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"Is it alive?" Karen asked herself as she knelt down beside the still little white form. She gently felt its tiny neck and chest. She was relieved to find that the delicate little creature was still breathing. However, she was still very worried, because she could feel the baby unicorn was burning with fever. The small form seemed so limp and almost lifeless. its breath rapid and shallow.
"You're nearly dead, you poor little baby," Karen murmured softly. "What can I possibly do to help you?
I'm not a doctor, or even a nurse," she added. It suddenly dawned on her why Thunder had been so willing to bring her all this way. "You needed someone to help save your little baby," she said, looking at Thunder and Moonlight. "I wish my dad or mom could be here," she continued, "I'm sure they'd know what to do."
Karen ran her hand gently across the baby unicorn's back and rump. She soon discovered the little unicorn was a female. She caressed her neck and carefully ran her fingers through the tiny white mane. Already she could feel the beginnings of a horn pushing out through the forehead. She reached down and patted her tiny nose, and to her surprise, the baby recoiled quickly from her touch, and Karen sensed that she winced in pain. She could feel the small body quivering from head to feet, as something between a groan and a whinny escaped from her mouth. Again she touched the tiny nose, this time as carefully and as softly as she could. She discovered one side of the nose was swollen to twice the size of the other side, and Karen could feel the heat of inflammation against her cool fingers.
"You poor little baby," Karen said comfortingly. "You poor dear little unicorn, If only I could help you." Karen wondered how long it had been since the little creature had been able to eat. In spite of the darkness beneath the giant oak, the little girl could see the faint glow of the tiny unicorn's white coat. "Star," she said quietly under her breath. "You are nothing but a little white Star glowing in the dark. I'm going to call you Star. You might be the last baby unicorn on earth. Somehow I must find a way to help you."
Karen gently explored and felt Star's nose for several more minutes. "There it is," she said softly, "There is your problem. You have a thorn stuck to the side of your nose." Karen carefully and deliberately clasped the end of the thorn between her thumbnail and her fingernail. A gentle pull, and it was out. Karen thought she detected ever so slight a sigh of relief coming from her audience. Thunder and Moonlight had been standing patiently and quietly by her side, watching her efforts.
Star seemed to breathe more easily, and in minutes was stirring about. Moonlight nudged close to Star and started licking her vigorously. Suddenly Karen felt weak and faint from the stress and tension of her ordeal with Star, and with the fact that she had not eaten anything but the few raspberries earlier in the day. "I wonder if there is some fruit on this island, like there was by the little pond?"
As if he understood every word Karen uttered, Thunder came over beside her and nudged her toward one side of the clearing, well out from under the oak tree. The bright moonlight revealed some bushes loaded with berries. Karen tasted a few, and was delighted at the luscious sweet blackberries. Though she didn't know what they were, she thought they were the best berries she had ever tasted. Filling both hands, she walked back to where she had left Moonlight and Star. To her pleasant surprise, the little unicorn was busy filling her tummy with Moonlight's milk!
Karen walked back into the clearing, picking and eating more of the delicious berries. She was feeling much better now. The sight of Star prancing out from under the oak made Karen laugh with glee. "What a remarkable recovery, you lucky little Star!" Karen exclaimed. As if to thank the girl for saving her life, Star came over and nudged the side of Karen's face. Karen hugged the delicate little foal around her neck. She noticed immediately that there didn't seem to be even a trace of fever left anymore. Moonlight came over and softly touched karen's ear with her nose as if to say "thank-you."
Thunder had been patiently standing by a big flat rock; whinnying softly toward Karen. Karen new that it was his way of telling her "come on now, little girl, I must get you back home." Karen walked over to Thunder, realizing how tired she was getting. She sensed it was hours after her usual bedtime. Wearily she pulled herself back up on Thunder's back, and in short order they were headed back upstream. Thunder's strong muscular legs churned the water frothy white as they headed straight into the swift current. Soon Thunder was veering sharply to the right, and heading across the current to the banks of the river.
Karen remembers hanging on to Thunder's horn to keep from sliding off backward as the unicorn climbed the steep embankment. She remembers his long swift strides as they galloped into the pitchy blackness of the forest. However, she doesn't remember when, or where, she dozed off, but the gentle rocking of the galloping steed, the rhythmic sound of his hoofbeats, and the gentle wind caressing her face, caused her to fall asleep before they got very far. How she kept from
falling off, or how Thunder balanced her on his back through the big forest, Karen will never know.
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"Wake up, Karen! Wake up! Are you going to sleep all day?" Karen heard the booming voice of her dad as she suddenly awoke in her own bed at home. She sat up quickly, wide awake in an instant.
"Was it all a dream?" She mumbled to herself, bewildered.
"What happened to you last night?" Her dad asked. "We looked all over for you. You had us worried sick. We even had the neighbors over here helping us look for you. What ever made you fall asleep out in that big corn field?"
Karen didn't know how to answer, so she said something about being really hot and tired. She dressed quickly and dashed outside. Already the sun was beating down bright and warm. She ran to the fenced in area out by the corn field. When she reached the right spot, she looked down and noticed several marks that could have been made by a horse or a unicorn jumping the fence. Rain in the early morning hours had washed away all other tracks that might have been there the day before, including her own.
"It couldn't have been a dream," the little girl sobbed, "It just couldn't have been!" She brought her hand up to wipe a tear from her eye, then quickly glanced at her other hand, too. A big smile lit up her face. Both her hands were covered with dark berry stains. Somewhere, far away in the distance, toward the big forest at the far end of the huge field of corn, Karen heard a faint, but distinct and familiar whinny.
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