Story by – Story Man

Skydancer awoke early, just a little before sunrise.  The cedar tree he slept under protected him from the rain the night before, but now water was dripping off the leaves of the trees.  Remnants from the rain the night before.  The sky was gray the sun was just barely coming over the horizon.  In a couple of hours it would be high in the sky.

Skydancer realized he was thirsty, so he walked to the stream for a drink of cool water.  Along the way, there were squirrels chasing each other.  Their tails straight back as they ran up and down the pine trees in the pasture.  When he got to the stream, he walked to the water’s edge to take a drink.  The water tasted so good and as he swallowed, the water cooled his parched throat.  The sun was shining now, but could barely be seen gleaming through the leaves of the trees around the stream.  The trees were thick here around the stream.  The water was always in the shade.  Skydancer didn’t believe he ever seen the water glistening from the sunlight.  He thought about that for a bit and then moved to a grassy spot to eat.  The squirrels were still chasing either and chattering, but Skydancer didn’t pay any attention to them; he was eating.  He spent the rest of the day as he spent most of his days.  Traveling around to different parts of the pasture.  Eating, watching the other animals that lived in the pasture.

Just before sundown the coyotes came back.  They had been coming at the same time every day for the past week.  Tigger, the dog at the house went nuts barking and baying at them.  The coyotes didn’t pay any attention to the dog.  It was Skydancer the coyotes had come to watch.  When they came, Skydancer pretended to ignore them, but he always kept a close eye on the coyotes.  Skydancer could tell by the look in their eyes the coyotes would jump him if given the chance, and Skydancer wasn’t going to give them a chance.  Skydancer chased them out of the pasture one day, but the coyotes keep coming back.  They are a hungry looking bunch.  It is probably a good thing Tigger, the dog stays up by the house.  When those coyotes are here, Tigger doesn’t come near the pasture.

When the coyotes are close by, Tigger only leaves the safety of the front porch when the man comes out with his gun.  They both walk along the pasture fence looking.  They even come into the pasture to walk around and look.  They don’t see the coyotes. Sometimes Tigger and the man will stop to stand and look some more.  One day there were some hogs in the pasture.  The hogs don’t bother Skydancer, he just ignores them, but Tigger and the man don’t want the hogs around.  Tigger will bark and the man will shoot at the hogs.   Soon the coyotes left and Tigger and the man went back to the house.  Skydancer stood under his favorite tree and went to sleep.

The next morning the birds were singing and making their usual calls to each other.  Skydancer went through his morning routine.  He galloped through the pasture a bit after eating.  Skydancer watched as a bird flew into the window on the house.  A male bird was chasing the female bird when she hit the window; Skydancer wondered if that was their mating ritual.  He began to feel lonely.   There were no other horses in this place. Once a long time ago there were other horses in this pasture.  Female horses, he would run and play with the younger female.  Her name was Sunshine.  The older big black horse, her name was Big Momma was mean, until after she got to know him a little.  Big Momma wasn’t so bad after that, but if the humans came to give Skydancer treats, she wouldn’t let them.  Big Momma wanted all of them for herself.  She wouldn’t even let Skydancer or Sunshine get close to the humans.  Big Momma was in charge of the pasture. One day a big black man came and took the female horses away.  Skydancer wasn’t sorry to see the Big Momma leave, but he missed Sunshine.  They had fun together.

That night Skydancer looked at the sky through the leaves of the trees.  He liked it when the sun went down, and he was alone, it gave him time to think.  Skydancer would think back on times past.  When Skydancer lived with his mother and all those other horses in another place.  His mom and the other horses were still at the other place, but the man had come to bring him here.  Skydancer had a friend in that other place, but he couldn’t remember his friend’s name.  They had been born about the same time according to his mother.  His mother used to tell Skydancer stories of the times before she and the other horse were brought there to live.  They lived in a place where there were craggy mountains.  Food and water was scare, they could find some grass spouting up between the rocks, but it wasn’t enough to feed all the horses.  The horses all had to watch out for mountain lion.  The lion wouldn’t take on the whole herd.  The lion would wait until one horse and gotten separated from the other horses and then he would pounce.  The horse would then be his dinner, or lunch or breakfast or even all three.  Then some men found them and loaded them up in a trailer and brought them to the place where they live now.  His mom and the other horses live in a place that is a lot like the place where Skydancer lives.  There is plenty of grass to eat and they all have water.  His mom had Skydancer after she had moved to the place she lives in now not out there by the mountains.  She was glad.  She had been with foal when the men found her, but gave birth just after moving from the mountain place.

The coyotes had come again that earlier that evening.  The man and the dog came and walked the fence line again looking.  After a while the man shot at something, but from the spot Skydancer was standing he couldn’t see what the man was shooting at.  Maybe it was the coyotes.  Skydancer could smell them, but he didn’t always see them.  After they left, the light began to fade in the sky, the birds had quieted down, and Skydancer looked around to decide what tree he would sleep under tonight.  Skydancer really didn’t know what difference it would make because he would probably just sleep under the same tree he always slept under.  Tonight was different though; he could feel it.  Skydancer wasn’t sure how or why he just knew that tonight things were going to change.  It didn’t feel like a good change.

Skydancer was asleep dreaming of his mother when he woke up with a start.  He wasn’t sure what woke him up; it was still in the dead of night.  As Skydancer looked around he saw two glowing green eyes.  It was long and black and moving very slowly towards him with those green eyes glowing in the dark.  Skydancer’s heart was beating so hard in his chest; he thought it was trying to pound its way out.  His first thought was to run.  Then Skydancer remembered what his mother had told him about fighting the mountain lion before he was born.  The lion had caught her along away from the herd.  Skydancer’s mom thought for sure she would end up like the others, but she had reared up and when she brought down her hoofs, they had barely missed the lion’s head.  She did it again only this time when her hoofs came down before they had a chance to hit the ground the lion and darted away.

What Skydancer was facing right now had to be a lion, so he forced himself keep his head.  If he turned away from the lion, the lion would be on his back, and Skydancer would never be able to get the lion off.  That was the mistake that some of the horse his mother told him about had made.  Skydancer was determined not to make that mistake.  So he stood still and watched the lion.  The lion had to be within striking distance or Skydancer would blow his chance.  So Skydancer waited and watched.  Finally the lion got close enough.  Skydancer reared up on his hind legs and pawed the air a bit trying to keep his balance before bringing both hooves down just missing the lion’s foot.  Skydancer thought he might have gotten a toe.  The cat had screamed which scared Skydancer even more, but the scream almost sounded like the cat was hurt.  Skydancer had never heard a cat scream before, so he wasn’t sure.  Skydancer reared back up on his hind legs again and this time when Skydancer brought down his hooves he felt the cat’s paw beneath his hoof.  The cat screamed again, so he turned around and kicked with his hind legs as hard as he could.  He could feel his hoof pick up the body of the cat just enough to toss it towards the trees.  The cat was close enough to the fence and he slithered away with his injured paw into the trees and into the night.  Skydancer couldn’t see him or smell him any more.   The cat was gone, and Skydancer was still alive.  Skydancer wished he could tell his mother what he had just down, but she was in another place.  Skydancer wished he still lived with his mother.  One day Skydancer hoped he would see her again.  Skydancer went to the stream for a drink of water and to have a look around the pasture.  To make sure that cat was gone.  Skydancer thought the cat might come back another day, but for this one night Skydancer was the brave horse that fought the cat and won.  Today he had lived up to the name the humans he lived had given him a long time ago.  Skydancer.

Send To:

Hide Sites

(3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)

 Loading ...

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment