Grandpa's Barn

The little boy bit his lip as he gazed up at the picture.

"Grandpa, whose barn is that?"

All of the other pictures were of well known faces- there was his mom and dad, and there was one of him and his little sister. There was Uncle Bro and his family, and one of Grandpa with the Grandma the little boy had never gotten the chance to know. But he didn't know that barn. It looked like an old tired place. It didn't seem to fit with the smiling faces.

Grandpa looked up from his crossword puzzle, his eyebrows raised.

"Huh? Oh that's my barn!"

"You have a barn?"

Grandpa laughed.

"Well, it's not really mine. It's just a place I've kind of gotten attached to thinking about. I used to drive right by it every day on my way to work and I would just think about all the different stories that have happened there. All the lives that have been lived. All the little dramas. The deaths. People, animals, machines. If you could be a fly on a wall in a place like that, think of all the stories you would get to see play out."

The little boy's brow furrowed as he stared up at the old barn, trying to see what Grandpa saw. It just looked like a beat up building to him, the red paint faded and chipping, tall grass growing next to the door. He squinted his eyes and cocked his head.

"Grandpa, will you tell me one?"

"Hmm? Tell you one what?"

"One of the stories."

Grandpa smiled and looked down at the little boy.

"Well I guess I've always kind of pictured it from the barn's perspective more than anything else...I guess I could try..."

***

The sun peeks up over the hills, rich golden light beginning to flow in through the windows. The barn is coming awake slowly, with little noises. Small paws scampering through crevices. Rustling in the hay. Gentle whinnying, muffled snorts.

The farmer comes in and sets to work, the two young girls on his heels.

The taller one wants to do everything she sees her Daddy doing. She follows him about, trying to help, or at least pantomiming everything he does. He milks the cows and she jumps in to try any time he will let her. He sets to work fixing the machinery and she is there with her little hammer. He feeds the animals and she rushes to scoop the food with him.

The shorter one helps out when she is told to, but she just wants to be with the animals. She greets each one, one at a time by name (she has given them all names) and she talks to them. She tells them what she dreamed about, she strokes their coats, she asks them how they slept.

All of the animals in the barn have jobs to do and they are all very proud. The cows produce milk for the farmer. The sheep grow their coats long and warm. The pigs eat plenty of food to grow nice and big. There is one pony who lives in the barn, and she has the best job of all- to carry the little girl on adventures.

Every morning the little girl brings her fresh breakfast and water and talks softly to her using her human words. The pony understands some of them too. She knows "Fancy" -that's what the little girl calls her. She knows "whoa" and "walk on." The little white pony likes to nuzzle the little girl with her nose, and sometimes the girl brings her carrots and apples.

On this particular day, the little girl saddles her up, and much to the pony's delight they set out on a ride around the farm. When they come to the creek, the little girl climbs down- she often does that at the creek to play in the water. After a few minutes, the little girl notices that there is a baby bunny on the other side of the creek. She races after it as it bounds away into the woods laughing.

The pony waits. Minutes pass by, and the little girl does not return. The pony stamps her front hoof and lets out aong whinny. Still the little girl does not return.

This has never happened before, and the pony doesn't know what to do.

Finally, she begins to walk in the direction the little girl went, neighing loudly as she scans from side to side.

The pony doesn't know how long she has walked for when she finally hears the little girl crying. She follows the sound until she sees her- she has fallen into a hole.

"Fancy!!" The little girl cries out.

The pony walks toward her, but doesn't know what to do. She cannot go down into that small hole, and she doesn't know how to get the girl out.

"Fancy, help! Please!"

The pony doesn't understand what the little girl is saying, but she loves her and she wants to get her out of the hole. She turns and trots back the way she came, through the forest and over the creek, back to the barn. The farmer and the taller girl are working hard, but they hear the pony's loud neighing as soon as she gets back.

The farmer looks up at her and begins looking from side to side.

"Amelia! Amelia! Where are you?"

The pony stomps and brays and trots back toward the creek. She turns to make sure the farmer understands. He does - he is following her.

She leads him to the little girl and he is able to pull her out. They embrace for a long time, then they both remember to give the pony some pats.

They walk back to the barn and the farmer even gives her an apple!

That night the little girl hugs the pony even longer than usual before she leaves the barn to go into her house for dinner.

***

"The End. And that was just one of Amelia and Fancy's adventures," Grandpa said with a grin.

The little boy finally broke his gaze away from the picture to look up at Grandpa.

"Grandpa, can I go see the barn some day?"

Grandpa picked him up and hugged him close.

"I would love that. We'll take a drive by and look at it soon, and we can dream together.