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         It had been about two years since a spring spirit granted me the life of a horse. I lived with my best friend, a black tobiano stallion named Ashka, and his mother, a chestnut mare named Crystal. My mother despised my decision to stay with wild horses, though my father supported me in each and every way, coming by to visit whenever possible.
         During the first year, I was pregnant with our first foal, which came in April of our second year together. He was a black colt, with a white face that covered the right side of his face. I told Ashka a little more about my human life, and told him how our colt looked like the Phantom from a famous Broadway show, The Phantom of the Opera. So we decided to call him Phantom.
         The last time my father visited was about a week before Phantom arrived, and I was anxious for him to see my first foal. He and I had a special connection, which made me happy whenever he came by.
         One day, while I was standing on top of a large hill in the field we lived in, I looked around to see what everyone was doing. Phantom was standing next to me, nursing; Crystal was grazing behind me, and Ashka was near a group of trees, watching them with suspicious looks.
         I looked at Phantom, who had stopped to look at Ashka, as well. When he looked at me, Ashka galloped toward us seeming very lost in thought.
         “What is it?” I asked.
         “I am not so sure,” he replied with worry written in his voice.
         “Do you want me to go and see what it is? If Phantom stays here, then I will.”
         He nodded in agreement, and I raced toward the group of trees, where a strange presence was nearby.
         I stopped about a few feet away from the trees. Something was moving through them, and the strange presence became familiar; it was a presence I feared the most. My ears pinned back, as I backed away.
         Mom . . . why is she here? I wondered. She hates horses.
         All of a sudden, a woman came out with a rope in her hands. When she saw me, she said, “Paige, is that you?”
         I only glared at her. “Why are you here?” I asked, not sure if she understood me.
         A fibbing smile appeared on her face. “I thought it was you. . . . I came to bring you home.”
         I backed away even more from my mother. I heard Ashka’s hooves pound against the ground as he raced toward me, and stood in between me and my mother, ears pinned back.
         “You have never been welcomed here before,” he said coldly to my mother. “Why are you here?”
         A cold laugh came from the woman, as she repeated, “I came to bring Paige home.”
         “No; I’m not going back,” I retorted. Ashka glared at my mother, and stayed close by.
         But then, I heard Crystal shout out, “Phantom ”
         I turned around quickly to see my colt racing toward me. I quietly walked up to him, and said, “I can’t let you be here, Phantom.” I glared at my mother. “She can’t be trusted at all.”
         “Mother, I want to be with you and Father,” he replied softly. “I do not like it when you are away from me for long.”
         I sighed, then said, “Stay close by me, and if she tries to do anything, then run.”
         He agreed, and stayed as close to me as possible, as I returned to Ashka’s side.
         “What is that . . . that thing doing near you?” my mother asked with much distaste.
         “That thing is my colt,” I replied cooly, hating the fact that she called Phantom a thing. “You can’t take me away from here; you have no right to do so. I have a real home, a family, and a colt to take care of, so I suggest you leave.”
         I began to walk back, with Ashka and Phantom by my side. However, the rope flew around my neck, and pulled me to the ground. Phantom whinnied with fear, as Ashka stayed as close to me as possible. He took a glance at our colt, and said, “Phantom, get away from here, now ”
          He obeyed by running toward Crystal, as I got up, and pulled on the rope. Ashka charged toward my mother, and she jumped, letting go of the rope. When the rope loosened, I let it gently slide off my neck, though I could still feel the pressure from it joking me.
         “You should be banished from this field,” Ashka snapped at my mother, who had picked up the rope again.
         She sighed long, and deep. “Don’t think that this will be the last you see me here,” she finally replied, as she left.
         I breathed heavily from the shock, afraid that the impact on my back would have surely broken it. After making sure that my mother was far away from the field, Ashka came up to me, and asked, “Are you all right?”
         “I’m fine,” I replied. As we returned to Crystal and Phantom, he trotted up to me, and said, “I was afraid.”
         “I know, Phantom, I was, too,” I replied. “But now she’s gone; I hope she won’t return.”
