I suckled shakily at my mother's flank, knowing only that I was cold and hungry. My dam began to walk, and I followed the palomino mare, staying as close as my over-long legs would let me. I fell often, but I rose and followed again the big golden mare who waited whenever her little one fell. It was a hard trip back to the fences that surrounded the paddocks.

My dam waited at the gate for the help she knew would come. I took this opportunity to lay down and rest in the dewy spring grass. Why was my mother waiting? Then I knew. I struggled to my feet again and followed my mother and the strange creature that led us into the walls of darkness. I was afraid, and would not have entered the barn if my dam had not been eager, even pushy, to get in.

The stall was small enough to be a comfort to me, the newborn filly, and large enough to be a haven for the first-time mother. The human was crooning into the dark stall to settle the new pair, my dam and I.

"Hush, Wind, hush Baby, go to sleep and rest. A vet is on the way." Then the light went out of the world and I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

I awoke at a strange touch on my neck. I was scared, but I did not panic. The only sign of my fear I let show was in my eyes. The man at my side laughed a little and began to talk to the man standing with my dam.

"She's healthy enough, Eli. She's a little premature, but you got her inside soon enough. Can't be too careful these days, what with the Cavalry's stables just down the road. A filly this new is a fragile creature."

The man at my dam's head sighed. "Can't thank you enough, Dan. Wind and her filly are my last chance."

I wondered for a moment who Wind was, then I realized the man called Eli meant my mother. By default, that meant I was his last chance. Last chance at what, I wondered.

A week passed in the fragrant straw of the stall. I grew and my mother slimmed down. I learned my dam's whole name was "I Dream Of Wind" and that I was by a stallion called "Lend A Hand". Eli and my dam became my best friends, and I grew to love Eli's touch.

Then I got to go outside. At first I resisted the tug at my head and the halter Eli put on me. But my dam was anxious to go, and she would have left without me. The world was so much bigger and brighter then I could ever have imagined.

I stood, blinking, in the sun, and then I began to run.