DAY 20, it is, of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Horses today. I was thinking about horses a lot today. Most of my current neighbors has horses. One of my neighbors has two unique horses. They could be in movies. One of them is a silver/ gray color and the other one is a blonde. Not tan, but it actually looks like blonde hair. They truly do look like they could be in pictures. I’m sure you love horses as much as I do. As much as anyone who has been lucky enough to be around them. I have a couple of past episodes that are horse tangents. Here are the links: Horse Tangent 1. Horse Tangent 2. Today I watched a video about how AI is being used to encode elephant language. That is a cool, non-psychopath lunatic use of AI. Horses don’t talk a lot, but sometimes they do say some things.
Today I have to say hello to new followers and a subscriber, again. I always do that. At least until I’m getting thousands of paid subscribers. LOL. Here is .
And, here is JD Driggers who clams they are an insignificant but curious soul. That’s not true, JD, you are a valuable person… So thank both of you for following me.
Mighty and Baker
Whatever Happened to Horse Sense?
729 WORDS WRITTEN IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR
Mighty is two and a half. He is already a big and strong Quarter Horse for his age. He's very affectionate and expressive, which are obvious signs of intelligence. He comes from a line of show horses. His granddad won a lot of money over the course of his career. His people are hoping the same for Mighty.
His barn man, Baker, is cleaning the barn today. The horses are in early due to what looks like inclement weather coming in. It has been very hot and humid, the clouds are building up, and there has been some light thunder. They have to be in before the lightning spooks them.
Mighty is pacing and kind of panicky; today is the day he has realized something that horses, at some point, realize. They are confined when they are in their stalls. He is pacing back and forth between his stall and his runout. Mighty sees some cowboys on horseback in the fields across the road, working some cattle. He really wants to be out there. In fact, his people are realizing he may not have the personality to be a show horse. He might be a work horse.
He is frustrated, and he is trying to get Baker's attention. He huffs at Baker. Baker comes over to him.
“What's the deal, Mighty?”
Mighty nods and then lowers his head a couple of times, which is a sign that a horse is annoyed about something. Then, he runs out of his runout and comes back to Baker and sticks his nose out at him, then turns and sprints to the end of the runout, turns around, and stares at Baker. He is really perturbed.
“There's nothing I can do, big friend.” Baker says. “I knew this day would come soon; you are a smart boy; you figured it out already.”
Mighty saunters over to his really good pal, Baker, and he reaches his neck over and pulls him close, so Baker can rub his neck and get a hug.
“Dude, get me out of here.” Baker hears in his mind and pulls back, astonished.
“Wait a minute!” Baker says. “No way, that's not possible, it must be my imagination.” Then, Baker goes back to rinsing down the barn floor.
Then, Baker hears this: “Tell yourself whatever you want, but if you let me go outside, I won't tell anyone.”
Baker turns and looks at Mighty. Mighty lowers his head, then reaches forward and turns his head sideways, opens his mouth, and makes a throat sound, as though he's trying to talk.
“Look,” Baker says, “let's assume this is really happening, and you are using telepathy to talk to me.”
Mighty straightens up and looks directly at Baker.
“I can't let you out because a storm is coming. If I put you out in the pasture and the lightning starts, you're going to be traumatized, and I'm going to get into big trouble, and I might even get fired. Is that what you want?” Do you want to have to get used to a new barn man?”
“I told you I would not tell you.” Mighty tells him.
“This is stupid; I can't believe I'm even entertaining this.” Baker says.
The other two horses that share the barn are watching curiously.
“OK,” Baker says, “I'm going to accidentally leave your runout and the pasture gates open. You had better go straight into that pasture, and I mean it.”
Baker opens the pasture, then comes back and opens the runout. The sky is darkening.
Mighty slowly and sneakily walks over to the runout gate and takes a few steps out. He looks back at Baker and sprints to the pasture. The other two horses call to him as he runs for the relative freedom of the pasture. He then runs to the back of the pasture, close to the road, and paces back and forth, calling to the horses across the road who are working cattle.
Baker sheepishly watches him, and he can't believe what he has done.
Just then, there is a loud crash of thunder, and lightning follows almost immediately, and then a downpour ensues. Mighty rears up and sprints hard to the pasture gate, right through the gate, and back to the runout.
“What're you nuts?” Mighty tells Baker. “I can't be out there in a storm!”
“You dick.” Baker says.
The End.
Thank you so much for listening, or reading. This is the Smell the Inside of Your Nose. Do it Right Now podcast. I hope you might get a paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin. I wish you the best. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.
Mighty and Baker