The Kelpie's Cries (Completed)

The Mysterious Creature in the Forest

It was a beautiful white horse! It had a white main and tail, its fur looking smooth like a seal's, no dirt evident on it. A black bridle adorned its head with strass on the browband, the reins pulled back into a knot so they wouldn't trip the animal but no saddle on its back. It was... out of place if anything else; there wasn't anyone else around that she could see, someone who would pose as its rider. The horse started to walk to the body of water in front of it. The lake was crystal clear and the bottom was visible, it was a spellbinding sight. The way the water rippled and shined seemed like an image out of a picture book.

The horse was stood right in front of the water and after a second it went in with no fear; "What is it doing?", she thought in awe. The girl was more than curious to see what the animal would do. By the time she had finished her thought it was already half-way in. She stealthily came out from behind the bush she was hiding behind and towards the lake, not wanting to scare the wonderful creature. She was standing at the shore quietly while the white horse walked farther in; it didn't seem to notice her.

The animal vanished underwater in mere seconds and the girl's eyes widened. Could a horse do that? Could it breathe underwater? She couldn't help but look at the lake in amazement. She sat down on a flat rock and studied the prints its hooves left on the grass; they looked nothing like the ones in her picture books. "Those books lied to me", she thought, knitting her eyebrows in frustrations at her discovery. A few minutes passed and the water started to ripple even more and a light blue figure was swimming underneath it -maybe the blue tint of the forest made it look light blue. Seconds after, she realized that the figure looked like a horse; but there weren't any back feet, only a mermaid like tail. She quickly stood up and backed up, hitting a tree with her back in the process still staring at the thing. "What are you?", she said to herself as she stood up to take a better look. The girl felt like she was in a fairytale from a storybook.

The horse emerged from the water once its eyes landed on the girl, it had all four of its legs along with its hooves and its white color. It stared at her with its big, blue eyes, probably not knowing what the girl was and deciding whether or not it should investigate her. Its curiosity got the better of it and it approached the small girl slowly. The girl looked up at it with an open mouth and a face full of innocence. She didn't do much, other than stare at its beautiful face and  grey muzzle that was coming closer and closer to her face. She didn't even notice that the stone path had disappeared! The horse started sniffing her and nomming on her hair as it annoyed its mouth. It even found the zipper of her jacket and proceeded to play with it, zipping it up and down as the girl laughed at its antics.

Then, the horse stopped and kneeled before the young girl, then it stood up straight on its strong, muscular legs and turned to the side, like offering a ride. "Can I ride you?", the girl asked, her hopes higher than her head and to add to her excitement, it nodded its head with a neigh as if to say 'yes'. "Can you get me home?", she asked since she didn't know which direction her home was at, now realizing that the path was gone. It nodded its head again (no neigh this time), she hesitantly hopped on the horse's back and it did its best to help her up with its muzzle since she barely reached the top of its back. Being so high kind of reminded her of when her dad would pick her up and she didn't find it scary or frightening.

There was something about the horse that made her feel safe even though she didn't know what its personality was like. She grabbed the knotted reins and noticed a cross pendant entangled in the knot. It seemed weird but she paid it no mind as she focused on the way her body moved as the horse walked.Soon the blue tint faded away and the happy green and brown trees were there along with the flowers and the mushrooms. The stone path appeared out of nowhere and the horse stopped at the exit of the blue forest, not badging. The girl hopped off (almost tumbling off) and thanked it for its kindness. Then it walked back into the blue forest just like she walked to her house.

The first thing she did when she walked in the house was to check for any signs of human presence, mostly her parents. No one in sight. With a small sigh of relief, she left the extra keys on the kitchen counter and went straight to her room where she left her jacket, right on her bed, and sat on her chair. It was dark outside, the stars weren't visible since the sky was filled with clouds, the girl decided to go to bed and pretended like nothing happened. After minutes of falling asleep, she woke by the sound of the front door opening and her parents' playful chatter as they walked in the house. The girl picked up a few things from their conversation and it sounded like they were talking about the forest. The volume of their voices was too low and it lulled the girl back to sleep more than it kept her up.