THE UNICORNS

My encounter with a unicorn herd on the Oregon Coast.

    They say unicorns aren't real. The 'they' are all the doubters. That's just about everyone. I use to think unicorns weren't real either. But that belief changed for me. I know for a fact unicorns are real. That's not just my opinion, it's fact. I saw them. I saw real live unicorns.

It was only a few short months ago. I was at the beach in a location somewhere along the Pacific Coast. A beautiful place. Not too urban, more rural than wild. After my first encounter with the unicorns I asked several locals about them. They laughed in a very pleasant way. They gave me surprised looks and words. They rolled their eyes. They were all uniformly polite and very pleasant. None so much as gave me a look like I was some kind of fool. At the time I thought I was somehow lucky to have seen their local unicorns but now I think that perhaps they just weren't going to admit to anyone they knew about their unicorns. I can see that. I can understand. Why would they admit something like these unicorns unless they wanted to lose them. And that's exactly what would happen. The government would be in there so fast and take the unicorns to places unknown but unpleasant. I didn't doubt this for a second.

     So, I was camping alone, yes alone. I like to spend time alone. I am a writer and being in a wild location was what I needed to work on my current novel. Being in the situation or something similar helps with making the book authentic, all writers can agree with this. I pitched my little pup tent and set about making a fire to cook a simple meal. I was in a really good mood. Being in a campsite with only a few other campers was perfect. I hate crowded campsites with people playing music and laughing and all that stuff. No one can enjoy nature with all that city stuff going on.

     The breeze was warm and gentle, rustling the leafy trees all around me. Ravens were hanging about in the tall Douglas fir trees making their weird sounds. I love that sound. A few chipmunks were scampering about as well as a few squirrels. These were making loud sounds from where they were clinging to the tree trunk of a Douglas Fir. Tiny birds I couldn't see were peeping about in the nearby thin branches of bushes. In the distance I heard a coyote yapping. This was the setting in which I discovered the unicorns.

     I ate my simple meal and picked up my small backpack. Inside it I had my writing materials, a few granola bars and water bottle, stainless steel of course. And lastly I had an LED flashlight stuffed in the bag. Also, I had my digital camera. I set off toward the beach which wasn't all that far. The sun was lowering in the sky, heading toward the horizon line of the Pacific Ocean. The sky was turning a brilliant flame color with tinges of pink and blue. Breathtaking. I took a lot of pictures of this. I followed a path that led through a shadowy section of the forest after that which took me to the beach. Yes, the perfect setting for my story to take place. I snapped more pictures then found a weathered pale log next to the edge of the forest to sit on. Before me was the roaring crashing grey blue Pacific Ocean with its tide forever rushing toward shore.

      The breeze blowing off the roaring pounding ocean was chilly and smelled of brine. I loved that salty scent unique to oceans. I retrieved my notebook from my small backpack and opened it then set about writing the details around me. I was busy writing when I heard a swooshing sound and a snort. I instantly thought horse and looked up, expecting to see someone on horseback going by. I didn't see any horse and rider or even any lone horse lacking a rider.   Shrugging my shoulder I went back to writing. Seagulls cried out as they winged up and down the beach, their voices sounding like so much mad laughter to me. I was just about back into my writing when I heard the swooshing and snorting again.

     Now I looked up and then stood up. There had to be a horse nearby. Holding my notebook and ink pen I walked toward the beach until I could easily see both up and down it. I saw no horse but I did see several people in the distance enjoying an evening on the sand. I saw large and small dogs but no horse. Well, I wondered to myself, what could this be? I returned to my driftwood looking log and sat down beside my backpack when I heard the sound of something coming along. I could easily tell it wasn't human but something much larger and heavier than any human being. I waited, too curious to feel afraid. But I didn't really have any reason to be afraid. I wasn't afraid of horses but perhaps a rider I might be afraid of with a reason, that is.

