Harvey was alone on New Year’s eve.
He’d moved to this small, seaside town just to get out of his parent's basement. Now, he'd
already lived there for nearly a year but didn’t know anyone well enough to really call them
his friend. There were people he knew, certainly. People from work, neighbors and the like.
Nobody had invited him anywhere and it seemed awkward to ask.
He’d spent Christmas with his family, of course, but his parents were spending New Year’s
in Cyprus and his other relatives lived too far away. “Not worth the fuss,” they’d said. So he
sat in his house, drinking gin and listening to classic rock anthems.
He lived in an old beach hut. It was nice but very affordable. Aside from the bathroom, it
only had one, medium-size room in which was crammed his bed, sofa, and kitchen. It was
starting to fall apart but at least the door opened out right onto the beach. The sun was
setting over the ocean and Harvey decided a late night walk might cheer him up.
He wrapped up in a thick coat and scarf and headed down the beach. People were already
setting off fireworks in the distance. It wasn’t even completely dark yet, thought Harvey
irritably. He kicked an empty coke bottle into the ocean.
Then he saw it. Out in the sea was a dark shape, writhing and headed towards shore. It
made Harvey anxious but he was far too curious to walk away. He squinted through the
dark, trying to make out what it was. It was a horse. Swimming.
Harvey frowned. He’d never seen any wild horses around there before. He didn’t even think
there were any stables nearby. And yet, after a few moments, a magnificent bay stallion
trotted onto the beach. It regarded Harvey for a moment.
“Where’d you come from?”
The horse ignored him and started sniffing at the sand. Harvey wondered if he should
leave it alone but he simply couldn’t make himself go. He didn’t expect the horse to answer
any of his questions, but the situation was so absurd he couldn’t ignore it.
The horse slowly made its way down the beach, sniffing the ground. Harvey cautiously
followed. Then Harvey saw something glinting in the sand. Distracted, Harvey walked over
and picked it up. It was a necklace, or a pendant. Hung on a long silver chain was a small,
glass cube. Inside the cube was a faint sparkle.
The horse snorted at him.
“You want it?” Harvey asked.
The horse snorted again and snatched it with his teeth. He tossed his head about, as if
trying to flip the chain over his neck but found this difficult.
Harvey, having little else to do, said, “Let me help.”
He picked up the chain and tried to pull it over the horse’s head, though it didn’t quite
reach with it still in horse’s mouth. The horse seemed satisfied though, and pulled away
from Harvey sharply.
With the chain hung over its nose, it held the cube in its teeth and gave his head a violent
but brief jostle. This was all very confusing to Harvey but as he watched, something began
to happen. It happened suddenly and very quickly and lasted only a few seconds.
The horse seemed to deflate. Its fur vanished and it fell forward. The next thing Harvey
knew, there was no horse. Instead, splayed out in the sand, was a young, short and very
naked man.
He stood up. He was skinny and shivering, with shoulder length blonde hair and a small
goatee. He smiled weakly at Harvey as he dropped the necklace around his neck.
“Do you have some clothes I could take?” he asked, “And a mirror?”