The Lonely Ponies Of Colorado Springs
May 23, 2015
Dear Diary,
I know I have not written you in quite a while, but I think an old friend is exactly what I need right now.
When I woke up this morning I could immediately tell several things were wrong. The familiar weight of my husband sleeping next to me was missing. While I was wondering about where he had gone I noticed that it was exceptionally quiet. No car, no child at play, no human noise disturbed this peaceful morning. Oh how I wished my first thought that I had simply overslept was true now. When I reached for the alarm clock to check the time is when I really started to panic. You see Diary that’s when I noticed I had hooves. I’m fairly certain my screaming would have woken up the whole neighborhood if there were any neighbors left.
After untangling myself from my sheets I stumbled into the bathroom. Honestly I tried to run but I tripped over my own four fee hooves too many times to call it running. You’ve probably guessed what I saw in the mirror by now Diary. There staring back at me was a horse. Well not really a horse, she was too small to be a real one. She was more the size of one of those miniature horses like the blind sometimes use instead of dogs or a really small pony. She was a light ash grey with icy blue eyes and very strangely a platinum blonde mane. Also she had a strange mark on its hips, it looked like an old fashioned hearth or fireplace. I admit I did all the silly things you see on TV to tell if what you are seeing in the mirror is really you such as lifting one han hoof then the other or rapidly blinking in sequence. Once I was sure that it was me in the mirror I confess that I screamed again.
About then an idea started to penetrate my panic. Why was no one in the house coming to see what the matter was? I’d screamed twice already after all so where was my husband or my sons? Fresh terror gripped me as I once again tried to run down the hall to my children’s rooms. They were both empty.
Heart racing I went into the neighborhood but all I found was that eerie silence. I knocked on doors and called every name I could think of. I checked the small park, the community center, went door to door to door and still nothing. Abandoned cars and empty houses forced me to conclude I was completely alone. I searched until hunger and exhaustion drove me back home around noon.
Honestly Diary when we moved to Colorado Springs I thought the worst that was going to happen was that our neighbors would be unfriendly or I would not be able to get the boys into a decent school. I never once thought I would have to survive the apparent end of humanity, an apocalypse. I’m going to have to survive on my own somehow Diary and I do mean survive. Whatever happened last night seems to have cut the power and the water lines. I’ve been able to stretch up and flick a few light switches with my snout I believe it is called but none of the lights come on. Similarly I’ve managed to try the taps in both bathrooms and the kitchen. What little food we had in the fridge from a quick run to the store or our “welcome to the neighborhood” party has spoiled. My husband bless his silly heart had insisted we buy a case of water bottles and I’ve never been so grateful. I managed to find the bags of snacks we had bought for the car trip and those were still good to eat. Well for the most part anyway, I’m not sure if it was what happened last night or just my boys taste in jerky but one bite and I had to spit it right out. I can’t even describe how horrifically wrong it tasted or how the texture felt on my tongue.
Organizing what I have my situation looks grim Diary. Most of our possessions are on a moving truck somewhere between Colorado Springs and New York. I do not have a supply of water past the case of twenty four bottles, two of which I have drunk already. The snack bag will keep me from starving, but how long can I live off of hostess cakes and trail mix? The only thing I do have is shelter. As long as I leave the door unlocked I can manage the doorknob with my mouth.
The first thing I’m going to have to do tomorrow is find more water. I know that humans can survive up to a month without food but only a week without water. Of course I am not quite human anymore am I Diary? Those statistics might be meaningless now.
The second item I am going to need is food. If the power is out I cannot think of a reason why any of the neighbor’s fridges would have preserved their food any better than mine would. However I do recall one of our new neighbors mentioning at the party a few days ago that she had a vegetable garden. If I can find her house and get past the fence it would help immensely.
However my top priority overall will have to be finding some sign of my family. I simply cannot believe that they are simply gone. I refuse to believe it. Without them I just do not know what I would do. In a similar line of thought, I’ll have to find some other survivors if I want to stay sane. The silence is already grating on my nerves and the once bustling neighborhood now has an overwhelming feeling of emptiness to it.
It feels so strange Diary, to be writing you about how I’m going to survive. I used to fill you up with childish dreams and teenage fantasy. Now you’re the only friend I have left at the end of the world. I really hope I can survive. My boys would sometimes talk about who they would want to have in a variety of survival situations and I know for a fact I was never on the list for any of them. Who would want a housewife of twelve years who taught elementary English for five years before? It isn't exactly a skill set that will come in handy.
Well the sun is setting. I’ll write some more tomorrow Diary, writing to you is very calming if extremely difficult. I have to hold a pen in my mouth while I write very slowly and deliberately. It honestly hurts my jaw a bit, especially with an entry this size. Maybe it will get better with practice?
Love,
Helen