"Ghost Stallion"

    The thunder rolled menacingly over the Pennsylvania landscape one warm summer evening. Christina Jones was taking the typical drive from the stable more cautiously tonight than normal, with the storm and all. She still remembered that fateful night where she’d witnessed the gruesome scene of a dying horse like it had happened seconds ago. It replayed itself in her mind over and over again as she drove towards her home. Her mind was drawn to the unforgettable memory of that black colt’s hooves thrashing above the bloody pavement and the screeching sound of the on-coming truck’s tires as it swerved to avoid the helpless animal. Christina had nothing to do with the death of the young horse, but the haunting thoughts never ceased to appear on nights like this.
     
      Alex, Christina’s black German shepherd, barked softly from his post on the backseat of her blue Mustang. Christina looked ahead, but she could not see much farther than the headlights would allow. The thick curtain of driving rain encircled the car in a heavy blanket of desolation. She slowed to a sluggish pace as she looked for the trouble she thought had startled Alex. Seeing no immediate danger, she drove on. Lightning lit up the sky for a split second and she took a deep breath in awe. The bright flash seemed to bring back the full horror of the black colt as he tried to escape the pain that bore down upon his body.
     
    ...The storm must have scared him and he had escaped from his pasture. He went about half a mile through the woods before he unfortunately ran out onto the road in front of Christina's car. The wet pavement caused him to fall and she barely had time to slam on the brakes. Terrified and stunned she watched as he tried to get up and then she saw it- he had broken a front leg. Just ahead a pickup truck crested the hill less than a hundred feet away. She could still remember the scream of the young horse as he desperately tried to stand and get away from the blinding headlights of the truck. Regardless of the swift actions of the other driver, he couldn’t stop in time...
       
    Christina shook her head viscously and then quickly pushed her thick brown hair back away from her face with a shaking hand. She pressed her foot down hard on the brake and brought the car to a halt. She suddenly began to feel a little nauseous and took a long deep breath, gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands. The only way she was going to be able to free her mind of the recurring images of the dead colt was to go back to the sight of his death and convince herself that he was in a better place. If there were horses in Heaven, as her father had once told her, then God must have had a special place for the black colt.
       
    Alex gave another soft bark and this time, it was followed by a low groan of anxiety as she turned the car around. Either he was hungry or something else was up. But if hunger was the case, then he would just have to wait. The black colt deserved her sympathies since she had been a witness of his terrible death.          
       
    A few minutes later, Christina parked the Mustang on the side of the road near an old run-down farm and got out. Alex hopped out alongside her, despite the heavy downpour. She shut the door and stuffed her keys into the right pocket of her jeans. She looked at her watch, pulled the hood of her navy sweatshirt over her head, and crossed her arms over her chest against the cold rain. She turned to stare at the road, but suddenly, she felt as though the rain had stopped, yet it hadn’t. Some invisible force was driving Christina towards the woods behind her. Her brown riding boots splashed through the waterlogged grass as the overpowering feeling drew her to the edge of the trees. Alex followed and whined at her heels, but she ignored the dog. She pushed her way through the brush and found her way onto a trail that led her into even thicker foliage. Alex followed willingly, but cautiously.
       
    Then suddenly she broke free of the haze that had now led her deep into the woods. The clouds in the sky above had turned a strange, sickly shade of green and enough light shown through the trees that Christina could easily see her way through the brush for so late a time at night. She stopped when she came to a small clearing in the woods and looked around. She breathed in a dank odor as a dense fog encircled her body. She coughed and Alex barked.
       
    Christina began to see apparitions appear in the mist. Her blood ran cold and petrified she turned and ran for her life. Images of death followed her around every tree. Her heart beat heavily in her chest and her left arm burned when a thorny branch caught it and ripped open her sleeve, cutting flesh. Finally, when she thought her lungs were going to burst, she began to slow down, and stood still again. Alex panted beside her and then all became quiet. The thick fog drifted around her once more and she fought to break free of its supernatural grasp. She staggered from the woods and fell to the ground in an open field.
     
      Beyond, the moon sat on a hill, full and bright against a starry sky. The ground here showed no signs of ever catching a single drop of precipitation and the moonlight cast an eerie glow over the rolling landscape. Christina slowly got to her feet and stood in awe of such a place. Alex didn’t move a muscle, but let out a low rumbling sound deep within his throat. She didn’t hear his warning until he stepped forward and slammed into the back of her leg. He barked in fear.          
     
