“Jowy? Jowy, where are you! Get back here immediately!”
Jowy could hear his mother yell, but within his safe hiding place, he was sure she would never find him. Nobody had ever been in this place, except for him. When he found it, he didn’t dare to believe he was this lucky. Hidden in the rocks of the hill that protected his house from the elements was a small cave, barely visible because of the large tree that was blocking the entrance and the stones that hid it. For years now, it had been his hiding place whenever he wasn’t able to bear it anymore. It was the place where he could pretend his current self didn’t exist, the place where he could dream of a life somewhere else.

But for now, he knew he had to face reality once more. He had to return home, or the results would be… He didn’t dare to think about it. So Jowy carefully pushed the branches aside, and checked the surroundings. No glimpse of his mother. He saw the lights of their little house burning in the distance, and quickly slipped out of the hole. He carefully covered his tracks and trotted towards the house. When he got closer, he could see his father talking to his older sister.

The door made too much noise to Jowy’s liking when he entered the house. Only a few moments later his mother stood before him, yelling.
 “Jowy! Why didn’t you come when I called you! You have to learn how to obey your mother, young man!”
“I… I’m sorry mother, I…”
“No apologies! Now go to your room- no food for you tonight!” Jowy knew he had to move, but his body simply didn’t let him. He felt paralyzed, unable to move or obey his mother’s command.

He knew the blow was coming even before he felt it. It always went like that.
“To your room. NOW!” His mother’s yell made him wake up.
He had heard it before, and he knew worse would come if he didn’t act quickly. He acted swiftly, but not fast enough to avoid another hit from his mother. He rushed up the stairs and the next stairs, until he ended up in the small attic where his tiny room was.

He only had space for a bed, and the ceiling was so low he almost had to crawl. There was a little window which looked out over their fields. When he was smaller he could stick his head out and see the large hill where his hiding place was. Now, however, he was not able to do so anymore; his head simply had become too large. This place always felt like a prison to him, and in many ways it was. He only went to his room when his parents forced him to. He had no freedom in here at all, and there was no way in which he could escape.

As Jowy fell down on the bed he heard his belly roar. He was hungry, but he didn’t dare to go downstairs to ask for some food. All he would get was another beating. He felt tears appear in his eyes, but he didn’t want to cry. Not again. Once more he wondered what he had done to be treated like this, but he knew, which was the thing that hurt most. After all, he was born like this… A boy. His parents had wanted to have another girl so badly. His mothers family used to have close connections to the royal house. And while his oldest sister was supposed to take over the farm, if he had been a girl, they could have proposed an engagement of him and the prince.

But he had been a boy. And while giving birth to him his mother had become ill. It had taken weeks for her to recover, or so he had heard, and afterwards she had not been able to conceive anymore. His parents blamed him for this, and he blamed himself, too. If only he had been a girl… His life would have been so different now. His parents would be proud of him, and he would actually have a function in the household. Girls were wanted… Nobody needed a boy.

He didn’t know how long he had been in his room before his parents called him. He was surprised; every time they send him to his room he had to stay there for at least a day. But it was still dark outside, meaning it was still night. He dreaded to go down; he knew it couldn’t be good news. But bad news could only become worse if he disobeyed.

He came down the stairs as slowly as he could, and when he entered the living room he saw his parents standing there, together. His sister was nowhere to be seen.
“Jowy.” His father stated.
 “Yes… father?” He asked as politely as possible.
Better not give his parents another reason to get mad.
“Considering you have disobeyed us so many times, your father and I have decided you will go work out of the house.” His mother said, without any emotion in her voice. Her eyes looked as cold as drops of ice.
“Out of the house?” Jowy didn’t really understand what she meant, or at least he was trying his best not to.

“Yes. We have decided you will go work in the mines with your uncle Yuku.”
Just like that. No emotion at all, in his parents eyes. They just stared at him, probably wondering why he wasn’t thrilled by the idea. The mines… They had been there a couple of times, and he didn’t like it there at all. It was dark, dusty, boring…
“But… I don’t want to!” He stammered. Why would they send him there?
“I’m afraid you should have thought of that before you disobeyed us so many times. You will go work there. Yuku needs new workers, and there’s nothing else you can do anyway. Now, back to your room until we call you.”

Paralyzed, Jowy moved his way back up the stairs. Working in the mines… No, he didn’t want to do that at all! His uncle was a bully, and he had seen the way he treated the ponies that worked for him. Besides, the work was extremely dangerous. More than one pony had lost it’s life down there. How could his parents do that to him? Did they want to get rid of him that badly? Was he not his child as well?

He didn’t want to go, he couldn’t… How could he get out of it? It was the only thing he could think of, until he realised the sun was already setting again. With a shock he realised he had been up all night, pondering over what to do. He didn’t want to leave, even though his parents were so mean to him all the time… Working with his uncle Yuku was about the only thing he could think of what was worse. Of course, he could run away from home, but… what if they found him? No, that was no option, at least not until he had thought it through completely.

Yet, he knew, the only place where he could find the rest to think clearly was his hiding place. It was the only place in the world where he felt safe enough. He slipped out of bed and once again walked down the stairs as softly as he could. His parents were still asleep, he noticed, as was his sister. The door made way too much noise to his opinion, but he was able to slip out unnoticed. He knew he would get punished severely if his parents found out about this, but he just had to get out. His little room was choking him.

He galloped through the high grass towards the hill. His hole was still the way he had left it, and he sneaked inside quickly. Nobody had seen him… good. He sighed with relief when he was inside and felt his entire body relax. Just when he was sitting down, he heard some movement outside. His heart skipped a beat. Had someone seen him leave? Had they followed him? If they had… No, it couldn’t be any worse from what it was right now anyway. He would get send to the mines… How much worse could it get?

Slowly he sneaked towards the entrance, and peeked outside through some holes in the branches. “Hello? Are you there?” A female’s voice said. He noticed the pony, standing almost right in front of him. She was snow white with beautiful purple mane. Her symbol was a moon and some stars. He had never seen this pony before, but he was entranced with her. It was as if she was from another world.

“Please?” She begged.
“I need your help… I have to get home.” The poor pony was almost in tears. Jowy didn’t really know what moved him. If his parents saw him with this strange girl… They would find a way to punish him. But he didn’t want to leave her alone there, either.
“Here.” He whispered, and again a little louder when he noticed she didn’t hear him.
“Where?” She asked when she heard his voice. He put his hoof through the branches, and the pony noticed him. She trotted towards him and he opened the branches so she could slip in.
“Thank you…” The pony whispered, and Jowy realised it was the first time in his life someone actually said those words to him.