Up From Extinction

     The skies over Witchita opened up to dump a torrential downpour just as Sam Johnston finished his shift at the area’s Burger Barn on Thursday night. He had to run for shelter under the bridge and hope he didn’t get struck by one of the lightning bolts that seemed to descend in front of him every few seconds.

     Only a high school junior, Sam still hadn’t put away enough spare cash to buy the used Honda Accord he had his eyes on for the last six months.

      In any event, he cursed the Midwest soaking that left him drenched from head to toe as he doubled up his efforts to fight off the cold that had plagued him for the last day and a half. The rain also made his newly-issued and updated hamburger flipper’s uniform unfit to wear the next day. He’d have to bug his surly manager for a third reissue this month.

      Just as Sam didn’t think his luck couldn’t run any further into the gutter, he looked up from the hard wooden bus shelter bench to see a strange-looking creature staring back at him.

       Somebody’s dog which had worked its way out of a tie-up in a nearby backyard he might expect–even one of the local milk cows that often escaped from one of the area’s ramshackle barns when frightened by the area’s frequent gully washers punctuated by the explosion of noise striking their ancient metal roofs.

       None of these. The teen blinked twice to clear his vision, because he couldn’t believe a purple creature with a single pink horn sticking out of the middle of its forehead snorted less than a foot from him.  The creature looked like it was preparing for a charge.

      Sam stretched out his trembling hand in an attempt to pet and calm this animal that looked just like the unicorns he had often seen in the children’s story books read by his young cousins vacationing on the Johnson farm for the summer.

        The creature seemed to like the gesture of kindness and, strangely enough, did not charge or back away. Rather, English words replaced the snorting sounds coming from its mouth.

       “I am the spirit of Harry Smith, the ranch hand you all believe died two months ago when a tornado struck the Smith homestead and destroyed two of the three barns on the property.  You see, my human form was not the mean old cogger everyone ‘round these parts thought I was.  I secretly helped many of the less fortunate families in this area from a small fortune I discovered in an abandoned gold mine on my kinfolk’s property a number of years ago.

       “I found the stash when digging for a new water well.  I never told anyone about it. Then, a sudden thunderstorm like the one we’re havin’ today snuck up on me. A lightning bolt knocked me off my feet and, when I woke up, I guess about an hour later, my human form had disappeared with me now transformed into the creature you see before you today.

     “A creature similar in form to me appeared in front of me. He had a much larger horn and wore a gold crown.  He called himself the Grand Exalted Unicorn and said I had been chosen for special duty within the unicorn kingdom because of good deeds for others I had secretly performed in the past.  He also said one who would follow me would continue the tradition of good deeds once I had departed on my Final Roundup which would come to pass in the next several years.

     “For the next five years I continued to find stashes of gold in the abandoned mine. As instructed by the Grand Exalted Unicorn, I continued to take care of the needs of the needy without telling any of my friends or neighbors about my sacred mission. Then, this afternoon, this horrific storm struck this, the Pleasant Valley area of Witchita.

      “The Grand Exalted Unicorn came to me in a dream several nights ago and informed me that the time for my Final Roundup drew near. The Unicorn Nation had observed the good work you had done over the years by providing free food to the area’s homeless and inviting them into your restaurant during the terrible weather that often plagues this area. Lightning bolts during this very unusual storm in our area today created a trail in the ground and began landing closer and closer to this bus shelter. In this bus shelter, the ruler said, I would find my successor.

     “By finding you I have come near to the completion of my mission.” 

     With that, the unicorn pointed his horn in the direction of the Smith farm and indicated that Sam should follow. When they came close to the site of the gold mine harp music and the sound of dancing greeted them.

     The Grand Exalted Ruler came out of the mine seated on a golden carriage. He stood up in the carriage and read a proclamation naming Sam Johnston the new Keeper of the Gold and Helper of the Less Fortunate. Sam’s human form then transformed into that of a purple unicorn.

     After a raucous night of partying and celebration, another golden carriage carried Harry away amidst loud singing, music and the playing of themes of heraldry.  

      Then the unicorn escort marched before Sam as he assumed a golden throne seated next to the Grand Exalted Ruler.  Thus, since the time of Harry, none of the residents of Pleasant Valley ever again “fell through the cracks” or suffered from lack of food, clothing, shelter or anything they needed.

       The reign of Sam continued for many years well into the next millennium, awaiting the ascendancy of the man or woman who would then assume the mantle of the new Keeper of the Gold and Helper of the Less Fortunate. 

      NOTE: None of the above events is meant to have any resemblance whatsoever to historical occurrences, locales or inhabitants of the real world of humans.