Horse

You've been warm and cozy for a few months now, but things have been getting tight lately. Today's the day, you just know it! You feel the walls begin closing in around you, even tighter than before. Then everything goes black. You feel yourself land on a hard surface and the space around you is suddenly cold. You snap your eyes open and try to stand on shaky legs. It doesn't go well. You'll have to practice. There are so many new sights and sounds. It's all so overwhelming. You turn towards the only source of heat in the area... it's your mother! You don't know how you know it's her, but she nuzzles you as you drink some milk from her.

The years are uneventful, a good life in a clean stable. The farmer's family treats you well, and the daughter sneaks you extra carrots. Then suddenly things change. A group of men stand outside your stall one day arguing with the farmer. You cannot understand what is being said. You are, after all, just a horse. You turn around in your stall and ignore them. Later that night, the whole family comes to see you. They each give you a hug and a treat. Whatever that group of men said to the farmer earlier seems to have upset your family. No matter, you'll just give them a swift kick if you see them again.

Sure enough, the men return a few days later. The farmer places your lead on and hands it to one of them. "This is my chance!" you think. "I saw the farmer's daughter kick a boy in between his legs once and he fell to the ground, so that's where I'll aim!" As soon as the man leads you out of the stall you start bucking. No way are you gonna let these crazies take you away from your family! You spin and the stranger drops your lead. "Now's my chance!" You kick as hard as you can in his direction. "Bullseye!" The poor man collapses and you whinny in excitement. You turn your head to see a look of pure horror on the farmer's face. He grabs your lead rope and gives it to his wife before rushing to help the man to his feet."She's gonna thank me, I bet. After that nasty man made everyone so sad yesterday I think I should get extra treats with dinner toni- wait, why does she sound angry? I just did this family a favor!"

You soon discover that the farmer was intentionally giving you away. The audacity! Your new home better have an all you can eat apple bar!

While the new stable did not have an all you can eat apple bar (what a shame), they did let you roam free after only two nights.

You are led out into the field behind the barn. There are hundreds of people standing around staring at you. The same man who brought you here ties a golden plaque to your head. "Well, it's not too heavy, and won't come off when I shake my head, so I guess it can stay." He then unclips your lead and steps back. The crowd hushes. You take two steps forward and they follow, shuffling forward ever so slightly. "Okay, now this is weird, why in Vishnu's name are these crazy people following me? Or are they? What if I go over to that hay bale? " As you walk towards the tasty snack, the group follows you, always staying out of kicking range. "What a shame."

You wander towards the river at the end of the field. "Surely they'll stop me if I try to cross the river." You step forward and feel the cold water rush over your hooves, but no one tries to bring you back. You plunge across the river and... the crowd follows? "Well, this is odd. Let's see how far these silly people will follow me..."

With that thought, you begin to walk...

Months go by and this crowd will NOT stop following you! It's even grown along the way! There were a few times that a stranger tried to grab you, but some weird dude with a magical bendy stick always fought them off. It was an interesting journey. You still have nightmares about the pond you tried swimming in on one of the REALLY hot days...

You wading in the cool, refreshing water when you looked down and saw a lion! Underwater! You ran as fast as you could out of the pond and heard the beast RIGHT behind you all the way to the bank. The bendy stick man yelled something at the sky and suddenly there was no more lion. You were overcome with a sense of peace and- "Oh look! Grass!"

That was the other thing you noticed during your adventures, all grass tastes different! The winter was cold and long. It sucked without a stable. It finally started to get warm again, and the grass was growing back, all that sweet, sweet grass... when the bendy stick man suddenly clipped your lead back on! "What the fu-"

Now you're back at the stable where this all started. You're led out into a giant field filled with other animals. There are even more people here than when they followed you around. Suddenly the people begin making a monstrous amount of noise! They're hitting things, blowing into things, and some are just yelling. A long line emerges from the crowd and they all take turns pouring water over you. The cool water runs down your face. The wind blows and you shiver. A man takes hold of your face and you think about biting him, but decide it's not worth it. He speaks for a bit, then another man grabs your halter, presses his ear against your jaw, and... milk comes? "Well, that's new! "

The next thing you know, the world goes black...

Author's Note:

The idea behind this story was to combine King Yudhishthira's Horse and Horse Sacrifice (David A. Mackenzie) into one story written as if the reader had been reincarnated as the horse to be used in the sacrifice. The original stories tell the tale of Arjuna following a horse across the continent for a year in preparation for its sacrifice. The tradition states that anyone who tries to take the horse must battle its chaperone and submit themselves to the rule of the king whose horse it is upon defeat. Over the course of the year, the horse and Arjuna encounter many interesting situations. There are two specific instances mentioned in this story. The first is a wicked wife who had been cursed to remain as a rock until the horse found her. The second was when the horse wandered into two different lakes. At the first one it is turned into a mare by the goddess Parvati. At the second one it is turned into a lion by a brahmin's spell. At the end of the year, the horse is returned to King Yudhisthira and beheaded as part of a ceremony meant to cleanse the king of the sins of war.

I took a little bit of an artistic license in the beginning since there isn't much detail in the source text about the beginning of the horse's life or where it came from. I jumped around a bit in terms of the timeline for the second half of this story since it would have taken FOREVER to document everything that a wild horse would do over the course of an entire year. I'm a little hesitant go to into more detail at the end though, since the horse does get its head cut off. I hope the ending isn't too abrupt.