"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT GOING OUT AT NIGHT?!"
"I was visiting the unicorn!"
Not this again...Sarah was a most troublesome daughter. She would constantly sneak out of the house late in the evening- unsupervised. Recently, her horrific habit had become even more frequent.
Several nights ago, she had supposedly found a "Unicorn" during one of her rebellious walks outside. The small child was now using her imaginary friend as an excuse to put herself in danger.
"There are no such things as unicorns!"
"YES THERE ARE!" Sarah wailed, on the verge of tears.
"Does it have a horn then?!"
"...well...not exactly..." the girl recalled what the creature looked like. "Real unicorns don't have horns- they have rocks- beautiful smooth stones in the middle of their foreheads..."
"REALLY?!"
"Yeah! They can talk too!"
"Oh? ...and what does this unicorn say to you?"
"It asks me different things...like what I like to eat...and how holidays work...things like that."
The child's parent seemed increasingly concerned. If there was some weirdo questioning Sarah about personal information, well, that was especially disturbing.
"GO TO YOUR ROOM! I don't want to hear anymore about these imaginary creatures!"
Sarah stomped upstairs- pouting the entire way.
The following evening was no different then any other.
Sarah would wait until everyone in the house was asleep, and proceed to (quietly) sneak out into the night.
She had been meeting the creature every night at the local lake. The girl would stand on the water's edge and wait for the sign- a sudden bright light in the distance.
A flash reflected over the surface of the lake from the other side.
"Oh! It's you!"
The unicorn approached, odd and majestic. It was mostly white, but with a lovely pink mane. It had yellow and blue spots all over, with a oval-like stone on it's forehead.
The animal settled into the grass. This child had spotted her observing human behavior several days prior. While the Pearl was a bit hesitant at first, this being was actually helping her understand Earth culture a LOT faster then her own years of observation.
"Hello unicorn!"
"I have informed you before, I am NOT a unicorn! I am taking the shape of an equine."
"Unicorn!"
The Pearl sighed in defeat. This small child seemed so excited and hopeful that she had found a mythical beast- that she refused to believe anything else. The Gem did not wish to stifle her imagination, so she kept her animal appearance.
The Pearl changed the subject: "How is your home?" This is the main reason why the alien was returning so frequently.
"Horrible! She doesn't believe in you! She doesn't believe in unicorns!"
"-I told you...I'm not a-(sigh)..." the Gem gave up with her continuous battle. A more important question was required. "Did she remember to feed you today?"
"No...she spent the food money on bottles again..." the young child's stomach gurgled in agreement.
The horse stood up. "Wait here." It trotted off into the distance and disappeared.
Sarah sat in the slightly wet early morning grass- waiting patiently for the creature's return. She could see several flashes of light in the distance against the black sky.
The unicorn returned with a backpack in its mouth. The equine placed it in front of the human. "Here. This will suffice."
Sarah looked excitedly into the bag, before frowning again. She pulled out a carrot. "Vegetables!" She stuck out her tongue.
"Now...now...I have read that carrots are good for humans." The creature settled again. "Horse-I mean...uh...UNICORNS like to eat carrots too." The creature nodded in agreement.
Sarah looked at her friend, stars in her eyes, before eating the orange vegetables veraciously.
The Pearl smiled. "Now, yesterday you were telling me about what television is. I would like to know more. What kind of shows do you watch?"
The next night the unicorn appeared at the lake, but Sarah did not. Same for the night after- and the night after that.
Nervous, the horse began to trot toward the human's home. The creature peered through the window. She saw the girl's mother. The woman was crying with a bottle in her hand at the kitchen table. Upon looking up from her alcoholic brew, the human gasped in horror and screamed at the horse-like creature: "This is YOUR fault! She was looking for YOU! Now she's MISSING!"
The woman sobbed in grief, before completely loosing it and passing out.
Pearl galloped frantically down the road, desperately looking for the young human. Her panic only worsened with every turn...with every catacomb and alleyway that had no sign of the child.
She finally found the small one. Sarah was passed out near the dumpster behind the movie theatre.
When The girl came too, she was in a hospital bed. Her arm was hooked up to various bags of fluid.
The child glanced around the room. Her eyesight was still groggily. She remembered wandering the city...getting lost...waiting behind the movie theatre for them to throw out the old popcorn. She remembered being very dizzy, and her hunger overpowering her. Sarah had no recollection of how she had gotten here.
The child heard a familiar voice behind the door to her hospital room. It sounded like a unicorn...a very ANGRY unicorn. She could hear other voices too...a nurse?...her mom? What?
The girl fell asleep again.
Things happened really quickly within the next few days. Sarah's aunt appeared with her entire family from time to time for visits. Apparently, the child would be having a LOT of sleepovers at their house from now on...once she got out of the hospital that is!
Sarah never did see the unicorn again.
However...
...among her get well balloons and stuffed animals, a mysterious white gift basket full of carrots had been left.