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"Neigh."
"Nice, isn't it?"
"Neigh."
"What do you think of my new hidey-hole?"
"Neigh."
"Thanks."
"Neigh."
"I think you're great too."
Suddenly, my fuzzy legs perk up in anticipation as I hear the bolt of the stable unlock. I
carefully brace myself in case of being discovered. You can
never
trust those humans.
Abruptly, the door bangs open and light floods in, lighting up the many enclosures
designed to hold my old friend, that poor beast of burden, may he find peace.
The humans barge in, a heated argument taking place. I watch from a safe place, a hidden
alcove inside a split wooden pylon. I can see everything without being spotted. As a millipede,
being spotted means a painful death. Those humans are so sadistic. Being ripped apart or
squished is not fun.
"This is a waste of my precious time, I need to get this job finished which cannot happen
with you in my way!" grumbled the tall, scary looking one. He smelt of horse dung. The bad
kind. The stuff that had been left out for a week and won smelliest dung competition. I wonder
where he got his perfume from? He smelt worse than this stable.
Suddenly, my common sense took over. This could be a human from the contamination
room. He may be here to kill me, like he did so for my family. But then, if that hadn't happened I
would have never met Jackie, my dear, deceased friend.
Jackie was a beautiful steed, chocolate brown with a white star at the center of his
forehead. One morning, alive and kicking, the next, on his back legs in the air, blood all over the
floor. Dead.
The voices raised dramatically, dragging me away from the daydream.
"Well, I was booked in first!" retorted the bedraggled one. He stood defiant, arms crossed
and face stone-like. Wait, booked in?
"This is a crime scene and I suggest you leave!" Crime scene, I wondered.
Instantaneously, it hit me. The scary guy was here to uncover the mysterious homicide of Jackie,
my horse best friend. So they weren't here to kill us!
"You're out of line, mate!" yelled the bedraggled, messy guy, "You don’t need to be so
aggressive, I'm only here to do my job."