It felt good.
She said nothing. It was yet early, and if she could not feel it this way, she would not yet have known. She said nothing, but she laughed harder, sang louder, pranced more. It curled within her, warm and bright, like a firefly. She carried it like a secret. Them.
She carried them like a secret.
They were there when she ran as a dog, one with the pack, on and on in the hunt. They were there when she flitted as a mantis, flaring to strike for the kill. They were sacs, they were pups, they were eggs – they were her secrets, warm and glittering, keeping her company even when she stood alone, staring out into the skies.
She danced with her daughters, and their children who stayed. Her darling daughters, it had been long since they were foals. She cocked a sly hoof at Watch Me and laughed, she danced with his sons who were not her daughters. She loved them all.
She let a day pass – two days, then a week. She said nothing, but danced and sang like the sun. Inside her, they shone. On the last night, she went into the dark, first as a mare, then a dog, then a mantis. Then a dog, then a mare again. She went alone, her pack waiting, warned silent, for her. She went as a mare. In the dark, she whispered words.
In the dark, she whispered words to the Motherfather. Inside her, they shone.
"And above all," she finished, "let them be as happy as I."
When she returned to the tribe, it was nearly dawn, the sun licking at the edges of the camp. Resting bodies moved in their sleep, chests falling and rising slowly in slumber. There was her pack, silent still, but rising in welcome, tails wagging. There were her daughters, her darling daughters. There were their children who stayed. There were Watch Me and his sons who were not her daughters. Somewhere out there was her old flame who was an old flame then a new fire again. Inside, her secrets stirred.
She took a deep breath.
"GUESS WHAT, SUCKERS, I'M PREGNANT!!!"
END