“Our Last Hope”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Unicorns!

prompt suggested by Mary

“Unicorns!” Katie exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her bed. She pointed out the window again. “Unicorns!”

Tessa chuckled at her little sister’s enthusiasm but shook her head. “Unicorns aren’t real, Kat,” she said gently.

“Unicorns!” Katie insisted, continuing to point out the window.

Tessa sighed but turned to follow her sister’s chubby finger to the window. When she saw what was outside, she froze.

Two unicorns were standing outside her window. Unicorns. Real unicorns.

Tessa couldn’t believe her eyes.

‘No,’ she thought, ‘this can’t be real. I must be dreaming.’

“See unicorns?” Katie asked, looking up at her sister with big eyes.

Still staring out the window at the two horses with horns stuck onto the middle of their foreheads, Tessa nodded slowly. She felt as if she was in a daze; she felt as if she was moving in slow motion.

She watched in astonishment as the horse on the left looked straight back at her and stared her in the eyes. Immediately, she felt some sort of connection to this creature, this unicorn.

“Go see!” Katie exclaimed suddenly, jumping off the bed and running to the door to head outside.

Not knowing what else to do, Tessa followed Katie outside to see these unicorns. Tessa was convinced that the unicorns would be gone by the time they got outside and that everything that she had just witnessed had just passed in her imagination.

But when they reached the outside of her bedroom window, Tessa saw that the unicorns were still there.

Now that she could see their entire bodies, Tessa was in complete awe of their beauty. Their coats were pure white and they sparkled in the sunlight. Their hooves were glossy and smooth and their manes flowed effortlessly with their every movement. The only defining feature to distinguish the two unicorns was the colour of their horns. The unicorn on the right had a light pink horn while the unicorn on the left had a lavender horn.

“Unicorns!” Katie squealed, bunching her fists up under her chin as she always did when she was overwhelmed with excitement.

Tessa, on the other hand, was more hesitant to express her wonder. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the unicorns’ pointed horns; she knew that they could seriously hurt Katie and herself if they wanted to.

“Katie, stay back,” she whispered, holding her sister back. “They could be dangerous.”

“Don’t be silly,” Tessa suddenly heard in her head. “We would never dream to hurt you.”

Tessa stared at the purple-horned unicorn in awe. Did it just… speak to her?!

The purple-horned unicorn neighed softly and it sounded like a chuckle.

“Yes, we can communicate with you,” the unicorn said softly, her voice sounding like wind chimes. Then, the unicorn became serious. “We came from a distant land to seek your help. Tessa and Katie Greene, we need your help. You’re our last hope.”

Final Comments: I quite enjoyed this one. The suggested prompt was broad enough to allow a lot of creative freedom (which is always welcome!) and I’m happy with where the plot went.

Overall Rating: 😄