Fauna
RaDonna Fox


The wooden door aches with an arthritic creak. The smell of horses clings to the saddles and mingles with the heady sent of oiled leather. Corn, oats, molasses, and grass hay further infuse the air with their sweet   scent-thick, assaulting like the whiff of a cigar. I lay back on a bale of hay and enjoy the sensual rush.

           There is a silence about this place, a silence in my head. Here my feet become roots, like those of a tree, heavily barked roots that slowly begin to burrow into the cool earth. Deeper and deeper they go, growing and dividing until the roots begin to consume the entire earth. My roots entwine her like a giant ball of brown yarn. I promise to take care of her, if she will take care of me.

           Suddenly, a nickering wakes me. I peek out of the tack room to see if he is really waiting for me. He is, with soft brown eyes that are deeper than unspoken secrets.