Becky's Unicorn

Becky walked happily through the cool shadows cast by the forest trees. She had always loved spending time in the woods behind her house, and today was an exceptional day for hiking. "It's so pleasant," she told herself, "not to have somewhere to go." She just set out and let her feet take her where they would.

Becky thought this a very romantic thing to do. It was like being a hero in a book. Becky liked books almost as much as she liked the woods. She particularly liked reading books about knights and elves and unicorns and magical places. Whenever she finished one of these, she would sigh, and wish that they were real. Oh, how she would like to meet a unicorn. Just once. If unicorns were real, then anything could be.

Most of the time, though, Becky was too practical to believe that she would ever really see a unicorn. So, she contented herself with wandering in the woods and dreaming about them.

The afternoon sun was just slightly past the high point of it's daily arching journey when Becky stopped for lunch. She had been hungry for an hour or so, but had wanted to find the perfect picnic spot before she ate her lunch. She had been lucky today. Just as she was about to give up and accept any old place, she happened upon the meadow. It was rather small, but it had a thick carpet of grass, a nearby stream, and an old fallen tree to sit on. Becky toyed with clover blossoms as she finished off her sandwich. By the time her brown paper sack was empty, she had quite a decent clover chain. She moved down onto the ground and used the log as a backrest while she tied the clover off into a wreath.

Suddenly Becky noticed how tired she was. With a shrug of her shoulders, she settled into a more comfortable position, and proceeded to fall asleep. When she woke up, it was much later in the afternoon. She hadn't meant to sleep nearly this long, and normally she would have jumped right up and been on her way. This time, though, there were some things in her way. She blinked her bleary eyes and peered closer at them. Four white legs. Very slender, with cloven hooves and a light touch of feathering. It was some kind of animal. Becky lifted her eyes to see the rest of it. It had a slender, graceful body, a long, flowing mane, and large dark eyes. And a horn. Just one, white, slender horn. Becky decided that she liked this dream very much.

Now that Becky had decided this was a dream, she felt very alert. She took another long look at the unicorn, and then slowly started to get up. The unicorn stepped back a pace, and Becky froze. Even in dreams, one should be careful around unicorns. Becky and the unicorn stared at each other for several long minuets. Then the unicorn talked. Really she shouldn't have been surprised that her dream-unicorn could talk, but somehow Becky was anyway.

"Who are you, and how did you find my meadow?" the unicorn asked. Her voice was like sunshine falling on water. Just the sound of it was so enchanting that Becky almost forgot to hear the words.

She jumped when she realized that she was expected to answer. "Oh, er, my name is Becky, and I just sort of wandered over," she said hastily.

"Well, you must have some love of unicorns, then," she said musically. "You may get up now."

Becky stood up. The unicorn was very close to her. On a sudden impulse, she reached out a hand. With an angry neigh the unicorn danced out of reach.

"Why can't I touch you?" Becky asked in confusion.

Outrage showed in every line of the unicorn's taunt body as she answered, "You want to reassure yourself that I am real!"

Although she instantly realized the unicorn was right, Becky opened her mouth to refute the accusation. The unicorn didn't let her talk, though.

"I am not a dream!" she said. "and I will not let someone touch me who thinks I am one." With that she turned and galloped away through the trees.

Becky dropped her head and stared at the grass. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

About an hour later Becky decided that the unicorn wasn't coming back, and she wasn't going to wake up. Gloomily she started towards home. She knew that she should hurry, or she'd be caught out in the dark. Her parents were probably already worried. She just couldn't seem to make her feet go very fast, though.

By the time she reached the edge of the forest, the stars had already been out for some time. Halfway between the forest and her home, she stopped and looked back. She froze. The unicorn was there. The unicorn saw that she had been noticed, and began moving towards Becky. She came up so close that Becky could feel her breath. The unicorn looked at Becky for a long time. Becky kept her hands to herself.

Finally, the unicorn spoke to Becky again. "I want you to do something for me, Becky. Men remember my people. They make stories about us. Even you know what I am. But that's not enough, Becky. Men don't believe in unicorns anymore. I need you to believe in me, Becky. Believe in me."

Becky looked deep into the unicorn's eyes. She saw the loneliness there. "Okay," she said.

The unicorn reached out and brushed her soft nose against Becky's cheek. Then she turned and trotted back into the forest. Becky turned, and with a light step finished her walk home.