Dark Horse

Written for

15 for 15 Contest --- Closed  (18+) Do you have 15 minutes? Come in and join this contest! #994771 by Legerdemain

Prompt: a black horse on a beach

“Briana, please don’t waste your life staring at the sea,” her mother begged. “You have to face the fact that Kieran is gone.”

Briana whirled to face her mother with fury in her eyes. “How can you ask me to give up on him? I know everyone thinks his ship must have gone down, but I don’t believe it. If he were dead, I would know. I would feel it.”

After her mother left, Briana waded into the water. “How could something so beautiful take away the one I love?” she whispered, as the shining water swirled around her feet.

She looked up to see a black stallion galloping through the waves. He was so black that he seemed almost blue, the deep blue of the ocean. He had no halter and his mane tumbled around his neck like dark waves breaking on the rocks. Briana stared at the beautiful animal, thinking that it behaved unusually for a horse. Her father’s draft horses were afraid of the water and would never have walked into the waves.

Briana heard laughter and turned to see a group of children running down to the beach. When she turned back, the horse was gone. She walked home, wondering if she had imagined the strange creature.

Late that night, a soft voice roused Briana from her sleep. “Briana! Briana, come outside.”

She looked out the window, but saw nobody. She heard the voice again. “Come out. I’ll take you to your love. I’ll take you to Kieran.”

She ran outside calling, “Where are you?”

“Here,” said the voice. A black horse stepped out of the shadows. “Get on my back. I’ll take you to Kieran.”

Thinking she must still be dreaming, Briana touched the stallion’s mane. Water dripped from it and it smelled of salt and seaweed. Briana tried to pull her hand away, but it was tangled in the horse’s mane. The horse turned and galloped away, dragging Briana like a rag doll.

“No, stop!” she gasped as the stallion pulled her toward the sea. As soon as they touched the water, the horse's legs became like the coils of a water snake. They writhed and twisted around Briana, pulling her down. The last thing she saw was the kelpie’s true face, and the last thing she felt was the bite of its razor sharp teeth.

A week later, Kieran’s ship sailed into port. The whole town turned out to welcome the men they thought had been lost. Kieran pushed his way through the happy crowd, searching for Briana.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this," his best friend Jack said. "Briana disappeared. Her father found her shoe on the beach. Everyone thinks she drowned herself because she thought you were dead."

That night Kieran stood alone on the beach, watching the swirling water. “How could something so beautiful take away the one I love?” he whispered.

He looked up to see a black stallion galloping through the waves.