This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This was sent to me by a friend. It was written by a woman who lived in
Louisiana, and I've been told it happened exactly as written.
It started out as any other Saturday, up before the sun, make
coffee, check email, say hello to the dogs, greet the horses and
review the list of projects that needed to be accomplished before
the sun set in the evening.
This Saturday had a few dramatic twists, as I needed to be several
places at one time during the same time frame so there would have to
be some juggling there. The electricians were coming out to wire the
new Horse Barn at the same time the Farrier was arriving to trim the
horses hooves, plus, I needed to pick up a load of hay prior to
noonso, it was time to dance.
On the morning of Saturday, February 1st all of Lafayette Parish was
under a dense fog warning and when I stepped out of the house at
sunrise it was obvious that things might be moving a little slower
until the fog lifted.
I was immediately greeted by the pair of happy-go-lucky German
Shepherds who are always excited on Saturday morning as that means
they get to go for a ride in the Big Red Truck to get hayoh what
fun. But as I gazed out into the pastures, I could not make out the
four pampered ponies, as the fog was too thick. I walked out through
the back of the barn and no one was to be seen, so the odds were
pretty good that they were in the back pasture munching down on
their round bale. I stepped out several yards, gave a call and
waited. The mist swirled around me like foam in the surf as I
listened intently for rumbling hooves, but the morning maintained
it's silence.
Slowly like dolphins slipping through the depths the phantom shadows
of the horses slowly began to materialize before me, one at a time,
in order, in line, calmly walking up to me in formation for their
rub on the withers, the pat on the chest and scratch on the belly.
Each taking their turn at receiving their morning hello, until all
four circled me. Together, we walked back to the barn.
At the barn I stopped and surveyed the new side gates that lay in
place, waiting to be installed by the part-time ranch hand, me.
While Harley gently mouthed my cell phone in an effort to steal it
from my belt, I began scratching down a list of hardware that I was
going to need to accomplish the gate project. I dropped my pen when
Harley hit pay dirt and swirled my cell phone above my head by the
antenna. A big grin on his face as this is his favorite game and he
had managed to pull it off without my interference, Harley one, Human zero. I
retrieved my phone and bent down to pick up my pen when I heard a distance
pop, bang or shot. I immediately became alert to the fact that I was standing
amidst a small herd of horses, in limited visibility, with scary noises
occurring.
Quickly I looked at the horses, and then relaxed as they did not
spook, they were not nervous, in fact that were standing in an alert
stance, heads held high and ears at full extension, looking to the
northnorth/west, the opposite direction from whence the sound had
come. I calmly wondered if it was a gun shot as who in their right
mind would be hunting in the middle of a fog bank, and then the
thought slipped away into LaLa Land as I proceeded with my
tabulations.
I remember concluding my list, walking back into the barn and
turning to gaze at our equine children, they were still there,
standing in place...in fact, they were in formation, one in front,
three in back staring intently to the northwest. Their formation
reminded me of a delta, a triangle pointing into the direction of
their labored glare. I was confused, how could they be so interested
in looking in the wrong direction, what were they hearing, what did
they think they were seeing and what was going through their minds
as they appeared to be mesmerized and in a trance?
The sight of them there, standing in the mist looking off into
nowhere disturbed me to the point that I called to them. No one
budged, I called again and the head of the Appaloosa turned in my
direction just enough so that one sad eye could look at me. I
motioned to him and he slowly turned around, walked to me with his
head lowered and nuzzled my hand. I scratched his forehead and
noticed that his right eye had just formed a tear, one lone solitary
tear. I asked if he was sad, I asked if he wanted more food, I asked
what was the problem and only heard a gently sigh in response.
I dusted it off and went back to work.
At the time, I did not know that to the north of our quiet farm, a
comet was passing overhead, a bright meteor carrying the souls of
seven courageous and generous human beings home. I did not know, I
had no clue that seven souls of my species were headed across the
bridge high over heads...I did not know. But four horses stood at attention,
four horses looked to the skies and four horses felt
