A Promise

"Daddy, I want a unicorn" - Her childish voice sounded hopeful.

"Really? And where will I find a unicorn for you my sweet heart?" She seemed to reconsider the question seriously before finding her shoulders.

"You can do everything in the world, you will know how to find it" - He couldn't help laughing at the occurrences of his little girl.

"And what will you do in exchange for that unicorn?" - The little girl inclined her head and then fixed her gaze on her small hands without knowing what to answer. Those bright honey-colored eyes so similar to his stared back with determination.

"What do you want in exchange?" - Ryan was always surprised how focused his little girl was always, he knew that she would achieve great things in the future.

"What if you take care of your mother and your future little brother in my absence? You will also have to help your mother with the farm" - She was thinking for almost a minute on the proposal.

"And you will bring to me a unicorn?"

"Of course!"

"Do you promise?" - Now it was his turn to remain silent, for some reason he felt that the conversation was getting serious, if he promised he had to do it, too bad he was never able to deny something to his little girl.

"I promise, take care of your mother and I will bring you a unicorn"

Ryan had not left yet and he already missed them.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan fixed his eyes on the back and neck of the majestic animal, had the sedative prepared and if his aim didn't fail he would manage to sleep it. The animal's neck was tilted, preventing Ryan from detailing his face.

Rumors said that in that forest lost to the hand of God was a unicorn.

Ryan hoped that the so-called unicorn was the one right in front of him.

The animal seemed to feel a noise and curious snuck its snout from the bushes, the disappointment that Ryan took to see that he had been following steps again ghosts made him snort, resulting in the one that now confirmed was no more than a wild horse came out running

It had been years since his search, a search that seemed increasingly impossible and useless. He took his gun and decided to return in his steps to the small hut outside the town where he was staying.

The next day he only left the town without saying anything to anyone, while leaving he could notice the not so subtle comments about him.

"They say that one day it went crazy"

"I heard he is looking for a unicorn, he's crazy!"

"They say in the other towns that he is a murderer"

That last comment froze him in place for a moment.

A murderer.

A smile spread on his face. Yes, maybe murdered was the correct word to describe it.

He continued his way ignoring the prying eyes and the gossip, without encouraging or denying any, he was too tired for that, he felt worn out as if instead of five years thirty or forty had passed.

Seven days after the false alarm about that unicorn he returned home, to which was his pride, his precious one that was once full of life and that now seemed like a cruel mirage, an illusion of something that wouldn't come back.

There are days in his life that Ryan would never forget.

The first day that his father taught him how to herd cattle.

The day he learned to ride a horse without help.

The day he met Sussan, who would become the love of his life.

The day he received the news that he would be a father.

The day he held his little Grace in his arms for the first time.

The day he learned that he would have a son again.

The day he left to fix some affairs in the neighboring town.

The day he returned and wished he had never left.

Each of those moments, the emotions and feelings lived in each one remembered them in detail and was something difficult to forget, no matter how hard he tried.

The day he returned specifically for that same path that he was walking today, empty-handed for not having found the unicorn of his little girl, carrying wooden trinkets that made reference to unicorns even knowing that it wouldn't satisfy his daughter. Just like in that moment, five years and everything was the same.

That day he returned and from a distance he noticed the disaster in which his home had become, the shattered barn and the missing animals were the first warning he received. The tremor in his body and the nervousness flooded him.

He had never been so scared in his life, cornered and with no way out.

Ryan went directly home expecting to find his family safe, upon entering the first he found was his little Grace, her little lying on the floor in a pool of dried blood and with several holes in her small body. A broken doll, that's what it looked like.

With the terror being part of him he continued his way and in his room he noticed that the door was missing and in his bed was the body of his beloved Sussan, even with his stomach bulging, both she and the baby dead.

No one could explain what happened.

Bandits, many said.

Outstanding accounts of his father, said others.

Ryan only knew that he had lost his family and that his soul had gone with them.

For Ryan, time passed more slowly than for most, there was only one reason why he had not yet decided to end his life.

There was a promise he had to fulfill.

Her little girl had tried to protect her family by being the first to die, her body waiting to be discovered for days, being forgotten.

Grace did her part of the deal and Ryan would do the same.

Maybe the unicorns don't exist but Ryan would make them exist if he had to and he wouldn't rest until he brought a unicorn to his little one.

He would not rest until he fulfilled his promise.

I couple of tears come out while i finish it... This is for the #twentyfourhourshortstory contest, https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@mctiller/writers-win-5-steem-aug-7-twenty-four-hour-short-story-contest-a-rancher-makes-a-deal-to-give-his-daughter-wants-she-really

I hope u like it