Adaptation by 19th Waver Jung Chan, YOON

Intro: About KMLA.

I ran down the stairs that led me to the track and the soccer field. Ignoring the few students and teachers throwing Frisbees at each other, I ran all the way to the other end of the soccer field, stopping beside the tennis court to catch my breath. It was that kind of an irritating afternoon, with dark clouds covering the sky, weighing down the whole air with gloominess and despair. As I passed by some very passionate teachers playing tennis (with passion I’ve never even glimpsed during classes), I felt like I was sort of melting down. You felt like the ground was sticking to your feet and your body was crumpling down like a syrupy sweet, making you disappear every time you took a step. Still I fought my way through the sticky air to my final destination.

At the very end of the school, like an ultimate stage waiting for you in a video game, was a horseback riding course. Boy, the stink of horse poop was too bad to bear. Several kids wearing silly hats and gloves were chattering away. Then, I saw the creatures.

Sometimes there are these moments where you feel like you are struck by something, and you can’t do anything but just stay there, overwhelmed by the power of something or the situation. I was sort of in that situation. The horse was pretty damn big and bulky, and it tossed his head side to side. It was trembling a little bit, but rather than shivering, it seemed like the creature was vibrating with power and energy, also shaking the atmosphere beside it. It was like having a heated-up truck engine in front of you. Anyway, the instructors called and made me put on a safety hat before I could ride the beast. I went over to choose a hat to wear. Among the dirty, stinky hats, I saw a silly-looking red hat. It was a hunting hat, and it looked really funny, but I decided to wear it anyways.

The instructor led me toward a pure white horse. He told me to touch the thing, which I really didn’t like because the horse was probably really dirty. But as it is always the case, I had to do what I was told to do. I reached out my hand slowly to the horse. Then the first touch. Again, it was humming with power like a massive bomb about to explode, as if it wanted to break through and gallop. But it was also, very soft and warm. Tugging its head lavishly, the creature insisted to move on.

With the help of the teacher, I jumped on and sat down on the horse’s back. I admit. I was scared like hell when the stupid thing burst off and started to run around. I pulled the goddamn reins real hard, which actually just aggravated the beast more. It galloped and trotted, turned and cried, running around as it wished to. I slightly heard the stupid instructor yelling at me to stop trying to master the horse, but to communicate with it, which was really annoying because it didn’t make sense. But after a few more minutes of struggle, my strength was completely depleted and I gave up trying to beat the horse. I was like a piece of sack on the horse, powerless to do anything.

But when I became powerless and I realized I couldn’t win the stupid thing over with my force, I began to use other ways. I patted it carefully, and though it seemed damn crazy, I whispered words of encouragement to the horse. I made suggestions rather than directions and orders. As I did so, the creature, or actually she, began to open her mind to me. As she galloped through the wind, we began to rely more and more on each other. I started to have a conversation that I have never had before; not with words, but with the dynamic movement of muscles and the slight touch of encouragement. We ran and sweated together. I realized that the horse is not a pet or slave, but a companion and partner. It was unlike relationships with people. Everyone acted phony, saying things that they didn’t really mean. I was disgusted by the stupid phoniness people showed. It was like talking to an old friend to ‘communicate’ with her. Maybe the world is wrong from the beginning; it shouldn’t have been ruled by phony humans, but by horses.