         As I nuzzled him, Ashka nudged me gently. I turned to face him, seeing a sad and worried expression in his eyes.
         “What is it?” I asked.
         He began to walk away, and I followed, with Phantom staying by Crystal. When he stopped, he turned to face me, and put his head over my withers.
         “I was so afraid,” he said with deep regret. I knew that if he were human, he could have been crying. “I thought that I was going to lose you.”
         “I know,” I replied. “I was afraid that it was going to be the end for me, too.”
         “No, it is not only that; you mean more to me than anyone else besides Phantom and my mother. Besides Mother, you have been the only one that has ever been kind to me.”
         I smiled slightly, and nuzzled him. But then, I felt a new presence, one that I was glad to feel. I turned to the bushes to see my father coming out. A large, sad smile was on his face, as I trotted up to him happily.
         “Hi, Dad,” I said, putting my head on my chest.
         “Hey, Paige,” he replied the greeting, and rubbed my neck. When he noticed that the right side of my body was filthy due to the rope pulling me down, he grew worried. “What happened to you?”
         I explained what my mother did, as Crystal and Phantom came walking up to us. When I finished, he sighed. “That was one of my main reasons for coming; I had hoped I’d get here before she did so that you could be warned earlier.” When he noticed Phantom, he smiled. “Is he your colt?”
         I nodded, and turned to face Phantom. “Who is that?” he asked me.
         “It’s all right; he’s my father.”
         “Is he nicer than that woman?”
         I nodded, and Phantom slowly approached my father. When I looked back at him, I said, “He came about a week after your last visit.”
         My father sighed. “I’m glad that you had him, Paige. Every day since my last visit, I have been worried that something may happen to either of you.” Then, he changed the subject. “Be prepared for you mother to come back; she won’t stop until you’re home.”
         I nodded, as he embraced my neck, with my head over his shoulder. “I just want you to be safe.”
         “I know you do,” I replied. “Thanks for watching out for us.”
         He smiled again, and left. I looked at Ashka, seeing a smile on his face, as he said, “We are very fortunate that your father can come by.”
         I smiled, and nodded in agreement, as Crystal, feeling satisfied that no one else was around, walked away, with Ashka following. Phantom and I stood beside a large drinking spring in peace.
         Throughout the day, I thought about what my mother was planning to do, and, at one point, I began to tremble at the thought. Sensing my fear, Ashka walked up to me, and asked, “Are you all right, Paige?”
         “I’m afraid of what my mother plans to do to us if I continue to refuse,” I replied, with fear written in my voice.
         “Do not worry; she will have much to worry about if she trespasses again.” I smiled, knowing that Ashka would do anything to protect me.
         Soon, nightfall arrived. Phantom lay beside my legs, fast asleep, with Ashka standing beside me. I looked around, knowing that soon, my mother would return. I refused to sleep, for I feared that she would come and take my family away.
         The bushes suddenly began to quiver, waking Phantom. Crystal walked up to us worriedly, as Ashka glared at the bushes.
         When a dark truck with a trailer entered, Phantom began to tremble with fear. “Mother, is that woman back?” he asked.
         “Unfortunately,” I replied, my eyes fixed onto the vehicle’s door, which opened not long after. I turned to look at him, and said, “Please stay here; I don’t want you to be anywhere near her this time.”
         “All right, Mother; I will do my best to resist the urge to stay with you.”

         I tried to smile, though for me it was impossible when my mother walked out. As she approached, Ashka and I got closer, so that she was nowhere near our colt.
         “Will you stop trying to bring me home?” I asked. When I noticed that she had a whip in her hand, I didn’t let her answer, and said coldly, “Don’t even think about using that whip.”
         “I won’t use it if you cooperate with me,” she said just as cold. “Now, get into the trailer, and I will find a way to bring you home.”
         “Forget it; I have a colt to look after.”
         “Then he will come to.”
         Ashka stood in front of me. “Over my dead body,” he stated curtly.
