8 days left

The final bit of Frogfoot's story.

The unicorn continued to live in the village of broken creatures. He ate the brambles and the mushrooms. And his life was one that invited more brokenness. His coat, which had once been white, was so covered in dirt and dried blood and old mud that it had turned a sort of grayish brown. The unicorn lived this way for many weeks. Once in a while, the thought would cross his mind that maybe this wasn't the best way to live. But he banished the thought.

One day the unicorn was walking about and he came upon a patch of grass. Frogfoot had not eaten grass in months. He stared, stupidly at it, remembering his old life. It had been so dull and meaningless. Then again, so was his life now. But at least he wasn't under the jurisdiction of the king. He could do as he wished now. Frogfoot kicked the grass, and was about to go on his way when he remembered his old friend. The young man, who was called Melek. The unicorn remembered all of their talks. And tears began to form in his eyes.

"I wish," the unicorn wispered to himself. "I wish that I could talk to Melek now." Frogfoot stood with one foot on the grass, his head was lowered so far that the tip of his horn dug into the ground. The unicorn closed his eyes as little streams of saltwater made white veins on his cheeks.

A hand was gently laid on Frogfoot's whithers. "I'm here," Melek whispered. "I'm right here."

Frogfoot turned his head around to rest it on the man's shoulder. Strong fingers gently whiped the tears out of his eyes. And when the unicorn lifted his eyelids to see the world, he saw that Melek was also crying. The young man gently ran his hand over the stump that had been Frogfoot's ear and began to cry harder.

"Why did you leave me?" Frogfoot asked.

"I was with you all the time," Melek answered.

And all of a sudden, Frogfoot remembered. He remembered Melek being with him every step of the journey and trying to talk to him. But Frogfoot could not see him and would not listen. The unicorn remembered all the way back to before he left the palace. Melek had been with him everyday then too.

"Why did you leave me?" Melek asked the unicorn. Not accusing, just heartbroken.

"I don't know," Frogfoot sniffled. "Because I wanted an adventure."

"I want you to have an adventure too," Melek said. And again, Frogfoot's memory started working properly, and he remebered all the hundreds of invitations to an adventure he had ignored.

Melek led Frogfoot to a small clearing in the woods. There was a pond, and there Melek cleaned Frogfoot till his coat was white again. The young man went over the unicorn's ear very gently, though the sight of the wound made him cry very violently.

After Frogfoot was clean, Melek fed him the first oats he'd had in weeks. The two fell asleep on the sand on the shore of the little lake in the middle of the woods.

When Frogfoot woke up the next morning he was sure it was all a dream. Or if it was real, that Melek had left in the night. But when he opened his eyes, there was Melek, laying out breakfast. After they had eaten, Melek looked the unicorn straight in the face and said, "Will you come with me out of the woods? The journey will be hard, but it will be worth it. And if you listen to me, you can live an adventure and have friends and do work that is important. I have so many plans for you."

Frogfoot looked back into Melek's face. "I would love nothing more. But," here the unicorn looked down at the ground. "I directly disobeyed an order from the king. I went into the woods. I don't think he'll take me back."

"Look at me Frogfoot," the young man said.
Frogfoot did.
"I am the king. I love you, I forgive you, and I want you back."

The End (well, not really. But you will have to continue it in your head.)