Demon 4

by Summer
(PMB South Africa)

How far I ran and why I ran so far, I did not know. I just went on and on, trying to get as far away as possible from the men. It was not because I feared them but because I hated them.
All the time my leg hurt badly but I tried to ignore it. I trotted on and on, and when I could trot no more, I walked. When I could walk no more, I stumbled. And when I could stumble no more I drew to standstill under a big, shady tree. My entire body ached and I was tired, hungry and thirsty. A few times I felt as if I would just faint but I pressed on. I was a fighter, I told myself. Fighters don’t fall easily. They go on fighting till their very last breath. And that was what I was going to do.
Once I had rested a bit and gathered a little strength, I set of to look for water to drink. It took me a while before I found a stream. I drank thirstily then looked around for something to eat. Winter had set in and the yellow-brown grass was hard and tasteless. But I had no choice. I had had nothing to eat for almost the entire day and it was almost dusk now.
When I had eaten whatever little I could find, I retired under the shade of a big tree. This was not what I had imagined freedom to be like. Back at my old home, we horses had always been given hay because the men knew that the more flesh they could put on us, the more money they would get for us. Now I was here, lost and alone, having to take care of myself.
With little concentration I watched the sun lower itself behind the mountains like a ship sinking under waves. Then the place grew dark and the stars shone in the sky. I closed my eyes and tried to retire into a peaceful sleep. It was hard because I had to keep my injured leg off the ground. As soon as I would fall asleep, I would unconsciously drop my leg and then wake up suddenly as the pain shot up my leg when my hoof touched the ground. And then there were the noises of animals rustling in the bushes which disturbed me. I had been so used to sleeping in the safety of my herd that here in the open I felt uneasy. I wasn’t actually frightened, but rather startled at the sudden noise of an animal in a hedge or a big owl in the trees. I felt relieved when the sky slowly began clearing up and the sun raised her bright, golden head above the hilltops.
For most of the morning I grazed on what ever I could find. I was still grazing by midday when a sudden noise in a nearby bush startled me. Following my instincts, I turned and ran without even stopping to decide whether I should confront whatever had frightened me. It was hard to run on three legs but I limped on at a fast pace till I realized that nothing was following me after all. Feeling thirsty, I looked round for a stream or pond. Not far away, I noticed, was a herd of cows grazing. Just beside them stood a trough of clean water. But surrounding them was a wire fence and no matter how hard I looked, I could find no gap in it. By now it was very hot and I was very thirsty. The water stood there, sparkling in the winter sun, tantalisingly close. I craned my neck over the fence and tried to reach the water. My head almost touched it but not quite. The spikes dug fiercely into my skin but I leaned forward, still. One of the fence post grunted in pain, uprooted itself from the ground, and lay down defeated. I stepped over the fallen fence and thrust my nose into the water- much to the distaste of the watching cows.
When I’d finished drinking to my fill, I raised my head and heard far in the distance, a horse’s whinny. Feeling tense and exited, I tossed my head up to smell the air and whinnied back. Another whinny floated back. I tossed my head again and started trotting in the direction from where the whinnies had come from. I soon came up to a farmyard. In front was a big paddock where four horses stood waiting to meet me. There where two chestnuts and a grey who where all mares. The fourth horse was a bay stallion, which as soon as he saw me, reared up and neighed fiercely. He didn’t frighten me and I trotted over to the paddock. The stallion leaned over and tried to nip me. I danced out of his way, flattened back my ears and bared my teeth like a dog. The stallion backed off a little. He’d probably decided I wasn’t worth tackling. I came over to the fence and stuck my head over it. I wanted to meet the mares but the stallion was keeping them back. I wondered round the paddock, sticking my head over the fence every now and then to deal the stallion an unexpected bite. I finally gave up trying to get at the mares and wondered over to the farmyard in search of food. There where a few humans moving around. As soon as I saw them I bellowed a warning and charged at them. Making weird human noises, they left whatever they where doing and disappeared into the nearest building. It was really frustrating as I was in a foul mood and wanted to vent my anger on someone- preferably a human.
I wondered around looking for something to eat. I came to a big building with a big entrance. Cautiously I looked inside and saw that it was almost full of hay. I had never been in a building before and I felt a bit afraid to enter, but my hunger drew me in, step by step. Once I got to the hay, I ate greedily for a long time. When my I was finally satisfied, I turned to leave. But to my horror, the entrance had suddenly disappeared. No matter how hard I through myself against the walls, I could not escape.
It was then I realized that, once again, I had become prisoner.

Last and final part coming soon.