         Before she made any nasty comment back, my father came running out, his worried expression returning to his face.
         “Paige, are you all right?” he asked, coming to my side.
         I nodded, grateful that he was there. He turned to face my mother, and asked, “Why can’t you just leave her be, Lydia? She’s happy here.”
         “I’m getting tired of hearing the same question all the time. ‘Where’s your kid?’ It has gotten to the very last straw ”
         She threw a long rope, which, instead of catching me, caught Ashka.  He backed away, and rose up onto his hind legs, trying to get the rope off instinctively. Behind me, Phantom called out for his father, worried about what was going on.
         “Paige, help me ” Ashka cried, as he threw his head back in another attempt to get the rope off. As I went to his side, my father brought out a sharp pocket knife, cutting the rope to free my dearest friend.
         “Paige, go on and get out of here,” he told me, as my mother yelled in her fury, using words I never heard her used before.
         “What about you?” I asked in reply.
         “I’ll be fine, just go ”
         I reluctantly obeyed, returning to Phantom’s side with Ashka. As they began to leave, I dared myself to turn to the direction my father was in to see my mother take the knife out of his hands, getting ready to stab him.
         I raced back toward my father, and shoved my mother aside, not realizing that the knife flew out of her hand, and just lightly cut my shoulder.
         “I don’t want you to get hurt, Dad,” I said to him. I let him get onto my back, and I returned to Ashka’s side. “We have to go,” I said quickly, as my mother looked around.
         We ran into the forest facing east. It wasn’t long, though, before I heard Phantom breathe heavily, and slow down rapidly. I stopped quickly, with Ashka and Crystal following suite.
         “Phantom, what’s wrong?” I asked, as my father slid off my back.
         “It is nothing, Mother,” he replied weakly. “I am only tired.” He then coughed heavily. I looked at Ashka and my father worriedly; my colt wasn’t tired, he was sick. “If we must, I can run.”
         “No, you can’t run; you’re too sick.”
         Then, Ashka looked at my shoulder, where the knife had cut it without me realizing it. “Paige, what about you? You are hurt.”
         I looked at my shoulder, just noticing the cut bleeding lightly. “That isn’t as important as Phantom,” I replied.
         But then, I fell to my knees, feeling lightheaded for a few moments. I heard my father and Ashka yell my name in unison, with Phantom only a whinny, for some odd reason.
         When I felt better, my father and Ashka’s worried looks disappeared, but were followed by sorrow. Phantom looked at me with a scared expression, and backed away weakly.
         “What is it?” I asked, but then I noticed that my arms had returned after two years. I jumped, and looked at myself, noticing that I had become human.
         “What . . . why did this happen?” I asked aloud. Tears filled my eyes, as Ashka put his head against my chest. My father, as well, came up to me, and I embraced him, needing his comfort.
         But then, my attention turned to Phantom, who seemed afraid to be anywhere near me. He stood behind Ashka, looking at me with frightened eyes
         “Phantom, it’s all right,” I said softly, kneeling down to be with him. When he noticed how upset I seemed to be, he slowly walked up, and when he noticed who I was, he whinnied weakly, and leaned against me gently.
         “Oh, Phantom,” I sighed, feeling my tears reach his body. “Why did this happen to me?”
         Ashka walked up to me, and nudged me gently. When I looked at him, he faced east, where the spring spirit lived; I knew then that he wanted to go to him to see if he knew why I became human.
         “I can’t leave Phantom, though,” I said to him, as my colt slowly lay beside me.
         “Don’t worry, Paige,” came my father’s voice. I looked at him, and he smiled. “I’ll watch him for you while you go to see what’s going on.”
         I smiled, as Crystal walked up to us, saying that she, too, would look after her. I got up, getting Phantom’s attention. He whinnied again, and I said to him, “I’ll be right back, okay? I’m going to find out what’s going on.”
         He nickered softly, as Ashka allowed me to get onto his back. Once I was settled, he raced east, toward a magical area with a small spring and waterfall.
