The Orphan in the Valley by Kristin Schmidt HR Home Page Essay Directory

"Mom, wake up!, I'm scared!". "What's going on?". "Mom, wake up please!" 

     On a warm December morning right after Christmas, a wild mare was restlessly searching for a safe place to have her baby. She ambled down the hill, every step heavy with the weight she carried inside. Her time was getting closer as she found a small tree in the valley. All around her, the herd grazed peacefully, knowing she would have the baby soon. The stallion kept a relaxed watch as the young ones played. A yearling stud colt taunted and teased the old stallion, who snorted and stomped in disapproval of his son's behavior.

     The mare had just lay down to deliver her baby. She was tired, having carried the baby for almost a year. The sun was just starting to make it's appearance over the mountain, when, suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of rifle fire. Thinking it was just a couple of hunters, the herd raised their heads in curiosity, and then continued grazing. The mare, although startled, went about the business of birth. Peace was again shattered by the horrifying scream of the stallion, as a bullet tore his flesh. Soon, the other horses were  screaming and running as bullets tore their flesh as well. The young colt tried to run, but he felt his flesh burn as the bullets hit his body. He turned to face the threat, only to feel a bullet hit his face and force him to the ground. He fell hard, his head and body throbbing in pain. Then, he saw two human forms standing over him, laughing, and he tried desperately to get up. He couldn't make his legs work, and his head started to throb again. One man raised a strange object and aimed it at his head, and the colt felt terror. The man held a fire extinguisher, which he aimed at the young colt's face. The colt felt a strange substance hit him in the face, and he struggled yet again to escape this torment, but the substance was suffocating him and burning his eyes-he couldn't see! Then the men left him in his agony to die.

     The mare heard the screams, but her baby had decided it was time to be born, she couldn't escape. In her terror, she struggled to deliver quickly. She didn't hear the men approach, but she could sense they were near. She rested a moment then-perhaps they would move on if they thought she was dead or dying. A strong contraction forced her to move, and soon she felt the burning sensation of a bullet ripping through her belly. Another contraction and another rifle shot. Silence, she knew her baby had been delivered, was the baby alive? She tried to move, but her head felt heavy, she uttered a quiet nicker and closed her eyes-it hurt to breathe. Then, as the new mother took her last breath, she heard a soft, plaintive nicker-her foal was alive!