A Haunting Sight
He approached the horse and saw how it was. This creature once powerful and elegant had become frail and worn out, as if it had aged ten years in one. A once sleek and shiny coat seemed dulled and matted. Its frame, once muscular and robust, was now thin, and every inch of its body spoke to protracted hardship.
The picture was heart-rending and humbling. The eyes, gleaming with life, now haunted, as if they saw too much and could not bear to see more. He would never think what his companion had to go through in those long months of being left behind. It is so cruel in the wild it can be; and to think that his horse had to go through the storms, predators, and hunger in the wild is a cause for sorrow.
In all this sorrow, though, there was something like admiration. For, despite all its fighting, the horse had lived. It had soldiered through months of loneliness and of danger, driven only by the instinct to go on. The farmer was deeply moved by this strength, which renewed in him his faith in the strength of this bond.
