The Granger: A Short Story

Sophie normally drove straight past Granger. The horse's pasture was a quarter mile from the house, and she'd speed by, the car throwing gravel up from the dirt road, not seeing him even as she looked right at him. But today she rounded the corner and caught Granger in the act. She put the Suburban in park, rolled down her window, and watched. There was something familiar in the rhythm of his actions, something she couldn't place. The horse pulled back his suede lips, exposing teeth and pale gums, stretched his jaw open, and placed his upper teeth on the top of the fence post. His neck arched, muscles contracting as he inhaled chunks of air and then exhaled in long grunts. Sophie's brain dragged up the connection. Granger reminded her of an …show more content…
"Shall I bring the psychiatrist home? Ask if he'll make a house call for a horse with addiction problems?" "Pills for everybody," said Ed, mirroring her tone. Granger grunted, a strangled choking sound. In truth, Sophie was losing confidence in her doctor, though she'd never admit that to Ed, who had no confidence in the man from the start. He had just switched her to a third type of antidepressant, but none of them did more than lift her to the almost-surface of her sadness, where everything was muffled. To feel little was better, she knew, than to feel awful. But she couldn't call it a cure—only a variation on the theme. "He's thinner. Is the list exhausted yet?" she asked. Home remedies for a neurotic horse: place a mirror nearby to distract him (or if worried about breaking glass, try a large horse poster), surround him with chickens or goats, coat the post with a spray made from habanero peppers. Ed had moved on to mail order cures—a cribbing collar, leather connected by a fat metal hinge which pinched Granger's throat. "The list is now officially exhausted," Ed said. The horse was flexing his neck as if unconstrained. "Maybe he's just a