"Horse"

I HOPE HE comes to see me, I desperately hope he comes to see me, was all that was running through Jane's head on a sunny summer afternoon. Jane was in Wesley Moyer's livery barn. The barn was all she had ever known. It was where she slept, worked, and even taken her meals. She rarely ever left, save for when Wesley or one of his associates needed help, in which right after the work was done she would immediately return to the barn.

Jane might have been a bit more lively and sociable if it had not been for her memory. She had forgotten all the early years of her life, or how she even ended up at Wesley's barn in the first place. Despite this, she did not let this bother her. She tried her best to fit, but her efforts were in vain. Talk as much as she could, she was never heard. Not a single person would answer her and in trying to get some response would speak louder. The only result she got was yelling to quit making so much noise. How agonizing it was for Jane, to speak and to be heard, but not to be acknowledged or understood.

This all changed one day with the appearance of a certain man. It was months ago when the man had first show up. The man was Mook, the former worker and friend of Elmer Cowley. He had come to the livery barn to get extra help with his duties on the farm. After a quick discussion with Wesley, Mook entered the barn and did something that had never happened before. He looked a Jane and said hello.

Jane was shocked. Someone had acknowledged her existence! Not knowing what to say, she merely watched Mook until he disappeared from the barn.

Over the course of the spring and summer, Mook returned to the barn regularly. Jane looked forward to each visit eagerly. Sometimes Mook would talk to her, and even had a look of slight understanding when she spoke to him. Jane was elated.

Getting back to the present, Jane was hoping that the man would show up to relieve her from the loneliness that usually surrounded her at the livery barn. And he did indeed come to visit. Mook came into the barn as usual, but there was something unusual about his manner. He was rather melancholy, mumbling about "that queer boy," and something about work. Then, he spoke.

"C'mon Jane, Wesley said I could take you out to the country for a walk. It'll help me talk some and you need the exercise."

Jane and Mook went down the road towards some farm or another as the sun shone blindingly. After a few minutes of walking Mook began to speak. He spoke about Elmer Cowley, his work on the farm, the weather, nothing too interesting. This didn't matter to Jane, as she took all the works in hungrily. When he ran out of thing to talk about, they continued in silence.

Jane, wanting to fill the silence, started to speak. She said anything she could, glad for the chance to be heard for once. A while of this and Jane felt Mook lean drowsily against herself. Guiding the man, she turned and headed back towards town and to the barn. By the time they returned Mook has awoken, said his good-byes, and left.

Jane replayed the night in her head over and over, reliving one of the happiest times n her life that she could remember. She had fallen deeply in love with the man.

Nearly a week passed before Mook returned to the barn. By this time Jane was devastated with the thought that he no longer wanted to see her and that he would never return the love she felt for him. So when he came to the barn late one night, Jane was flooded with relief. He came in and immediately began to speak, in which every word was absorbed like it was the first and last to ever be spoken. Mook even stroked Jane's hair a bit. It was euphoric for her.

After what felt like hours of talking, Mook stopped. He sat thinking for a few moments, and then finally spoke, "I'll be washed and ironed and starched. I don't know why I come here so much to speak. After all I got the cows, pigs and chickens back at the farm. I don't know if you understand me, but I know you listen. You're a smart one, you are." Suddenly Mook stood to leave the barn. He turned and smiled. "I'll be washed and ironed." With that, he was gone.

This left Jane felling confused, but with a sense of happiness. At first she felt a bit dejected at the idea that he thought she was some stupid animal like the rest of the people who knew her. She then erased this from her mind, believing that Mook loved her and had even called her smart. Soon she forgot the whole thing and continued to wait eagerly for his visits. Sometimes he even brought her some sweets. All was well with Jane and Mook. The visits lasted all summer and into the fall.

One day Jane was awakened by the sound of conversation. Wesley and George Willard were speaking about Tony Tip, the prized stallion of the barn. Tony Tip had won a race in the Fair, and George was writing about the win in the Eagle, and had come for the details.

Jane became lethargic, and started to drift back to sleep. She was shocked back to life though by the addition of a third voice. It was Mook.

"What are your thoughts of Jane?" George had questioned.

"Jane? Why she's a bit horse-faced if you ask me!" Wesley laughed, felling clever at his description.

"I think she's beautiful," interrupted Mook. Upon hearing this Jane became alive in a way she had never felt before. Her love blossomed and she longed to see the one she loved so dearly.

"Mind if I go in to see her?"

"Go ahead," Wesley replied, adding to George to the side, "I don't know what that man finds so interesting about Jane. He sure does love that horse."