Rip - Becoming Whole

Of Monsters and Heroes

"I don't want you guys ever go near him without me, Rip. He's different than the others. I haven't figured him out yet", Jacob told them. "Understood?" he added in a strict voice. Both teenagers nodded. Jacob had been working with him for three weeks now and while there was progress it was much slower than expected.

Chrissy was standing with them at the fence. She cycled up to them at least three times a week now, to spend time with 'her horse', usually in the evening after dinner, when Rip no longer had to do "hard labour", as she jokingly called it.

"My dad says that if you guys can't fix him all he's good for is putting him out to pasture, and that is not really an option for us right now. We need to be able to rehome him at some stage", Chrissy told them, she sounded worried. "Huh", Jacob went, "We'll better keep working though." There were only two places a horse like this was good for, the slaughterhouse or the rodeo, neither of them a viable option for Jacob nor the two kids beside him.

Later when Chrissy was gone, Rip went to talk to Jacob about the horse. "I heard Papa once say, you think there are no bad horses. Do you really think that?" he asked. "Yeah, I do. It's people that make them bad", he replied. "Huh", the boy went. "Speak your mind, boy. I am no mind reader, what are you thinking", Jacob prompted him.

"I mean. There are bad people, right? I mean real evil monsters like. Why shouldn't there be bad horses as well?" Rip asked. "I suppose", Jacob said thoughtfully. "But maybe there are no real evil people either, maybe everyone is born good and it's people who create those monsters too."

He started to realise that the boy was talking about something much bigger than just the horse. He was also painfully aware that the boy knew a lot more about monsters than he did, which made him uneasy talking to Rip about it. He didn't want to say the wrong thing. He was afraid it could send him down a rabbit hole.

"They are monsters all the same, Jacob. What does it matter what made them into one?" Rip asked thoughtfully. "I think it matters a great deal, Rip. For one it means we need to treat animals with respect and kindness, lest we create monsters. And the same goes for people really. And two, well, we need to treat animals like him with compassion. He didn't ask to be treated badly. If humans hadn't interfered in his life, he would be just fine, I am sure of it, so it is also up to humans like us to help him and give him a chance. I mean you are right, there probably is a point of no return, and who knows maybe that horse has reached that point, but we need to try don't we?" Jacob asked.

"Rip? Don't you agree?" But the boy didn't reply and instead just walked away.

Later during the night, when Rip still couldn't find answers to his questions and therefore also no sleep, his phone made a rare and at this stage almost unfamiliar sound. Since the incident with the car he had deleted all his social media apps bar the messaging services. It was Chrissy.

"Hey"

Why was she texting him? And at this time. Granted it wasn't that late. Not for normal people who have a lie in on a weekend. If he didn't open the app she wouldn't know he had seen it, but he couldn't leave it unopened forever. She knew he used his phone all the time to listen to music.

"Hey"

"Still up?"

"No, fast asleep. You?" he added a winking face just in case she wouldn't misinterpret it.

"Same."

"What are you doing?"

"Reading, you."

"Not Reading."

"So how come you're still up, thought you have to get up early with your old man, doing chores."