     Then I saw a horse passing in front of where I was sitting on the log. Well, there were horses here after all was my first thought. Then another came by, then a foal. Cool, I thought. I wondered briefly if these were wild horses but then I decided they must be domesticated animals from a nearby farm that had somehow gotten out of wherever they were suppose to be. I watched them for a couple seconds when I noticed the horns. The horns! Horses with horns? No, Unicorns. They had horns so they couldn't be real horses even though some people believed unicorns were really more goat like than horse like. But I didn't really linger on these thoughts for long.

     Several unicorns had just passed by me! Unbelievable I had to get up and follow them which is what I did. I snapped pictures of them. Lots of pictures. I was worried doing this would either frighten them or make them aggressive but it did neither. They all acted like I wasn't even there. They had been walking along but now they started galloping. Maybe they just wanted to get away from me. I followed behind them, taking pictures and hoping my batteries didn't go dead on me. They galloped down the beach a short distance then they turned and entered the forest bordering the beach. I noticed the other people on the beach didn't notice the unicorns but they were too far away, truth to be told. I took pictures until they were gone. I hurried to the place where they entered the forest but they were long gone. I couldn't even hear them moving through the foliage or underbrush. I was disappointed that they were gone from my view. It was as if they hadn't really existed at all. Like I had just imagined it all. My heart was pounding and I was gasping for breath my excitement and awe was so overwhelming. I stood there and stared into the forest until I noticed it was really starting to get dark. As I turned away to go back to the log I had been sitting on I noticed the hoof prints in the sand. Cloven hoof prints, not just average horse hoof prints. I took pictures of their cloven hoof prints in the sand. I had lots of proof of these unicorns. They were real! They were real! Not a fantasy but a reality!

     With my mind buzzing a thousand miles an hour I hurried back to the log to fetch my backpack then I made my way back to camp. The sun was burning away right on the horizon line where the ocean meets the sky and the forest pathway was shadowy and dark. I hurried along thinking how glad I was I had brought my flashlight even though I hadn't planned to be away from camp so long. I got it out and turned it on. With it illuminating my way I found my camp easy enough and I hurried into the tent. Once inside I turned on my battery operated small lamp and checked the pictures on my camera I had taken of the unicorns. Yes, the unicorns photos were there. They were real. I hadn't imagined them. What should I do now? Keep them a secret or reveal to any and all that, yes, there were unicorns living in the forest along the Oregon Coast?

     I decided to finish my reason for being here camping at the coast in the first place. My writing was the most important thing to me and it gave me time to ponder the unicorn question. It wouldn't do to be so rash and go about shouting to everyone I saw unicorns and I have pictures to prove it! No, no, I knew that would be stupid. So many negative consequences could so easily result from doing that. I finished the writing I was here to do. I kept a lookout for the unicorns for the next few days and only saw them from a distance. Close enough to get more pictures of but nothing as grand as the first time. But I was pleased none the less. It proved to me several more times that they were indeed real.

     Once I was done with my writing I took down my camp and headed for the nearest little coastal town. I decided to talk to the people running the little souvenir shops. That was when I was met with all the kindness yet total disbelief, at least as I said I took for disbelief at the time. I figured they thought me some big city kook or nut job. I didn't push the issue after I was met with this several times. I left the little coastal town and its locals behind, taking with me secret knowledge that unicorns are real.

     I would use my experience for another story, a short story at first then something longer. I saw no reason to waste my experience, nope, no reason at all. I would write about my experience in a fiction novel. And I went back to the beach to see if I could find the unicorns and I did. I returned many times after that and always I would see the little herd of unicorns. Yes, the unicorns are still there and no, I never told anyone about them, not even the locals. They'd keep their secret and so would I.

Reviews

[Eric Cox]

So cool. I loved this. You've brought unicorns to life. Excellent pen upon this tale.

[Wolf's Dark Song]

Very realistic and enchanting story. I like it. Very entertaining too.

[Black Cat Fever]

A very extraordinary story. It does have a true life feel to it. Spectacular writing.

[Star Wolf]

Wow, this reads like it really happened. Perhaps it did! A very entertaining story. Nothing boring or slow here. I was on the edge of my seat all the way to the end. I think I'll head for the Oregon coast now and look for this herd of unicorns!