Morning Meal
© 2026 by Walter Reimer

Thumbnail by  morgdl


Meredith was busily making the bed, the golden palomino mare’s ears swiveling at the sound of Fuji in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready. Their daughter was seated at the dinner table, waiting for her breakfast before getting ready for school. Her tantrums at having to leave her new friends and all the new things to see and do at the school were thankfully in the past.

“Here you are, sweetie,” Fuji said, and Meredith heard a plate being placed on the table.

“Daddy?” Jinzi said a moment later, her mouth full.

“Yes, Jinzi?” the Komodo monitor said.

There was a pause, with the sound of the filly tapping her fork on her plate. It was a tic she was developing, tapping something like a finger or a hoof or whatever she might have in her paw while she thought. “What’s the best thing in the world?” the filly asked.

She heard her mate chuckle. “That’s an easy one, dear. You are. You’re the best thing in the world,” and Meredith smiled happily.

Another pause, and Jinzi said, “With me it’s sausages.”

Meredith crammed a corner of the pillow she held in her mouth to muffle her laughter.