Mama washes the dishes in the kitchen and wonders if the blood stain that will not wash off is a clue to what Pegasus really is.

Scene 08: Mama Does the Dishes

As Mama carefully washed and dried the dinner dishes, she could not stop herself from looking at her right hand. Even after a soak in the hot dishwater, the purple stain on her thumb persisted. It wasn’t like an ordinary blood stain, or like ordinary blood—not like she used to wash off her father’s hands when he got hurt at work. She stared at it and wondered if she had ever heard of a horse with purple blood. The word ichor kept running through her mind. She used to know what the word meant, but she could not bring it to mind. She promised herself that she would look it up as soon as possible. It was a clue about the horse. She knew that.

©2021, Karen Lynn-Chlup. All rights reserved.