A Falling Ember

Falling Stars

"Oh, no! Don't make me!" Birch cries, staring at the torrent of ice cold water in front of her.
"Too late," I say, pawing at the river and splashing her black and white legs. She shrieks and jumps about a foot away from the water. The mares roll their eyes, but they don't look too excited about crossing either. River is busy teasing Luna and Dune by jumping in the water, then shaking himself all over them. Mystic stands with her mother. We have just arrived here after trekking across an endless plain of tall, waving grass. We passed through a small forest of bare branches and got to the sandy bank of this body of water.
"I know that the river has usually frozen over by now, but we must swim across! We have to get to the meadow before the leaves disappear!" Father states, standing on a rock to make himself taller.
"Why?" I ask Mother, "why did we even leave the valley in the first place?" She looks at me with an expression in her eyes that I have never seen before.
"Avalanches come. When winter ends. They... They killed a mare many years ago. " I quickly look away.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. She shakes her mane, as if clearing her head of those sad thoughts, and the mama that I know returns. She nuzzles me and turns back to her friends.
"Are we going to swim or what?" River calls impatiently. I shake my head in annoyance.
"Let's go!" Father neighs as he plunges into the river. One by one the mares follow, their legs pumping and heads high above the white caps. I nudge Birch. She has been inching away from where we were, into the grove of red trees. She looks at me pleadingly, but I don't hesitate to nip her flank, causing her to leap forward... Into the water. She squeals, and I laugh and follow her. The cold water makes my breath catch in my throat, but I push on. I look from side to side and see nothing but an endless stream of dark blue water. Up ahead, father is standing on the bank, shaking himself. Behind him are rolling hills spotted with pines. I keep paddling until my hooves touch the ground. I pull my self up and shake my shaggy coat, huddling close to Birch. Father turns once the last horse has crossed, and we begin to canter forward.
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"What does our place look like?" I overhear Mystic asking her mother, after a long while of silence.
"You'll see," she replies. I snort impatiently. The sound of our hoof beats on the dirt sounds almost musical as we glide past hills and valleys, deer and bunnies grazing in the afternoon sunlight. I am so busy gazing at a doe and her fawn that I bump my head against Birch's warm body. The herd has stopped. We are in a meadow filled with long brown grass. The trees around us smell and look different than the ones back in our valley. As I study them more closely I realize that they still have green leaves!
"These are the Evergreens. Our main supply of food during the harsh weather," Mother explains. I nod my head and look at father.

"Foals, welcome to the Meadow," He says graciously. We buck and rear to show our approval. The mares have spread out to graze on the sparse grass. Some are cracking a frozen brook with their hooves and drinking eagerly. I gallop over and tap the ice with my hoof. Nothing happens. I rear and bring my front legs down hard on the ice in frustration and suddenly my legs go straight down into the chilly water. The mares laugh at my antics, but I pay them no mind as I cooly slurp water as if I wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.

When I am finished, I canter to Birch, whose neck is outstretched to the ground as she eats. I feel something cold on my back and I shake it off.
"Do you feel something?" I ask her as I shake myself again.
"Yes, but what is it?" She replies as she shakes out her rough fur. I crane my neck to look at my back, and what I see is incredible. Tiny little stars are collecting on my haunches and dark brown mane. I blink some out of my eyelashes. I whinny in amazement and look at the sky. There are tumbling grey clouds as far as I can see. The stars in the sky are not there. They are falling.
Falling stars rain down faster and faster. Soon the grass is just a blanket of the cold white. I leap through it and make my way over to mother.
"Falling stars! Mama!" I exclaim.
"It's snow, darling. Snow is the sign of winter," she informs me. "You are almost a year old now," she is right! I am just a little bit smaller than she is, and my once black coat has turned grey. I turn back to Birch, who is blowing steam out of her nostrils as she frolics in the Snow. I race over to her and we chase each other through the meadow. River, Dune, Luna, and Mystic join us as we gallop through the mares group. We kick up so much snow that the mares have to shake it out of their manes. They stand back and watch us play with smiles on their faces.
Later that night, as we stand in a huddle, I look to the sky again. The moon shines bright enough under its blanket of clouds to illuminate our peaceful herd.
My eyes close, and I drift to sleep.