Early in the morning
I heard a scratching,
Then I heard it for what it was -
A hoof dragging at the floor.
That was not unusual,
It was just my unicorn,
Calling to me, to tell me
That everything was all right now.

Somewhere in the night before,
My unicorn went away,
But that had happened in the past,
So I wasn't worried.

Then the wind picked up,
And I closed the shutters,
And watched the embers
As they twirled in the fireplace,
And felt the howling as it pushed
Against the roof and the walls.
But I wasn't worried.

My unicorn was out there,
Watching the world,
Watching my world,
And that gave me comfort,
As a child would feel comforted
In the arms of its mother.
So the wind whirled 'round,
And the sounds rose up,
But I wasn't worried.

I damped the fire
And curled up on the couch,
And my old cat came
And laid next to me.
So I wasn't worried.
And in the hours between then and dawn
I fell asleep there,
Feeling safe,
Because I wasn't worried.

Dreaming,
I enjoyed a meal
Such as I had never had before,
And it was filling,
Such as had never happened before,
Except when I was a child
And had my mother's breast,
And I was too young then
To be worried.

And another page turned
In my sleeping,
And I was in a strange land
Of colors and shades of colors,
Strangers speaking words
I did not understand,
But they were kindly,
So I wasn't worried.

In that world the rains stopped,
The sun arrived,
The damp raised from the land,
And the promise of a good day
Gave to me the thought
That I should not be worried.

It was then that I heard the scratching,
The hoof dragging at the floor,
And I knew my unicorn had returned,
As I knew it would,
Which is why I hadn't worried.

Something was not quite right,
Though,
As I raised myself from the couch;
The room was darker,
The air was thicker,
The cat had gone somewhere,
And the sounds of the scraping at the door
Were much fainter
Than those which had awakened me.
I didn't know,
As I went to open the door,
That I should have been worried -

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