Soft landing
On horses in airports
When I saw the miniature horses in the airport I thought I was hallucinating. Once I realized they really were there, close enough to reach out and touch, I was delighted and distressed. It was the wrong reaction, obviously, because being near the miniature horses was meant to feel like a kind of therapy, and probably not the kind where you test the outer limits of your emotions. I was screaming internally, but I didn’t take a photo when the nice woman offered because, I’ll admit, I thought I was better than the people who were taking photos and screaming out loud. Then, without thinking, I walked away from the miniature horses and through security, past the point of no return, still close yet impossibly far, worse off for having thought I was better, wishing I’d reached out and touched them or at least taken the damn photo. Why else would anyone believe me when I tell them there were miniature horses in the airport? I can hardly believe it myself.