      From the shadows of the woods to her right came hoof beats and the thick fog meandered its way through the trees as a dark, striding figure headed straight for Christina. Still overcome by the sight of the never ending fields, she felt no fear of the ghost-like creature. The black figure tossed its head, sending mist and a radiant mane away from an elegant neck. It was a horse. Even more incredible was that it was the black colt.
     
      Just a few months ago he had died when the pickup went into a skid and flipped over on top of him. He was killed instantly. There was no mistaking the once handsome build of the colt with that of the ghost horse now. But this phantom was no colt any longer, he was a mighty stallion! Did even in death he grow to be this king of the countryside? Christina wasn’t sure, but she knew that just as he had seemed proud and ghostly a second before, he had now taken the form of a real, breathing horse. The glow that illuminated his body had disappeared and the stallion was now just as alive as her chestnut jumper back at the stable.
     
    The horse brought her back down to Earth when he pushed his dainty head into her shoulder. She turned to him, lifting her hand steadily to pat the stallion’s cheek. He was a real horse. Had the colt even died at all?
     
    Suddenly, the stallion reared and turned so his side was to Christina. His back was before her like the welcome mat on her front porch. Was the stallion actually inviting her to go for a ride? She barely even knew the horse, but she sure as Hell wasn’t going to pass up the chance to sit astride this stallion.
   
    She placed her hands flat across the black velvet hide that stretched over his spine. The stallion only turned his head to nudge her elbow, as if urging her to take a seat. She hesitated, but was soon settled behind his withers. The stallion turned, ready to burst into a gallop, but she held him to a walk for just a moment with her seat as she told Alex to stay put. Then, like a rocket, the black stallion bolted across the field.
     
    He was galloping full speed now. The world blurred around Christina and all that she could see was the stallion’s mane as it whipped back into her cheeks. He seemed to be flying, going faster with every stride, and yet his hooves still touched the ground. Never faltering a step, the stallion spun around at the end of the tree line and headed back the way he’d come. As he neared Alex, he slowed to a rocking canter and Christina sat back to the graceful gait. Soon, the ride was over and she slipped off the stallion’s back. She rested her hand on the stallion’s muscular shoulder.
     
    “I won’t forget you, whoever you are, Ghost Stallion,” she replied and he tossed his head.
     
    The great horse brought his muzzle to her cupped hand. He was saying goodbye, forever. His ghostly glow returned. His time spent on Earth with the girl he’d known in his death was over. He must return to his place among the stars.
     
      He rose high into the air, his mane and tail whipping about him. The deathly mist came back and surrounded the stallion, Christina, and Alex. The horse neighed a bugling call of sorrow and then, in a flash of lightning, he was gone, just as quick as he had come. The fields were quiet again and Christina shuddered a sigh.
     
      “Let’s go Alex,” she said, and the two headed back, the haunting images gone from her mind.
     
      Soon she was standing just outside her car again. The rain was still pouring down. She looked at her watch. It read the same time now as it had when she’d left for the woods. Had she even ridden the stallion? She opened the door and Alex hopped onto the backseat, then she took a seat back behind the wheel. All that mattered now was that she knew the black colt was safe.

      A year later, Christina returned to the meadow where she’d seen the black stallion. It was the same kind of night as it had been then. With Alex at her heels, she walked out into the field and placed a cluster of roses on the fine, rich grass. She looked to the sky and swallowed.
     
      “I know you’re there, Ghost Stallion. I haven’t forgotten you, and I never will. I hope to see you again someday,” she replied, and then she turned and looked at Alex.
     
      A cool wind swept across her face and then died. It never came back and She nodded. Patting the dog on the head, the pair turned and headed back home.
     
      The same wind blew later that night when the moon was high overhead. In a swirl of the dense fog the stallion returned, looking for the girl he still remembered and trusted for a friend. When he saw the roses she had left for him, he trumpeted a call of loneliness. He dropped his muzzle to the ground, taking in the sweet scent of the flowers, and feeling the softness of the petals on his nose. Then, he lifted his head and trotted into the woods. The heavy haze followed him as he vanished.          
        Ghost and the girl will not meet again until in death they are reunited.