Michelle returned from the stable with a feed bucket full of all the apples, carrots, grapes, peeled bananas, and packaged salad she could find in her house. She didn’t know how hungry Sarah was, but, considering she was a horse now, Michelle was willing to bet she’d have quite an appetite.
“Here you are,” she said as she sat the bucket down on the picnic table bench in the backyard. “One deluxe salad.”
Sarah stepped over to it and dipped her head down into the feed bucket. She took an experimental sniff, partly out of instinct, first. The smell of the salad leaves and the fresh produce was overpowering, but so was the stench of plastic from the feed bucket. She couldn’t believe how powerful her new sense of smell was.
“Thanksh,” Sarah huffed before opening her mouth and using her massive lips to grab large mouthfuls of the salad.
As good as it smelt, she was shocked by how delicious it was on her equine tongue. It was almost like eating kids’ cereal, where the diced fruit and vegetables took the place of the sweet freeze dried marshmallows mixed in with the cereal.
“Don’t mention it,” Michelle sighed, stepping around the picnic table and taking a seat across from Sarah. She tried to ignore how weird it was knowing the horse in front of her was actually the math teacher down the hall she’d been friends with for the last few years. Aside from the clean dark red fur and the lack of smell, she looked just like the horses she had in the paddock. The three of them were now standing next to fence, watching Sarah eating at the picnic table. They were probably wondering what made this new horse so special.
“So what are we going to do now?” Michelle finally asked when Sarah was in between bites. The feed bucket was nearly halfway empty by now.
Sarah jerked her head out of the bucket and looked back at Michelle. She twisted her head to the side a bit to get a better look, but her ears remained focused on the woman. “Ha-what do you mr’ean?”
Michelle whisked a hand at Sarah. “About this. About you being a freakin’ horse now. I mean, are you stuck like this? Am I going to have to take care of you and pretend that you’re my new pet or something – which I’m totally not comfortable with, by the way? And, even if I was, how am I supposed to explain you being here to Burt? I mean, I don’t know if you know it or not, Sarah, but you kind of turned into a horse breed that’s a bit pricey.”
Sarah nickered and looked back at Michelle. “May-hubee tell Burt that your hrorse-sit’hee-ing a fruhriend’s hrorse why-heele they’ree out of town.”
“Horse sitting?” Michelle echoed, making sure she understood Sarah’s slurred cross between English and horse sounds correctly. As annoying as it was, she was still surprised her friend could at least talk this well.
Sarah nodded adamantly. Michelle made a mental note to try and make her questions simple enough for a yes or no answer for Sarah’s sake – at least until she got better at talking.
Michelle bit her lip and looked back at Sarah. “I don’t know. He might go along with it, but that would mean I’d still have to take care of you – as a pet. I’m just not sure I’m ready for that.”
“I’m fi-hine with it,” Sarah said. As much as she tried to resist and be a good listener, she gave in and plunged her snout back in to the bucket, grabbing several more mouthfuls of the delicious salad.
“And you’re fine with your friend knowing they have to treat you like an animal, feed you horse food, muck out your stall every day, and pay for vet and farrier visits to keep you healthy?”
Sarah let out a soft nicker and dipped her head off to the side. She hadn’t thought about all that. “I shee what you mr’ean,” she said sadly. It was another thing she hadn’t really considered when she filled out the questionnaire last night, especially when she opted to live her life as someone’s pet. Like Michelle pointed out, being the pet of a friend of hers would be awkward to say the least, regardless if that friend knew she used to be human or not.
“So you understand what I mean about ‘what are we going to do now,’ Sarah?”
Letting out a long sigh through her nostrils and dipping her ears off to the side, Sarah nodded. It occurred to her that she’d mentioned in the questionnaire that she wanted to be able to change herself back and forth at will, but, as much as she tried to will herself back to being human, nothing happened. Maybe she just couldn’t do it yet.
Then a thought struck her and she perked her ears and head up again. “Whr’at about that hrorse I mr’et at the hru-event today?”
“The one you think changed you?”
Sarah nodded.
Michelle pursed her lips and looked off to the side. It was worth a shot. If they could find the horse Sarah encountered at the equestrian center today, maybe it could change Sarah back.
Unfortunately, Michelle didn’t know anyone that had a brown horse with a strange blaze pattern on its head. It might take a while to find the owner. What was she supposed to do with Sarah until then?
The possibilities raced through Michelle’s mind. As much as she didn’t want to, she could still keep Sarah here at her house for the time being, letting her live in the paddock with Fools Gold, Sage, and Slate. She did have an extra stall in the stable, too. Obviously she wouldn’t tell Burt about it, though.
Beyond that, she could ask her friend, Tracie, if she wouldn’t mind taking care of Sarah for a while. That way, Sarah could see what being someone’s pet horse was like, but without the person taking care of her knowing she used to be human (unless Sarah chose to tell them). Plus, Tracie owned a few acres about thirty miles away and already had a couple of horses. Michelle knew she and her husband, who were both retired, took really good care of their horses, too. They were well off enough that taking on another horse for a while wouldn’t be too much a burden, either.
The only other choice Michelle could think of would be to call in a favor with Richard, a friend of hers that owned a riding center/school. Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken riding lessons there in years and didn’t really know how the place was these days or how well the horses were taken care of.
As before, she decided to leave the choice up to Sarah.