It was bad enough that Mani had decided to say goodbye to the pastures he’d lived with his family in for all his younger years. It wasn’t that they didn’t expect him to go, being a full adult and ready to make his way in the world, but the parting was still hard for the young stallion to endure. When would he see them again?But doing it on a day like this, when the sky was choked with gray clouds and the air was full of pouring rain, made it somehow even more bitter. Mani was mostly indifferent to being wet, but he couldn’t tolerate cold for this long. He’d been traveling for a few hours now and was well away from his old home, far enough to take a moment to rest, he thought. He didn’t want to stop while he had been too near, worrying that some familiar sight might make him feel homesick enough to turn back.
The shade of a tall oak tree was all the protection from the rain he could find. The fat droplets still found him here, but at least a little more intermittently. Shivering and already in a darkening mood, Mani looked about him, eager for something - anything, really - to take his mind off home and return. All around him were trees, fog and more rain. What a miserable day!
