Love and Loss

He stood at the doorway  watching her walk away and knew that he would probably never see her again. Each warm breath left his body and was like a wind that carried her further away from him. He caught himself holding his breath- hoping that it would keep her close to him longer. But it did not.

With each step, she became smaller and smaller. He watched until he could no longer see her outline. Even then, he watched a while longer, at the place where she had disappeared. Barely breathing, afraid to blink lest he miss a final glimpse of her blonde hair, he felt as though his heart would stop beating.

It faltered once inside his chest- obliging his fear. Momentarily, the pain ceased but then his heart sputtered back to life and he felt as though he may die yet again. Each hollow thud of cold pain inside his chest was followed by a swish of hot emotion flooding his senses. Every thud of his heart emptied its chambers reminding him that she was gone. Every swish filled the emptiness with hot blood and served as a reminder that he would go on living without her. He could not escape the pain- his heart would not allow it.

Somewhere in the background, a horse whinnied. It sounded far away and he tried not to notice. The voice called again and seemed closer. Chevy did not turn his head but a single ear freed itself from the raging battle inside his body and turned toward the sound. Autonomous and independent, it listened to the voice- soft and feminine. It was intrigued. The ear dispatched a message to his brain hoping that it would arrive at its destination safely. The onslaught of emotion sieging the horse below was threatening to win this war.

The entire war lasted only moments- battles within his body were won and lost in milliseconds. Suddenly, a new emotion arose within the stallion. Something soft and feminine passed across his memory. She was bay and tall and younger than his usual concubine. His heart lost its grip upon him as his soft muzzle absorbed the new smell. Her scent wafted through the air like a perfume. And Chevy turned to see the new mare walk into the barn.