good morning, horse

I had to fuss with the lock to get my key out of it, like always. It never seems to want to let go. Maybe it's caught on to my own reluctance to leave the house for the trek to work and is just trying to help me out. The weather has been warm and muggy since the rain stopped, and outside is a vibrant spectrum of greens buzzing with all sorts of life that seems just as confused as I am at the damp and relatively cool Texas summer.

Still groggy and grumpy, I walked down the sidewalk toward the parking lot. There's a little valley next to the walkway at the back of the complex that is covered in grass, sloping downward towards a drainage stream. The kind of place you'd have picnics if the drainage was a real stream and not stagnant runoff. Right there, partially obscured by the willow tree and not ten feet from me, was a horse. All the way there, in the back of my apartment complex, in the middle of Dallas. A horse.

I waved as I walked by, and he stood there calmly and regarded me from the shade. I had to hurry or I'd be late for work, so I didn't stop, though I'm almost convinced I never woke up at all.