Satinka,” she said aloud. “I like that. I’ll call you, Satinka.” The creature looked back at her with one pale eye and seemed to nod as if it agreed with her choice. Aponi was sure she imagined it. “It means magical dancer, you know,” she added, continuing to stroke the long neck. “Well, you certainly do look magical, but I don’t expect you do much dancing.” Aponi giggled, imagining the pony-sized animal dancing in the forest on its hind legs.
WIP - updated 6/23/09