In his panic, he came up with a plan. He didn’t know if it would work, but knowing that she had the pen meant that she could save him. He stepped back into the stall and clumsily brushed some hay away with a hoof. Fortunately for him, the woman continued to watch. Once the spot was relatively clear of debris, he began to scratch out a word in the dirt.
Terry watched the horse go from being spooked and excited, to being dead quiet with the exception of the sounds his hooves were making in the dirt. She had never seen anything like it and began to worry that the horse might have contracted some new illness. Possibly a variation of Mad Cow. She was about to go inside to get Stacey, but noticed something some letters forming in the dirt where the stud was scratching away.
“Magi...”
Her jaw dropped. Was this horse really writing something? It didn’t make sense, but the lettering was too clear for it to be a fluke. She continued to watch as two words were constructed.
“Magic... Pen...” She read, as Dave stepped back.
“Magic pen?”
Dave couldn’t speak back, but nodded his head, hoping that she understood. Terry slowly glanced down at the pocket on her chest. She unclipped the pen and held it up for Dave to see.
“This?”
Dave let out a loud neigh and hopped up and down. He could barely hold in his excitement.
“OK... The pen is magic, apparently. I guess that’s not weird... I mean, this horse knows how to write. Nothing weird here...”
Terry laughed awkwardly and began to pace back and forth, not yet believing what she had seen. Dave could see that she was struggling to accept it and knew he needed to act fast. If she shrugged it off now, then he might never get another chance. The pen was only a few yards away. He had to convince her to save him with its power.
He began to scratch a new phrase a few paces away below the other. “I... Was... A... MAN.”
Terry stopped pacing when she noticed him writing.
“I was a man?” She echoed. “You... You were a man?”
Dave once again hopped with joy and bobbed his head.
Terry though it through, though she still wasn’t entirely convinced. At the scene, there was an empty car with the keys still in the ignition. They found cloths in the bushes nearby... Of course, this horse was there too. They wouldn’t have called her and Mal otherwise.
“Are you the man who went missing?”
Dave nodded furiously...