Rowan began the day, much like yesterday. Some old folks wanted to get pulled around town in the cab, two
elderly women.
"Tell Rowan where you want to go."
"Oh, just around the park. I heard from Bertha here that it was a pleasant trip around the park. Why, this
trusty steed of your's reminds me of the one I had on my farm when I was a little girl. . . But not as large.
I never seen such a large horse."
"Yes, yes, it was a fun trip. A smooth ride, the horse didn't even stop once. Quite a strong fellow. He'd make
a wonderful workhorse."
Rowan whinnied with joy, and probably be blushing if he were still human. He was used to getting attention
silently, but compliments out in the open were rarely heard of. Though he quickly grimaced inside once he
remembered what his current state was.
"I doubt he's like the horse you had." With that, Roger leaned back and put his hands behind his head. The two
elderly women were confused, since the cabbie was supposed to direct the horse. However, Rowan kicked right
into gear and began going around the park.
"Oh Martha look, he's going all by himself!"
"How is he doing that?"
Roger laughed to himself as he just sat back and relaxed, poor Rowan doing all the work like yesterday, but at
least he was getting the credit. As Rowan went through the park, the passersby looked at him, as if he were on
fire. Well, a horse going by itself with no direction is something that one doesn't see everyday. Or at all,
for that matter. After thirty minutes, the old ladies paid the cabbie and gave him an extra 150 dollars.
"That was something new alright, use that money to buy that wonderful horse something nice."
"Yeah, like a burger." Roger said with a smile, causing the two old women to laugh as they walked off. As soon
as the old women were done, droves of the previous onlookers came around the cabbie and asked how much it was,
swarming Roger with proposals and what not. Most of them were older folks as well, but after seeing how much
fun the two women had, they figured it'd be something worth checking out. That and the horse was going by
itself was something to marvel at too.
- - - - -
The day was over now, and Rowan was slowly trotting his way back home. He was exhausted, he was going nonstop
with nothing to eat or drink, pulling loads of people.
"Rowan, you're a godsend." Roger said, counting all the money and tips he had gotten. "150 dollars per person
for 30 minutes and everyone still jumped on that offer as if it were cheap! And the tips, oh, even better.
That one man gave me 1,000 dollars just to see you write your name and record it! Let's see. . . We have 9,630
dollars. I should call a news station, imagine the business I'd get then. "
Rowan's head was hanging low, trying to focus on the ground to see where he was walking. Each time he blinked,
he kept his eyes closed for longer and longer. Rowan made it to his new home, but missed didn't see the
pothole. . . He got stuck. . . The cart kept going. . . CRACK! It all happened so fast, and now Rowan was
alert, felling excruciating pain in his leg. My leg, my leg! Call a doctor, I need to get this fixed and get a
cast right aw-I'm a horse. Rowan felt light headed, this was the end of his life as a horse, in general.
Horses didn't get casts, they got an all-expenses-paid vacation to heaven. The pain had already made him tear
up, but now the water works were out of control. The heavy cab plowed into his back leg, game over. Roger
froze for a second then threw down his hat. He hopped from the cab, and immediately began beating Rowan.
"What, look what you did! Rowan! You-YOU! RUINED ME!" Roger yelled. After playing nice, all the man could
think about is money. Rowan wasn't much different, but he'd never hurt an animal or a person who didn't
deserve it. "Oh wait, genius horse, right, you can still write. That's got to be something for making money,
right?"
Light bulb! Rowan remembered he could write to communicate with Roger, though he was just too tired to think
about it until now. He figured if he could be changed back, he could just get a cast and call it a day. He
mustered all his strength to balance himself, one leg short, and hastily wrote in the dirt. Roger saw what
Rowan was doing, but couldn't read it that well, so he went indoors to get a flashlight to read it better. And
talk about perfect timing, Rowan was almost done when Roger got back.
Roger shinned the light down to where Rowan was writing to find words scrunched together, squinting to see if
he could make out what it said. "Help. . . I human. . . Chinese man make. . . me horse. . ." Roger finally
said out loud, shining the light on Rowan's face now. "You're joking. Are you serious?"
Rowan nodded twice before putting his head down.
"That's it. Sit tight, Rowan!"
- - - - -
"Hey Rowan, I'm back." Roger called out, toting a small bag. Possibly the largest load he ever had to carry.
"I slid the Chinaman 8,630 dollars and he anted up the real deal and I called a doctor friend who's good at
emergency patchin' up. The best. He'd help for just 1,000 dollars. Now drink this, hurry, come on, up boy!"
Rowan, at this point, looked as if he were dead. Though he was just tired and the pain was too much to bear.
"Come on Rowan, drink it, drink it!" Roger was panicking, acting as if his true love was dying in his arms.
Though it was probably just guilt, because if Rowan was indeed human, he had done something incredibly
horrible. Finally, Rowan mustered the strength to drink the liquid, which quickly took affect. He didn't know
what to expect, and figured the Ointment Store Owner would've screwed both of them over. Then again, there was
no reason for the Ointment Store Owner to give Roger the wrong remedy.