Long Forgotten Memories

2011/10/07

I am vaguely closer to my goal than last week. With so much in disarray, much of my time is spent just getting back what I’d lost.

I ended my work for the day as the rains came. I find the constant patter against the roof almost soothing. When I still lived with my parents, the caravans would have to stop at the side of the trails during rain storms. Loaded with so much cargo, the wagons would easily become stuck in the mud. You also had to consider the ponies pulling the wagons.

I remember the whole caravan, my one big family, would come together and tell stories. Tall tails and rumors. Stories of mighty mares and valiant stallions. Of true love and destiny. Romance and tragedy.

My mom would tell the story of how she met my dad. How he literally swept her off her hooves. At the speeds he must have been going, I doubt she saw what hit her.

During a winter wrap up, dad took a dare to use his skates and break the ice covering a river. A river several miles in length whose starting point was half way up a mountain. The way dad told it, his ride on the way down was as smooth as silk and he meant to show off to the mares cutting up the lake next to their town. He tripped and ‘accidentally’ slid next to my mother, where she fell just so into his hooves

Mom’s side of the story was filled with blood curdling screams coming from this tiny orange streak as it rocketed down the mountain, followed closely by a small avalanche. Said streak, upon reaching the mostly cut lake, tripped and started rolling. All flailing legs, he clobbered half the lake team before the avalanche arrived and put a stop to the whole ordeal. Three of his skates were found several days later, embedded in various rooftops across town. They never found his fourth skate.

Dad always turned interesting shades of embarrassed when mom told her version. They promised that, one day, they’d take me to see their home. Though they’re gone now, I wonder if I can find the town they grew up in. See if there are any legends of orange streaks that haunt the mountainside on cold winter nights…

-W