The Obsidian Stallion
You would never know it by her dance.
You would never know it by her smile.
You would never know it by the peace that surrounds her in a soft glow.
You would never know that she once danced with the obsidian stallion.
A beast so huge and dark that those who dared to ride him clung to his back with great fear.
She met him when she was little.
So very little
She had wandered to the edge of a great meadow, (for lack of proper adult supervision)
and there was a field of horses.
She rode them all.
They were docile tame and kind and gentle. Each one giving her a loving kiss on the forehead.
These horses made her nervous and scared. For no one ever treated her with such kindness and respect.
As she was leaving the pasture she caught sight of the obsidian stallion.
His angry steel trap eyes froze her in her tracks.
His teeth were razor sharp and ready to cut.
His mane was burning flames, rising straight up from his shiny ebony neck.
His shadow, like hot oozing tar, crept her way.
But she wasn't afraid.
She had danced with monsters all her life. She knew pain no child should know. All she had been through had severed her soul from her heart.
She walked over to him...drawn by the emotionless silence he cast off.
'You can't hurt me' she said to him.
His neck arched and his muscles rippled as he tucked his head and looked at her.
'Little one, many choose to ride me. I buck off all my riders. I hurt everyone who rides me.'
'You can't hurt me' she said to him again, and flung herself unto his back.
His gallop had a frightening pace, erratic and lurching.
The icy wind numbed her skin.
Her legs grew weary of clutching his slippery belly. Her hands seared by the hot flame of his mane.
But she didn't let go. She held on and let herself think she was in control.
She rode and rode and rode. The years slipping past...she grew more comfortable in her place on his back.
She never looked up.
If she had she would have seen the fence as it approached.
He tucked and set his haunches and for a moment
(just a moment)
froze
before he vaulted them aloft.
She opened her eyes, her blood slicked hands, unable to keep their hold on his neck, started to slip.
'You will fall!' the obsidian stallion shouted. 'You will get hurt, I buck all my riders off'
'No' she replied. 'You can't hurt me'
'You are falling!' he called.
'NO' she responded, 'I am getting down.'
And she did.
Her landing wasn't graceful or pretty and she tore her shirt.
But she got down.
She glanced around and saw she was miles and miles and miles from home.
So she stared walking. It took time for the strength to return to her muscles.
Soon she was jogging.
She found others along the way and she found it comforting to know she was not alone in her journey.
Before long her legs healed and she was running, heading back to find her place.
She found it and she no longer has to run. She rebuilt her life and reclaimed all the lost power that was taken from her.
You would never know it by her dance.
You would never know it by her smile.
You would never know it by the peace that surrounds her in a soft glow.
You would never know that she once danced with the obsidian stallion.
Her scars are all that remain of her ride.
A road map of her journey.
They show where she has been...not where she is going.
the end
(c) Paja