Rider Of The Pale Horse

Birthday

The sun was warm filtered through the thick lush green leaves of the oak tree's surrounding the park space, Balloons danced in bunches attached to picnic tables and tree branches. Laughter and music filled the air, mothers and children gathered in the open park in celebration.

The sweet smell of fresh grass and the chorus of leaves in the faint breeze that shook the oak that towered above the center of the commotion. Presents in boxes of various sizes stacked strategically at the far end of the longest tables, the savoury smell of burgers on the small camper grill. She instantly felt her mouth begin to water, even more so when the cake was revealed. Vanilla icing with blue and purple lettering, the cake she had dreamed of.

"Morrigan!" Her head turned and there stood her Mother.

She had the same auburn hair that fell in wavy curls, and the pale green eyes. A light sprinkle of freckles lay across her cheeks and over her nose, just like her daughter. A warmth spread in her chest as the simple glee of seeing her mother engulfed her being, the tender smile and the way her voice hugged Morrigan.

Little legs carried her slowly down a grassy hill to where her mother and the rest of the guests were gathered. She ran right into the open arms of her mother who painted her face with kisses and laughter. She could feel the solidity of her body, the softness of her hair through tiny fingers. She felt real and looked real, the world around them seemed vibrant and lively. The smiles were invigorating and contagious, every face that passed said something along the lines of a Happy Birthday.

Beyond the ring of tables a game of rowdy tag began among the children, yet Morrigan remained at her Mothers side. Clinging to her leg as if it were the very anchor of her reality - which it may very well have been. As enveloped as Morrigan felt in the warm sunlight, surrounded by the smell of sweets, she could feel a nagging.

Something felt wrong, the situation wasn't playing the way it was supposed to. Morrigans feet stumbled away from her mothers grasp as the world began to spin around her, the sounds blurring for only a moment and then everything came flooding back in and she found herself once more held in her mothers arms.

The sky above which had barely a cloud in view within an instant grew black and angry, thunder trembling the ground beneath their feet. Something held her to the ground as shadows stretched from the tree's, and lightening erupted deep within the bellowing clouds. The laughter and joy of games and candy became shrill screams, plea's for help, begging.

Unearthly light that made the grass glow and the tree's shimmer vanished, contained in the small park was a blood bath. The large tree was splattered in it, the leaves dappled with shades of red from the bodies laying around it.

The solidity of her mother vanished and a different warmth spread over her small body, sticky, dark and it tasted like hot pennies. As she raised her head the party was silent, the bouquets of balloons were torn to shreds, tables flipped and draped over them, strewn about over the field were the bodies of the children and parents. And deep in the back of her mind Morrigan knew.

Her small hands trembled as the blood began to tighten, looking around franticly for her mother the small Morrigan wandered through the bodies scouring the open fields. But none of the bloody faces looked familiar, the last look of terror etched into each facial muscle.

She came to find one not like the rest, she recognized it as a human. All flesh had been stripped from the wailing creature that lay strewn by the pile of crumpled presents. The eyes had been seared from the very sockets, and the stench of fresh blood and burning hair and skin emanated from what was once a person. It was pungent and curdled her stomach but her throat was to tight to manage a scream much less vomit to relieve nausea.