After walking to the ranch on her own, little Karen finds her friend, and they have a hilarious conversation about his becoming a real horse.

Scene 8: A Quick Chat with Pegasus

Karen found Pegasus in the meadow behind the barn. He was eager to hear about the new house, and Kitten repeated what Mama had told her. They agreed that she would ride him over so he could see it, just as soon as she had time.

“Your mother’s automobile is approaching,” he said.

“How can you tell?”

“Horses have superior hearing, and we can feel vibrations through the ground, too.”

“Did you find that out on your own, or did one of the other horses tell you?”

He whinnied and stomped on the ground before he admitted, “I may be an experienced spiritual master, but I’m very new at being a real horse, so I’m keeping my superior equine ears open for any advice on that aspect of life. I do not mind admitting that I have a lot to learn.”

“You can talk to horses, too?”

“Evidently, yes. The real horses speak a dialect of the language that we spoke on the carousel. They sound very Texan to me. They even use some of the same Texas talk that Tex and Joshua do, but they tell me that I sound British to them. So, pardon me while I stamp on the ground, as a mute indication that we should trot to the parking lot to meet your much-esteemed mother.”

He stamped, again, and Karen asked, “Pegasus, why are you stamping your foot?”

“It’s a hoof, Kitten, not a foot. Real horses have hooves, and they stamp them when they’re ready to go. It’s what they do instead of saying they want to go. One of the other horses told me.”

Karen heard the crunch of tires on gravel and turned to see Mama’s Chevy coming up the lane in a cloud of dust. Her newly awakened reflexes propelled her onto her horse’s back, and she galloped to meet her. She did not want to keep Mama waiting or to delay their move in any way.

©2021, Karen Lynn-Chlup. All rights reserved.