“Danny, wake up! It’s almost midnight! We have to go!”
“Sure, I’m coming… Where are my trousers? Now, repeat the plan to make sure you remember all the details”.
“We climb out of the window so as not to wake mum and dad. Then we get the rope from the garage and Dad’s wall climbing equipment. We take the back route because there are fewer cars on it. We can climb the fence next to the aviary because there is no camera there. Then…”
“Then we have to go around, towards the cats and giraffes, because they are quiet and won’t make a fuss. The unicorn pen is next to the seals. We can climb in from the left cliff, because there is no electrified fence. Do you have the apples and the sugar cubes?”
“Yes, I put them in my bag this afternoon”.
“Cool. So, with the apple and the sugar cubes, we lure the unicorn out onto the pen, I put the rope around his neck, you open the gate from the inside, and we can lead him out”.
“In the meantime, we feed him continuously”.
“That’s right. We have to go back the same way we came. We let him out through the aviary, then lead him to the forest and set him free”.” “A little while later they were standing in front of the pen. Aaron was clutching some sugar cubes in his hands; they had been trying for half an hour, but the unicorn just wouldn’t come out.
“I can’t believe we’re going to fail at the finish line!”
“We cannot give up, Danny! Just a little more to go… we can make it if we’ve come this far!”
“And we got over every obstacle without a problem… And now this! I’m sure he is afraid of people now, thanks to Erik… What do we do now?” Danny tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind.
“Hello! Unicorn! Come on out, we won’t hurt you! We just want to set you free, silly… Come here, look, we’ve got some sugar cubes! Horses like that. Allegedly” Aaron did everything he could, but the animal wouldn’t come any closer, staring at the boys from the back of his stable.
“Apparently, he hasn’t forgotten that Erik pulled out his hair… But we have to do something, because we have to get home before dawn, and light is almost breaking… And we would have to bail out then…”.
Aaron thought quickly.
“Wait… I just remembered something. I left my phone at home, give me yours!”” ““Yes, that’s what I was looking for!” Aaron punched his fist joyfully in the air. “I knew I had read about this somewhere. Watch this! It is said that the sound of a harp playing calms unicorns. When they hear harp music, their fur lights up, and they become kind and malleable”.
“Where did you read that?”
“It’s from the Big Book of Witches… But why does that matter? It’s worth a try!” Aaron scrolled feverishly through his playlist, and found the right harp music. “Let’s see if we can get a break… Or rather get the unicorn”.
When he heard the music, the unicorn took a step towards them.
“Look! Its mane! How beautiful!”
“Oh, Aaron, stop gawping!” Danny carefully approached the unicorn and gently hung the rope around its neck. The animal let him do so, completely enchanted by the sound of the harp.
“That’s it! Now, let’s get out of here fast!”
They reached the aviary smoothly, but there Aaron stopped.
“Danny… I didn’t even think about it, but if we open the aviary, the birds will fly out as well”.
“The birdhouse has an open roof, you genius. We go out on the side, from there, it’s only two kilometres to Turpin Street, we’ll be there in no time”.” “It was almost morning by the time they reached the forest.
“We won’t make it home in time… Mum and Dad are going to kill us”.
“Stop whining! We’d better say goodbye to the unicorn… we’ll probably never see him again anyway. Give me a sugar cube!”
“I can’t. He ate everything on the way”.
“Well, then…” Danny turned to the animal and scratched his forehead, “run free now, you horse with a horn… And then be careful not to run into any more Eriks!”
Aaron put his arms around his neck and started crying silently. The unicorn accepted the hug, even nudged Aaron’s hand a little: perhaps he was waiting for another sugar cube.
“I don’t have any more, silly, you ate them all. Come on now, I’ll take the rope off”.
As soon as Aaron turned off the music, the unicorn started to gallop away joyfully. He ran twice around the boys, then his shining body disappeared into the depths of the forest.
“Come on, Danny. We’re just about to catch the first bus. The way I see it, that might get us home before Mum and Dad wake up”.” ““The unicorn disappeared without a trace from its zoo pen early this morning. There is no sign of forced entry, but the front of the aviary facing the street was open this morning, which is probably where the animal left the zoo. The security services are currently analysing the CCTV footage, but so far nothing suspicious has been detected. The animal’s disappearance raises a number of questions, and scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine are extremely upset because they have not yet been able to subject the unicorn to the series of tests they planned. According to the rector of the university, the case is a huge loss for science. The police and fire brigade are also searching for the animal”.
Danny turned off the TV and looked at Aaron.
“Well, that’s done. Have you checked to see if Erik has posted anything since yesterday?”
“You bet. He is ranting that his prize giveaway fell through, because they took away the strand of the unicorn’s mane he ripped out on the way to hospital. With a lot of angry emojis. And three quarters of his followers unsubscribed”.
Danny laughed.
“Should we make a new video? We could go rollerblading down to Turpin Street”.
“Count me in!” said Aaron, already lacing his shoes.