Story wrote:He didn't know what to do, the panic gnawed at his stomach as he thought about his wife at home, his little girl, and his young son. What could he do, everything was happening too fast. He just sat in the office staring at the paper in his hands. For all intents and purposes a pink slip. How was he going to keep his family fed. His face sunk in to his hands and his shoulders bowed under the strain. Then an odd idea came to mind, he clearly remembered on one of the many pages he had just signed. The heading "Life Insurance" even though he had been laid off the company had kept his life insurance policy intact. It was crazy but could this be one of those moments where his family really was better off? His eyes prickled with the threat of tears. He got up quickly, deciding before he could suffer from second thoughts.
Driving home he was staring straight ahead, silence in the cab of his truck, was his best friend. When he got home, he stepped into the door and was greeted by his 1 year old son toddling over and running into his legs, a big smile plastered on his little features. He squealed and giggled as his father picked him up and threw him in the air.
His wife came around the corner of the living room, a worn out smile greeting him. "Hey honey, your home early?"
It felt like a punch, but he smiled big at her. "Yeah, they said the plant was running at its best output in months and said it would be okay if I took off early."
Her eyes still questioned him but she let it be.
Just then his 5 year old girl rushed into the room. "Daddy! Daddy! Look what I drew for you!"
She franticly waved a piece of paper at him. Taking the paper, he studied it closely, It seemed to be a small speckled white horse, and what he could only think was a butterfly, though the black smudges made it hard for him to tell.
He grinned at her with pride, "this is a horse? And a bug?"
The little girl became annoyed, "No Daddy, its a butterfly!"
He laughed, "oh of course! Are you going to finish it?"
She took the picture an studied it, "What do you mean daddy? It's all done! Will you put it on the fridge?"
She Handed the picture back to him. He walked over to the fridge and looked for an empty space. There was only one left, once that little girl had discovered crayons there was no stopping her. He grabbed an extra magnet and placed the picture on the fridge like he was awarding a prize. The little horse, only had a little string of a tail, which had prompted the question, but it was beautiful. He set his son down on his feet and watched at he stamped off in his mothers direction. He then crouched down and hugged his daughter tightly.
He stood up and walked over and kissed his wife. "Do you think it would be okay if I rode up the mountain and fished until it got dark?"
The question was back in her face but she answered him, if a little hesitant. "Of course honey, I'll work on getting dinner ready for when you get back."
He gave her a weak smile in return, and stepped over to get his tackle box and fishing pole. Opening the closet he also punched in the code on his safe and pulled out his Colt 45 out and strapped it on his belt. His wife wouldn't question it because the mountain was known to be a dangerous place, just keeping it close would help. He took the things out to his truck and turned and waved at his family, for the last time.
Getting in he hesitantly placed the gun on the passenger seat, the mean metal glinting at him with in the holster. He took one last look at his family, then backed slowly out of the driveway. It was an old, small farm, that used to have horses, but the dilapidated barn was all that was left. At least they would be able to keep it.
Clouds started to gather as he reached the highest section of road through the heavy cover of pines. And soon the droplet of rain began. Switching on his wipers he felt the pain building in him, and as it began to rain harder he looked over at the gun. Only taking his eyes off the road for seconds, but when he looked back up his headlights caught on some sort of light colored animal ahead that had wandered in to the road. He quickly blew the horn and locked up the truck's brakes but the road was to wet. And the truck began to slide, he heard the soft sound of a body hitting the side of the truck as it slid sideways across the road. Then it smashed in to a tree and his head hit the steering wheel then everything went dark.
An hour later his eyes opened barely, sparks flying in his vision from the impact. He realized rain was soaking his shirt from the passenger window being busted out. He touched a tender part of his head and looked at the blood on his hand. His stomach rolled as he shoved the door open and stepped out into the storm. Looking over the truck, it seemed to be fine and was still running despite the rough treatment. There was a smash in the passenger side some small hints of blood, and black fur? The thing he saw in the road was lightly colored, if not white. He scanned the road ahead for the animal, the only thing he could think of being a deer. Not far he saw a sodden, messy form. He looked into the passenger side for his gun, surely the animal, if it was still alive would be in pain, he couldn't bare the idea of the animal suffering. But the gun was no where to be seen, and it wasn't in the floor board either. He heard a small sound, coming from the direction of the poor creature in the road. Steeling his reserve he walked over, the rain pelting him, and making it hard to see. He crouched to look at what he was sure was a deer, but was stunned to see a small white foal. He could see some bad scrapes but nothing seemed to be terribly wrong with the strange foal, just maybe shock from the collision and cold from the rain. He ran quickly back to the truck and pulled the old blanket off the seat, and quickly returned to the foal. He gently wrapped it in a blanket, and slowly carried it back to the truck. It didn't struggle but made small soft noises as he placed in on the bench seat. He backed the truck out of the ditch and headed home. What would his family think? Him bringing home another mouth to feed, and him loosing his job. He didn't care, he knew they would be supportive, and he smiled down at the small form curled under the blanket.
He would save her, because she had saved him.
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