The race was in its final phase. The other horses were tired and huffing, for they had been running for a long time now. Without breaks, water, or food in the scorching heat. The riders were certainly no angels themselves. People have treated horses either like living beings and children or like a television with a bad connection. Hit them until they start working properly. And hit them, they did. The whipping was done skillfully to bring out the maximum amount of pain for the maximum amount of performance. Nature was also trying its best as well. The sun heated the ground, and the cool air called quits on the horses, who were already half dead from being whipped and shouted at by the two-legged superior species that had loved the idea of being superior so much that they ensured everyone else knew it every day. The thrill of the race, the fun of the chase, and excitement at each pace continued the cruel race, and there was no hope, for life was about to leave the horses, as was natural for them. But then something extraordinary happened with one of the horses.
The horse was just like the others. It too got the proper amount of whipping, half-rations, lack of proper rest, and neglect that the others got. But suddenly, it decided to do something different. It resisted, refusing to move even after the rider whipped it. The disease that afflicted it could be described as a “will to live,” free from the humans, apparently, as was clear from how it started to jump, hitting the men trying to subdue it and throwing down its rider. The horse was certainly feeling the heat, the one of the sun on its head and the one of revenge in its mind. Much to the crowd’s horror, it stomped on the rider. Ruthlessly and unrelentingly as he screamed. But none of the men could stop the horse’s mad rampage, and just a final and precise kick on the rider’s head did the trick. The horse ran after that, knocking everyone in its path down, towards its freedom. The other horses also seemed to have understood what just happened. Freedom did exist, and it had a price. The only thing to wonder now is who else was going to pay it. I’d like to think the horse wanted a peaceful resolution, where the humans lovingly released it into the open to run free. But, even it must have understood that often at times, things need to get ugly before they get well.
