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Hay on the back
(Siano na grzbiecie)
Many of our stablemates had gathered at my stall. Even those who lived here not quite officially (i.e. without Granny Kasia’s explicit invitation) in tight holes or nests.
Apart from the overly-excited aunt Rhodesia, who was jumping like a foal from the sensation, the eyes of two swallows, two hedgehogs, five mice, an old tomcat, and even a group of frogs who rarely got involved in the life of “Stables under the rainbow” bulging out. My cousins and prettier cousins, and my aunts and uncles, whose boxes were locked with latches, lifted their heads and bent them like safety pins to see for themselves what happened to me that night.
Exactly. It must have happened at night.
Before I went to sleep, Granny Kasia was at my stall and she was brushing my hair, because in the evening I had rolled around in the mud. She had complained that I was annoying, but hadn’t noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
– You better, Niuniu, remember what happened next. Where were you partying last night? Said Uncle Cellophane.
– Maybe a stroll through the woods in the moonlight? Aunt Rhodesia dreamed. – How romantic! You galloped off somewhere with Lucrezia, huh?
– Give it up Auntie. She’s not here!
– How is she not? Yesterday they brought her in a shiny box stall. Lucrezia is standing there, in the last stall, the frog croaked and waved its paw at its froglets. – Come on. You’ve already seen the rainbow.
” Lucrezia here?” Oh no! She can’t see me like this! – I thought. – But how is that possible? Or is it just a dream? Dream! Exactly. Someone pinch me. But not on the rump. “
It wasn’t a dream though. But then I remembered that last night I did have special dreams. Pretty twisted… and colorful… and… I couldn’t, unfortunately, recall any details.
The inhabitants of “Stable under the Rainbow” were trying to outdo each other in the guesswork about my colorful hairstyle.
Aunt Rhodesia insisted that I give her the hairdresser’s information or reveal to her the home method, which is the stable way to do the hairstyle, not believing that I do not know what had happened. And I really didn’t know.
A discussion began as to whether a dream had gotten to me during the night. A dream so curled up that my hair itself twisted into hundreds of tiny braids. Or maybe they weren’t braids, but dreadlocks? This was also discussed. But no one could explain why the mane and tail turned colorful.
And I was wondering what to do to prevent Lucrezia from seeing me like this.
“Don’t worry what Lucrezia will think.” Maybe she won’t even notice… ”Uncle Cellophane was consoling me.
– She doesn’t usually look at you anyway … – The gray mouse wanted to help his uncle in comforting him, but it didn’t really work out.
True. Lucrezia didn’t usually notice me.
She was an Arab princess after all. And I – well, the Champions’s son – could not boast of such a wonderful lineage.
My grandparents came by ship from distant America. Our breed is called American Quarter (which means one fourth). And that’s probably because in the quarter mile races that became popular in America during the time my ancestors lived, there were no faster horses than us. We are agile too, so we helped herd the cows. It must be a lot of fun. I regret that Granny Kasia is not a cowboy. Besides, we are, without boasting, very intelligent and friendly horses. However, it is not the same as being an Arab princess.
“What if I were an Arab prince? …” I dreamed a little. – But I’m not. And that’s probably why she doesn’t even care less about me, ”I summed up and I felt really sad.
Lucrezia spoke to me only once when I almost ran into her in the paddock by accident.
“You have hay on your back,” she said, turned her head, and ran on.
I turned out to be clumsy. And – what’s even worse – dirty. “I have no chance with her,” I thought then.
“What if she looks at me today?” – I started to snort, terrified. – Bad enough, this rainbow on my head. Forget about the curly tail. But if I have hay on my back, she won’t like it, I neighed. I inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself down.
– Take care of him! – Aunt Cecilia interceded for me.
And Granny Kasia, who seemed to understand every word or read our thoughts, was already standing next to me with a comb and a brush.
“I don’t know where this thing came from on your head, Niuniu, but you look amazing!” She exclaimed and walked into my stall. – But you’ve been rolling around again or what?! Well, I don’t have the energy for you anymore… ”She smiled, pushed back my rainbow mane and started cleaning from the neck.
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