The Odyssey, Talking Horses And A New Me

“Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall amongst men and they will know me not. For today, I am a new man with a new life” 

Og Mandino

Let me tell you a story about Jim.

Jim was a poor farmer from a small backwater town no one had ever heard of. He grew up wearing his elder brothers clothes and shoes. When he wasn’t playing with his elder brothers toys, his playground was the world around him. His best friends were the dogs, sheep, cats and horses on his Papa’s farm.

Every morning, he would jump out of bed, wave good morning to the sun and head off to feed his friends. As he was feeding them, the unexpected would happen. 

The Odyssey, Talking Horses And A New Me

The first time it happened Jim did not take heed.

Like most of us, he figured, he might have been tired, imagining things, possibly even hearing things. The second time it happened, he was not quite sure what to make of it. When somethings right front of your nose, its so easy to dismiss it and miss it. 

It was the summer of his fifteenth year, the first time the unexpected had occurred. It was a cooler than usual that summer morning. The air felt fresher, cleaner and somehow, even smelled a little sweeter though there was an unusual hint of salt permeating the air. It was strange, this little waft which Jim imagined to smell like the ocean he had never seen. Sticking his tongue out, he wandered if he might catch salt crystals. 

The unexpected is precisely the unexpected. 

Jim had been feeding the pigs when he heard a voice from behind beckon to him. 

“Oh, its a goood dey fur a storrry”.

Jim spun around to see who was there and all he saw was Pablo and Montessa, starring back at him waiting for their breakfast.

“Oh Jim, yo gut us sum feeeed?” 

Startled but composed, Jim shrugged his shoulder and went up to the horses. Stroking Montessa’s warm white and brown patched neck, he thought of nothing which naturally led him to start dreaming of leaving the farm, sailing across the world and having adventures. Just like they do in all the books he loved to read. 

“Duh you know the storrry of Odysseus’s Jim?” 

Jim without thinking said; “Yea. sure. Who doesn’t”. 

“Ye know. Eh was much like you when eh wis younga. Eh always wunted tae travel but just didn’t in ehs youth. Eh’s Pa had heard from an old mystic the day Odysseus was born that if eh sailed on adventures, eh might neva come home. So… his Pa kept um busy with so much work eh had no time to dream about travelling. Eh thought eh was keeping ehs son safe but a fathers wishes might not always be a sons desires.”

The story of the Odyssey was one of Jims favourite.

Odysseus sails for Troy leaving behind his throne and his pregnant wife to fight another man’s battle for power. What was supposed to be a quick fight ended up in a 20 year adventure across strange seas; meeting Goddesses, having his some of his crew and friends turned into wild animals and eaten. There was even a Cyclops called Nobody. 

“Odysseus always hud a choice. Eh could have stayed on Ithaca, made ehs father proud, been a good king, a great fatha and husband and lived a serene life on his little island. But was it ehs hearts desire to do so? 

Caught off guard with a question like this, he allowed it to simmer, resonating within his own soul.

Jim wondered what life would be like if he ever decided to go on his own adventure. Of course it was not possible, he thought. Pa and his brothers need him. Who would feed the animals, chop the food, help to grow the crops. Who would make his father smile, bellow laughter and start dancing across the kitchen? His father had raised him and had given up everything for his brothers and him. There was no way he could just abandon everything and selfishly head off. And to where would he go? With no money, no education, no experience.. Jim had nothing.

What would he do in this world? 

“Ya know, Jim heard the voice again, muhney can be made and experience only comes through experience. Education ain’t always found between four walls and an old gripe telling you what to do or what to think. Think o’ how much you learnt from books, from working on the farm, from helping ya Pa when eh went to the market. ‘Ell, I think your Pa learnt most of ehs business ways from his neighbours in the markets”. 

“But Pa.. Pa’s everything. I can’t leave behind the man who gave me everything.”

“Neither can you keep him son. Ain’t yer business to make him happy. Sometimes the hardest thing and the best thing you can do fur another person, especially someone you love, is to let them manage their own lives. Its culled Self Empowery son. Being your own hero”. 

Jim looked up at the sky, an ultramarine blue, much like the ocean, cascading far and wide. Clouds rolled over like ships sailing an infinite ocean.

The Odyssey, Talking Horses And A New Me

Jim shook himself and looked at the horses who gazed lovingly back at him. Did the horse just give him advice? He must be crazy. 

Shaking his head and trying to shrug off what he had just experienced, he wondered, if he were to decide to travel.. maybe someday.. maybe a year from now, or even ten. What one thing might he do? Where does one even start? He took that thought with him as he walked back to his home. Unbeknownst to him, this was the moment that the Gods of fate and fortune smiled at him. The seed that started his journey had been planted. 

“Can horses talk?” He wondered aloud as he walked back to the farm. 

“Of course not” replied Pablo as he leaned his auburn muscular neck down to the sweet green grass and let out a big fart. 

Authors Note

The Odyssey, Talking Horses And A New Me is dedicated to my uncle Mahesh. He appeared in my kitchen one morning and reminded me how easy it is to miss something when its right under your nose. As a writer, you never know where inspiration strikes from. You spend endless days staring at a flat ocean and suddenly, the waves roll in.

You are invited to check out our website for more inspiration.
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