When Karen leaves Pegasus alone in the garage, he has his first opportunity to reflect on himself, on his purpose in life, and on what his fate might be. No longer an immortal carousel horse, he wonders what mortal life will bring.

Scene 03: Pegasus Waits

Pegasus watched his Kitten disappear through the narrow door, and he reflected on his situation. He had come alive to be of spiritual service, but he had not thought through the inevitabilities of mortality. He was no longer a wooden horse that could exist forever with a minimum of care and an occasional coat of paint. He rubbed his left front hoof against the smooth concrete floor. He had never felt anything like that, before. His leg moved at his will. It was not locked into a galloping position. He could put his feet wherever he wanted them.

He stretched his neck and let out the loudest whinny he could. Then, he asked himself why he had done that. Did he want his Kitten to come back? Could he exist on his own? His body not only felt different from how it had always felt, but uncomfortable. His feeling for himself had always been muted, and his weight had always ridden on the pole. Now that he could feel the weight of the little girl on his back and experience the flow of his muscles as he carried her, and now that he could feel the ground beneath his feet, he wondered what would come, next. If he had come alive to be of spiritual service to her, what would happen to him when she grew too old to believe in carousel horses? Or would that day ever come?

He found himself reflexively taking another deep breath and blowing hard through his nostrils, just as he had seen real horses do when his carousels had shared amusement park space with horseback rides.

I’m snorting. What next?

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