“Unicorn” whispers a butterfly passing by, originally uploaded by Thorsten Becker.
Walking under the setting sun, a stroll into the mists of the passing day. Last light breaking through the branches of twisted trees along the path, the wind plays with the dust under my feet. I look over green pastures framed by wooden fences. And then there, as I glance towards an orange sun, a glitter sparks my curiosity. I stop and squint, raising my right hand to shade my eyes. The scent of horses lingers in the air. And beyond that pasture to the left a white horse watches me with eager eyes and ears. Underneath the sound of evening crows a nicker can be heard, gentle and soft. I move closer to the fence, a little over to the side, banishing the sun behind lofty trees. The white horse, it watches my every move, its ears shaking, its head slightly bobbing. There it is again, that glimmer, that shimmer, right above its brow. “Firefly,” I reason, “Unicorn” whispers a butterfly passing by. And so I stand and wonder, restrained by that wooden fence so that I may not advance. I wonder, I ponder.
And as I gaze in wondrous motion the sun slyly moves out from under it's place of banishment, takes flight, illuminating the air that now dances in its fading golden light. I look upon that distant sky, musingly and deep in thought, carried away to places beyond this time. And there again, a sparkle in that distant stable sparks my imagination like a long forgotten fable. “Unicorn,” but I am torn, “surely such thing was never born. Illusions of the dust, my senses I cannot trust.” But what if? Those eyes watching, those ears twitching, that calmness emanating, what else if not a creature so illusive could arouse such feelings so elating? But alas its master's voice calls from beyond my sight. And hence there's one final glance exchanged, one last sparkle bright. “Do you not wonder, tell me, wasn't it clear for you to see?” the evening breeze whispers in my ears. The white horse turns around, with elegant motion it disappears. And as a blackbird's call heralds dusk's arrival to my path I now return. Contemplating upon this encounter from afar, those feelings of the moment, I walk along and watch the appearance of a faint early evening star. “Monoceros, I can barely make out those stars of yours.”
Inspired by Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. I took this picture several years ago while taking a walk with my wife and friends through the Lüneburg Heath. We were on our way back to the car when I noticed this beautiful white horse watching us from its stall, or rather 'felt' it. It was one of those moments when one feels a strange sensation, a sudden and inexplicable connection.
As an avid hobby astronomer I also had to add a nod to my favorite hobby and close the story with the mentioning of the elusive Monoceros (Unicorn) constellation which is made up of faint stars barely visible to the naked eye. Be diligent or you may may miss it, just like the unicorn
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The “as if” attitude is a sure fire way to gain access to the imaginal, where encounters do occur. Just try to tell me I didn’t have last nights dream. My day is changes by it, and though it exists in the margins awareness, it changes the course of today’s choices.
Thank you for your comment Richard. As a storyteller I am constantly concerned with the “as if” and “what if”, just like in this particular story. It was just a white horse, but what if? This attitude can turn any ordinary encounter into something more, a real experience. And isn’t it often more about how we experience something rather than how it “really” is? That’s what makes life so interesting to me, those personal experiences, perceptions, imaginations. I know what’s real but I enjoy experiencing that which my imagination can add to it.
What a gorgeous shot, and yes, I think I understand that feeling you describe here. I have to admit I never read the book, but boy, I loved the animated Last Unicorn movie as a kiddo. Thanks for stirring up a couple of nice memories!
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Thank you Emily. I’ve never fully read the book myself (I will one of these days) but I did read quite a lot about Peter himself (authors generally interest me). He is currently working on a full length novel sequel to the Last Unicorn, which I am very intrigued by (and he’s written quite a few other interesting stories). He also published a coda to the original story called Two Hearts.
I learned a few years ago that he’s struggling financially due to marginal royalties and certain people that didn’t fulfill their contractual obligations (for The last Unicorn movie as well as The Lord of the Rings animated feature he was involved in). The Last Unicorn is one of those childhood stories that stayed with me because of it’s beauty and sensitivity (similar to The Neverending Story, which I read cover to cover). Here is some more information: http://www.conlanpress.com/youcanhelp/. He’s also been trying for years to get a live action version of the movie put into production (here is the website: http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/intro.htm).
I think he deserves better than that, especially considering the enormous success of fantasy writers and movie producers who have been inspired by him. I like to provide whatever humble support I can offer. To me it’s all about imagination and writers like Peter really “get it”.
I never read the book and hadn’t even heard of The Last Unicorn until around 2003 and I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s such a touching film which I think lacks in so many animated features today coming out of America. There are feelings of melancholy, pain, love, respect, admiration, partnering, longing, hope in this movie yet most of what is out there today seem to draw up on a limited range of emotions for me. The animation, while more impressive than perhaps what was on screen years ago, is not the end all be all for me personally. I wish animation and good story-telling would stay neck to neck vs. good story-telling usually 5 miles behind.
Recently I watched Disney’s “Bolt”. It’s such a cute film, the animation is gorgeous and the characters are comical and fun to watch. There is, however this lack of depth to the whole story and though I’m not knocking the movie because I now own it on DVD, the emotions it drew up in me were all pretty surface. I didn’t walk away really THINKING about the life lesson learned. In retrospect I guess the only point in the movie was to show the love between a girl and a dog and that smoke and mirrors movie making is a pretty plastic world devoid of any reality with some pretty greedy agents pushing young actors to not be honest and authentic, rather to lie to those they love in order to maintain some image. In the end Bolt and his “person” ends up in what appears to be an “average” life in a house in what appears to be the midwest. I wish the ending would have been that the main character fires her agent and launches her own production company creating movies of her own according to “her” rules. I mean, why is it that mainstream culture teaches us that greed is the ONLY way and if we don’t want to be part of that way then we should go live in a country house as a recluse and/or give up our career entirely?
Hmmm.
Sorry for rambling. What are your thoughts?
Holly
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Hey honey : ) I think “Bolt” is a good example of a typical modern family entertainment movie. It’s like a big sundae — fun while it lasts but it basically has no nutritional value. While The Last Unicorn certainly isn’t the best animated movie of all times it does touch on many emotional aspects such as growing older without seeing our dreams fulfilled, trying to find our way in a world that appears alien to us, dealing with feelings that we’ve never experienced before, showing compassion and understanding for others, believing in our own worth and our strength, learning to sacrifice things for the greater good and so forth. It’s all presented in a very whimsical and nicely scored (musically) package (I have to add that it was partially a Japanese production as all the animation was subcontracted to Topcraft whose core members soon after became the famous Studio Gibli; it definitely shows). Also, the author’s involvement in the production of the movie tremendously added to the appeal. In my opinion Hollywood is lacking good writers these days. It has all become too shallow and FX driven. So yes, we definitely need more substance, more depth, less focus on production.
Regarding “Bolt” I think Disney had a decent idea (though a bit overused) but the story, in it’s execution, just really contradicted itself. Apparently Penny and her mother (who looked all too stereotypical, and where was dad?) do live out “the rest of their lives” (happily ever after?) in a quiet town with Bolt, Mittens and Rhino, escaping the “evil clutches” of Hollywood exploits. But given that Miley Cyrus voiced Penny really raises eyebrows for me, it couldn’t run more polar opposite I think. Considering too that the movie had a production budget of about $150 million makes me wonder even more as to where all the money went (to). It certainly didn’t have the lasting impact of a movie like The Last Unicorn. This is what I am personally looking for though, something that speaks to me, at any age, that moves me, touches me and transports me and in some respect even changes me. Not all stories can and will accomplish this (and they don’t have to) but I certainly look for them.