The Flying Horse

All the people in Flat Town were outside that day. The sun was shimmering pink, and flecks of gold and orange were fluttering about its edges like confetti. The farmers were farming, the mowers mowing, the kids playing. All the people in Flat Town could see all the other people going about their business, even from a mile away, because the town was small and, well, flat.

Everything in Flat Town was grey. And all the people in that town looked exactly the same. Well, some were older and bigger, some were younger and smaller, but the eyes, ears, noses, skin all matched. Even the hair, lips, and teeth. The town might as well have been a hall of mirrors. If someone looked closely, really looked at his friend, he might have seen a spec of green eye color or a strip of gold in her hair. But no one in the town ever looked that closely. They were too busy doing their work or playing their games.

That day was no different. It was a regular grey but sunny day in Flat Town until it started to rain. First a drop, barely noticeable. Then a few more drops. One by one the farmers looked up into the sky, then the mowers, then the kids. Silence fell over the town because the rain had no source, no cloud. All the people could see was a glistening, bright sun. But the rain began to fall harder, so the people gathered under the nearest grey shelters they could find.

Luckily the rain came and went quickly. As the final drops fell and the people came out into the open, everyone stared up, necks craned to see a most beautiful sight. In front of their eyes, high in the sky, was a perfectly arching rainbow.

The people of Flat Town had never seen a rainbow before. They knew of the sun, they knew of clouds, but nothing in between. Not a sunny rainy day like this one. The rainbow was a glorious sight. The people began to holler and cheer with joy. 

One little girl’s voice caught everyone’s attention as she shouted, “Look!”

The people’s eyes followed the path of her gaze and at once everyone saw it: a creature in the sky. A flying creature following the path of the rainbow. The creature seemed to be growing in size. Uneasiness fell upon the crowd. As they stared, they realized the creature was not growing, it was actually flying towards them. Right towards Flat Town.

And as it got closer, the people could see its shape. A farmer shouted, “That is a horse, and it’s flying right towards us!”

Panic rose among the people, and they gasped and squealed and gathered their friends close. The flying horse, which had seemed miles away only moments ago, was suddenly in their presence. It slowed its flight and landed in the center of the gathered crowd, its hind legs touching ground first, then its front.

And it stood there, tall and majestic, slowly flapping its magnificent wings, turning its head from right to left apparently taking in the grey sights of Flat Town.

Whispers traveled through the people. “It has wings!” “Look at its body, so many colors!” “Where did it come from?” “Is it dangerous?”

The same little girl who had first noticed the horse in the sky slipped through the crowd and skipped right up to the horse before anyone had a chance to snatch her back. The people gasped at her bravery, but no one moved.

The girl stood an arm’s length from the flying horse, face to face with it. The horse looked down at the girl and for a moment they had a staring contest. The girl moved first. She reached her hand up to touch the horse but just before her fingers could brush the horse’s face a man swept the girl off her feet and sprinted with her back into the crowd of people. She shouted, “No!” but she couldn’t break free of his arms.

The horse, in disapproval, reared up onto its hind legs and cried a deep sound of pain, a sound unlike anything the people of Flat Town had ever heard. This of course scared the crowd, so most people backed away and took shelter, while a few braver souls stayed near and huddled up to make a plan to contain the horse and keep everyone safe.

The man who took the little girl away from the horse told her to go home, and he went up to the huddle to help the group.

She, of course, did no such thing. She found a tree nearby to hide behind and make her own plan.

The girl was close enough to the group to hear their discussion. She peered around the tree and looked at the horse, who was now standing still and quiet and seemed to be watching and even listening to the people in the huddle.

“We need to approach the horse, get a hold of it, and tie it to a tree.”

“How do you propose we do that? That is no horse, that is a wild, dangerous creature, and it’s going to harm our people!”

“Don’t forget it can fly; we’ll never be able to contain it!”

“Okay, everybody calm down, one at a time. How do we know it’s dangerous?”

“Did you not hear its cry? That was anger.”

“Maybe not. Maybe it is only sad or scared.”

“No. We are the victims here, not that thing. It doesn’t belong here.”

“It’s nothing like us. Nothing like anything we’ve ever seen.”

“Just because we have never seen it, doesn’t mean it’s bad or dangerous.”

Just then, one man in the huddle tapped the shoulders of those around him and pointed to the horse. One by one the people turned to look. The little girl, having tired of listening to the arguing, had decided to approach the flying horse again while everyone was too busy to notice.

The people watched in awe as she reached out her hand and the horse gently laid its whole body down onto the ground nudging its nose right under the girl’s palm. Its wings lay still and they could hear it exhale, a sigh of relief.

The girl looked right up at the huddle of people, hand on the horse’s face.

The man who had grabbed the girl and taken her away the first time left the group and walked slowly to the horse. He knelt down and carefully put his hand on the horse’s nose. Those who had sought shelter cautiously started to emerge and get closer. The man stood and turned to face the people.

“Look at this little girl. She is the bravest among us. We’ve never seen something different than us, stronger, more powerful, more colorful. We are afraid. Afraid this beautiful creature will take something from us, so all we can think to do is control it. It doesn’t need to be controlled. It needs to be welcomed in, accepted. It needs to be heard. Think of the joy this creature could bring us. Look at the beautiful colors in the sky.”

Everyone looked up at the rainbow, and smiles began to sprout among the faces.

The flying horse stood and stretched its wings straight up towards the sky. Nobody moved. As it brought its wings down in a powerful swoosh, a mighty wind flew out among the people and past them in every direction. The people watched in awe as hills formed and grew all around them covered in crisp grass and bright flowers. Trees grew taller and branches bloomed with vibrant green leaves. The water in the creeks became a calm, clear blue. The vegetables and plants in the gardens doubled in size and burst with an array of colors.

Flat Town became a sight of beauty the people never knew they needed.

As people pulled their eyes away from the new land to look at each other and celebrate, they stopped in their tracks. Peering at the faces around them they saw a most unusual thing. Each pair of eyes was a different color. Every color of the rainbow, in fact, seemed to be there now in each other’s eyes. And not only that but their ears and noses and lips were all different sizes. The people’s hair had grown into all types: curly, straight, long, short, dark, light. The people’s skin had transformed into all different shades.

The flying horse had magically taken a paint brush to Flat Town and its people with a flap of its wings. After the surprise and shock passed, the people cheered!

The little girl, who had never left the horse’s side, looked into its eyes. The flying horse looked right back at her, and just before it flew up and away towards the rainbow, it winked.