         Once Ashka stopped, I began to go into the waterfall, where he lived. When I noticed that Ashka wasn’t following I turned to look at him. “Aren’t you coming?” I asked.
         “No,” I heard him say, since I could understand him when near the spring. “This is something for you only; I will be right out here.”
         I nodded, and entered the waterfall alone, finding the spring spirit not that far. When he saw me, he said, “Welcome, Paige; I have been waiting to see you.”
         “Have you?” I asked not unkindly. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
         “No need to be sorry; I knew that you had other things to worry about. Now you came here to find out why you became human, am I correct?”
         I nodded, and he continued. “Your mother has caused some massive disruption in the forest; I’m not saying that you are being told to go with her, however, you will remain human until she leaves.”
         I nodded, understanding that, since she was my mother, there was no other way than to have me become human until she left.
         “But sir, I have a colt that has just became very ill; he needs nourishment.”
         “If you bring him here, provided that he doesn’t drink my spring, then I will take care of him until—.”
         Before he could continue, Ashka whinnied loudly. I ran out of the spirit’s home, and went outside to find him gone.
         Oh, no, I thought worriedly. Mom must have taken Ashka, which must mean she has Crystal, Dad, and Phantom. She’d better not do anything to them.
         Finding Ashka’s tracks, I ran north, wishing that I had my four legs back, in hopes of finding him. It wasn’t long, though, before I found him in a small field being dragged toward the large white horse trailer by someone unfamiliar.
         “Let go of him ” I yelled, as I ran toward the trailer, scaring off whoever it was. Ashka trotted up to me and nudged me gently.
         “I’m all right, Ashka,” I said, taking off the roped around his neck.
         Then, I heard a weak whinny coming from the trailer. Knowing whose it was, Ashka allowed me to climb onto his back to see what was in there, then quickly opening the trailer door to find Crystal and Phantom.
         The chestnut mare trotted out, after thanking me gratefully, and I went to help Phantom out of the trailer. He was much weaker than before, and with every step, he was very close to falling over.
         “Oh, Phantom, you’ve gotten worse,” I said, with tears trickling down my face as I gently let him lay on the soft, green grass. He gently touched my arm with his nose, and nickered softly.
         But then, I heard my father’s voice saying, “I couldn’t let you hurt Paige or her family,” followed by a loud, painful cry before silence fell throughout the field.
         “Dad?” I called out worriedly. Then, my mother appeared, with her shirt covered in blood.
         “What did you do to Dad?” I yelled at her. “First you come in to try to force me back, then you take my family when Phantom is completely ill, and now . . .” I paused for a moment. “You killed him, didn’t you? ”
         “That’s none of your business,” she retorted curtly. “Those animals are to be back in the trailer.”
         As she got closer toward Phantom, I covered him with my own body. “You won’t lay a finger on him  I know that you’re planning on killing them; there’s no way I will let you get near ”
         She turned to face a man who came out with an evil grin on his face.
         “Who’s he?” I asked.
         “He’s the new mayor of the town, and I new husband-to-be,” my mother replied. “Now that we’re going to forcefully take you back, he will decide what the charges will be for leaving us, and interacting with these . . . these . . .”
         “This is my family  You can’t do a thing to them ”
         Phantom coughed terribly, and I looked at him. Tears streamed down my face, and my throat throbbed painfully from yelling.
         “Ha ” laughed the man. “Those animals can’t be your family. You’re human, and they’re . . . animals ”
         “We’re as much as animals as all living things,” I retorted.
         “We’re smarter than any animal alive. Now, do as your mother says, and I may just decide to drop some of your charges.”
         “I’m not leaving.”
         “Then face the consequence.”
         As he brought out a gun, and aimed it at me, Ashka pinned his ears back, and charged at the man, knocking him over. However, the man had pulled the trigger, and the bullet went straight toward Phantom.
         “No ” I cried, as his body went completely limp. Ashka, realizing what happened, backed away in shock. My heart pounded in my chest, as Crystal walked up to me sadly, and gently touched my arm. Tears still streamed down my face, as I gently stroke what was left of my colt. My body began to tremble from the grief that I now had two important family members dead.
