Best New Fiction: The Horse by Juliet Waller

The Horse

by Juliet Waller

Monday

There’s a horse across the street from my apartment. He’s a brown horse but his mane is black. He’s grazing on a patch of sidewalk grass. He doesn’t seem to mind that the traffic and city life are just going on around him. A couple of police officers are keeping people at bay.

Tuesday

Nobody knows where the horse came from. We talked about it in the elevator this morning. One guy said the horse had been in some old man’s garage. A teenager showed us the Instagram page someone started with people commenting their theories. Her mom said she heard it got dumped from outside the city. We’re all happy that they got the horse into the vacant lot on the corner which already has a fence around.

Wednesday

Everyone loves the horse and the horse loves everyone. People are coming by all the time to give him carrots and apple slices. They hired a woman to build him a shelter and another to come by and feed him. The fence is covered in pictures drawn by kids which is hilarious. No one can draw a horse. Ok, that’s not true. There are a few good pictures and lots of blobs with ears and legs. 

Thursday

My neighbor invited me and some other people on our floor to watch the horse from his window. He didn’t ask us to, but everyone brought a snack to share. He made us equine themed drinks, Moscow Mules, naturally, and something called a Horse Feather which was yummy. We hung out for a couple of hours after the sun went down even though we couldn’t really see the horse anymore. 

Friday

Someone set up a table next to the vacant lot and started selling sodas and snacks. Someone else made t-shirts with the horse printed on it. A caricature artist brought an easel and is drawing pictures of people with the horse. A lady offered to read my palm when I walked by. I told her no thank you, but I think I’ll go back tomorrow and see if she’s there. 

Saturday

A choir came by to sing to the horse this afternoon. I opened all my windows, it was so beautiful. It looked like the horse enjoyed it, too. He kind of swayed his head in time to the music. A taco truck pulled up just as the choir ended. I went down and ate tacos with the crowd. My neighbors came down. I got to talk to a couple of the checkers and the produce guy from the Safeway when they showed up. I bought a taco for the barista who gave me a coffee for free one day when I’d forgotten my wallet. After a while, the horse went into his shelter and lay down. We all took that as our cue to leave. 

Sunday

The horse is gone. They found a farm for him. A couple drove up in a pickup with a horse trailer and loaded him up. The tables are gone, the t-shirt guy is gone. I never got my palm read. My neighbor invited us over for a farewell party. Only one other person showed up. There wasn’t anything to see out the window now so we both ended up going back to our apartments early. 

Monday

They took all the pictures down first. Then the shelter. A crew came by to clean up the lot. The only sign that the horse was ever there is a picture stapled to a light pole. It’s a caricature of a little girl, huge forehead, giant teeth, and the horse touching his snout to the side of her head.

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Juliet Waller is a Pushcart and Best of the Net nominated writer. She lives in Seattle, WA where she teaches playwriting, primarily to middle school students. Her pieces have appeared in a variety of publications. You can find her work at julietwaller.com