The job required a morning and evening visit daily. Let the chickens out, feed them, feed the cats, feed the fish, and make sure the horse had water. In the evening, put the chickens back in the coop and feed the cats again. Easy.
The first visit went smooth. The little girl went to visit the horse, Emma, to introduce herself. It was love at first sight for the little girl. Emma had a hard year. She lost her mate the winter before and was lonely. Next door she had a friend that was boarding at another farm, and they visited often, but she was still lonely. Emma and the little girl became fast friends.
Even though her only job was to check Emma's water (and clean the bins out every four-five days), the little girl would brush her, clean out her shoes, feed her carrots, and love on her every day. It was the little girl's favorite part of her day.
After a couple of days, the little girl's mom noticed that Emma started coming to welcome the little girl when she arrived in the mornings and visiting with her friend on the farm next door less often. The little girl's dad took her to get fly spray for Emma because the little girl hated how they swarmed her friend.
This went on for almost three weeks. On the last day of the job, the little girl's mom told her to go out and say goodbye to Emma. Her mom checked out the window and saw the little girl weeping. She went out to her. The little girl asked her mom to take a picture of them together hugging. The mom took out her phone to take the picture, and as the little girl turned to hug Emma, Emma bent down and wrapped her head around the little girl.
The mom, who did not care for animals of any sort, started crying. The whole time the little girl cared for the horse had been more of a nuisance because she took so long brushing her when she wasn't required to, fly spraying her when she wasn't required to, picking her shoes when she wasn't required to, loving her when she wasn't required to. The mom knew the little girl loved Emma, but it moved her that Emma felt the same. So she didn't rush the little girl into the car as she had every other morning. She let her brush, and fly spray, pick, and love her friend.
The mom talked to her friend and told her about the relationship that had grown between the little girl and Emma, and the friend let her know that the little girl was welcome any time to visit her new friend. This made the little girl and her momma happy.
It really does stink that Rory is so good with animals that are not ours. They really respond to her too. Hopefully Rory will get more chances to visit with Emma. It makes you wish you had a farm and could bring her up around a lot of animals.
ReplyDeleteThx mommy,
ReplyDeleteit made me cry when I saw Emma, me and her were so close. I really miss her, we all will, but mostly me. thank you for such joyful memories ;)