         Ashka refused to looking at me, taking the blame for what happened. “Ashka, please be with me,” I said, as the man and my mother looked from me to each other.
         Then, the spring spirit appeared before us, glaring at the two intruders.
         “Murders,” he mumbled, “you two have never been allowed in the forest.”
         “What about my former husband who always came here?” my mother asked curtly.
         “He did nothing to threaten this family. He protected them from any harm you were about to do to them. You are banished from this forest; now begone ”
         They suddenly disappeared, with the trailer and the vehicle leaving as well. As soon as they were gone, I became a horse again, though I didn’t move.
         The spirit turned to look at all of us. “I am very sorry for your losses, my friends,” he said solemnly. “They were never meant to die.”
         I said nothing, not wanting to talk about the deaths of both my father and Phantom. He then smiled, and said, “Good fortune will be with you, though tragedies will be with you, as well. I promise that your lives will be better as time goes on.”
         As I stood up, feeling stiff from laying next to my dead colt, the spirit disappeared, and we all walked back to the field.
         “Paige, this is all my fault,” Ashka said gloomily. “If I had not attacked the human, then Phantom’s life may have been saved.”
         “Ashka, I’m grateful that at least you tied to save us both,” I replied, looking at him. I smiled slightly, and leaned my head against his neck. “Please don’t take the blame; it’s that one man’s fault for ruining our lives.”
         When we returned, for some reason, I walked directly to a dark patch of grass, right where I had given birth to Phantom. Once I had put my hoof on a tiny bit of the area, I heard:
         “Mother,”
         I looked around anxiously. “Phantom?”
         “Please do not cry for me, Mother; I have not truly gone.”
         Just then, I felt two presences nearby; both of them were familiar, but neither one had a body. However, I did feel something stand right beside me, leaning against my own body. Then, I felt something embrace my neck.
         “Dad?” I said, noticing that whatever it was embracing my neck had my father’s touch.
         “It’s all right, Paige,” came his gentle voice.
         “What happened?” I asked aloud, though soft enough.
         “Our spirits have not been settled, Mother,” I heard Phantom say. “We will be staying like this for a while.”
         I smiled, as I brought my head where I had seemed to have felt Phantom’s head was, and nuzzled his presence.
         “I wish you hadn’t left us,” I said softly. “I miss you so much.”
         “We miss you, too,” my father said. Then, I heard a laugh coming from in front of me. “At least now you won’t be bothered by your mother anymore.”
         I lay in the patch of dark grass, feeling Phantom’s presence lean against me, while my father’s presence lay beside me.
         “Good night, Mother,” Phantom said.
         “Good night, Phantom; good night, Dad,” I said before I fell asleep.
         I woke up the next morning to find Ashka standing near by, looking around; I had figured that he had just heard Phantom, and he was wondering what was going on. I stood up, and I heard, “Father does not know what has happened, Mother. Can you help?”
         “Of course,” I replied, finally finding out how to talk to only him.
         I walked up to Ashka and nudged him gently. “Phantom and my father’s presence are here; they’re spirits haven’t settled, so they will still be with us.”
         He smiled slightly, then looked away from me with guilt on his face. “Phantom’s death would not have happen if it weren’t for me.”
         “Ashka, it’s all right; I’m not blaming you. You shouldn’t blame yourself, either.”
         Then, we both heard, “Father, Mother is right; I would have wanted to die the way I did, anyway. Please do not blame yourself for all that happened.”
         Ashka looked around, and I smiled. “Ashka, it’s Phantom.”
         Ashka smiled, when we both felt him lean against us. “Do not worry, Phantom; I will no longer blame myself for it.”
         I smiled when he said the comment, and, noticing that my father’s presence was not around, I called out, “Dad?”
         But then, his presence suddenly appeared, and he said, “I’m right here, Paige; I just had to do something quickly.”
         I smiled even more when I felt my father near me. Now that my mother could no longer come near the forest that surrounded us, I felt truly at home.