Dreaming While Awake

Gwen sat out by the icy pond, enjoying the sun playing off the snow and ice. The air was cold and clear, her breath visible in little bursts of smoke against the bright blue of the sky. She knew most people would consider her to be dressed completely inappropriately for the weather, a long sleeve white underdress and a blue laced dress over it was hardly regular attire for the cold of winter, but it wasn’t like she ever felt the cold. Her fae nature made her far more suited to the cold than the hot, and the ice and snow were her natural playground. 

The new year was only a few days into it, the year before having been a hard year punctuated by loss and grief. She could only hope the new year was kinder to both those she loved, and to her. She was just about to close her eyes and lay back in a deeper snowdrift when a flash of color out in the field caught her attention. 

At first she thought she was seeing things, but then she spotted it again. A glimmer of pale purple against a snow colored backdrop. At first she thought to ignore it, the shape so distant she had no need for alarm or even curiosity. All sorts of things were moving about in the winter, and she had no sense of threat or foreboding regarding the fast moving creature. 

Still, in the end, something drew her from her resting place and out towards the field. Maybe it was the lightly falling snow that had started or an inherent curiosity. She wasn’t quite sure, and yet she found herself leaving barefoot tracks in the snow on her way to see just what it was. 

As she drew closer the flashes of purple became a more distinct hyacinth color, the horse kicking up snow in a way that left a brief white cloud behind it. There was something stunning, surreal even, about the horse. Particularly against the white of the snow and the blue of the sky. 

Gwen stayed near the edge of the field, unwilling to approach the horse. She didn’t want to disturb its play. In some ways she wasn’t even entirely certain it was actually there. 

The hyacinth color was clearer now that she was closer, a few areas stained darker than others and, including a marking on the horse's face and neck that almost resembled the tattered edge of a ghost. Ghoul, she thought, was that particular markings name. 

She was about to puzzle on it more when the stallion's unusually long, curly tail swept an embankment of snow throughout the air and caused a brief flurry of snow to fall around him. The effect was staggering, breathtaking even. The mix of falling snow and blue sky and the splash of snow against the purple and silver of the horse’s tail. 

It was only then that Gwen noticed the little white marks, so small and few as to be easily missed.The birdcatcher spots were lost in the falling snow half the time, but somehow caught the sun in moments when the horse moved under the cover of the handful of trees near the further edge of the field.  

They tossed their head, rearing up playfully as they kicked at the falling snow. Their mane, a purple fading to silver mass of curls, flew in every direction as it caught the glare from the snow and the unfiltered sun of the blue sky. 

It was no wonder she thought she was dreaming, Gwen thought. A stallion like that didn’t seem like it should exist here. Not really. She was still pretty sure she was awake, but a part of her wondered if she hadn’t somehow drifted through into the fae. She knew the ways were closed, but there was a part of her that hoped they’d somehow reopened without her noticing. Either that or she was willing to accept a pleasant dream. Those were at times few and far between. 

She shook herself from her thoughts as the sound of the horse’s hooves finally moved closer. Four white stockinged legs cut an easy path through the snow, nearly silent until the horse was within just a few yards of her. It was amazing how silent the world was with the snow, and the horse, for all its speed, seemed well aware of its movements and their sounds. 

It turned well before it reached her, the spray of snow falling just a few inches from her as the stallion circled back out into the field. This time though, it didn’t go quite as far. Instead, it stopped and seemed to study her. There was something strange about its eyes, but Gwen couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Not from the distance it was at. 

She didn’t speak to it, instead enjoying the sight of the stallion bucking and rearing and returning to its play in the snow. As the snow began to fall more heavily, Gwen turned her face up to the sky. It was now growing grey with the encroachment of the clouds that carried the precipitation, but it was still beautiful. The sun was now shining through the cloud in the occasional beams of light caught by the falling snow. 

She almost missed the approach of the stallion, the horse oddly quiet in the snow. She looked up just as its purple and silver, rapunzel tail brushed against her gently. She would have said something but no sooner had she looked than the horse was moving away yet again. 

A laugh bubbled up, as light and as gentle as the snow around her. It almost startled her. She hadn’t laughed like that in some time and it was a pleasant feeling. 

The horse certainly heard her, his darker purple ears turning towards her, followed by his steady gaze as he came back over to her curiously. 

“Your eyes…” Gwen murmured as the horse finally drew close enough for her to see. “They’re as pitch black as the night.” 

The stallion tossed his maned head and bumped gently against her hand demanding more affection. 

“Oh, very well.” Gwen smiled, the warm coat of the stallion a strange contrast to the cold of the snow. “I assume you’ll be coming home with me as well?” 

The stallion nodded, moving closer to Gwen and pushing her back towards her lodgings. 

“And when I wake up from this dream, will you still be there?” She asked, knowing now this wasn’t a dream. For all it still felt a bit like one.