I stood along the rail of my pen while Mary was gone. I watched the horses around me. They all seemed relaxed as the quietly ate their hay. A few of them had laid down in the warm sun. I noticed the round critter with no neck was across the field. She was close to one of the horses that was sprawled out on his side. She pushed the black dirt around with her snout as the horses that surrounded her slept. They did not seem to think she was a threat. It still seemed odd to me, but I was gradually getting used to these strange critters. They had not seemed to be dangerous yet. Everyone else seemed to think they were ok. I dropped my head and ate some more of my hay.

The sun was starting to drop in the sky. The soft light blanketed the pasture, lighting up the grass to an iridescent glow. I watched the horses graze and thought to myself how wonderful it would be to graze in that field. The grass looked as if it went on forever. I noticed a horse walking beside Mary towards the pasture. She opened the gate and he followed her inside. She then set him free. He dropped down immediately and rolled. I noticed he only managed to flip twice. That made me chuckle inside. When he got up he trotted off to where two other horses were standing and dropped his head to eat. I thought to myself how interesting that was. How the horse had walked along side of Mary, seemingly relaxed and content, and how she set him free to eat and roll at his own free will. I would not be that comfortable with her that close to me. She was within two feet of that horse, no my invisible line between myself and Mary was a good fifteen feet. It sure would be nice to eat that green grass though.

Mary continued walking up from the field. She was coming back up the hill towards me. As she approached she said, "Do you think we could try it just one more time?" Try it? I wondered what she meant by that. She entered the pen.

She stepped towards the middle and snapped her fingers, I immediately faced her. I knew what that meant. She walked around me and I followed, keeping my body aligned so that I was facing her. Facing her but still not letting my left eye see. I had much rather her be in my right vision. She seemed ok with that this time. As Mary walked around me she would sometimes step away as well. I would step towards her to fill the space and she would smile and speak in those soft rhythmical tones. It was so relaxing, I licked and chewed. Every so often she would step in closer to me. I would become a bit tense, but I did not back up or shoot away. The longer she stayed there and walked side to side the more comfortable I got. Before long she was standing only three feet from me. I really never noticed her moving closer, I just gradually felt more comfortable with her presence there.

We were standing still, Mary at my right shoulder three feet away. Her hands were limp at her sides. I was relaxed, but very aware of her presence beside me. She took a small step closer. I took a small step away. I just could not bring myself to be comfortable with her that close. She again stepped towards me. I again stepped away. We did this, ever so slowly, until I reached the rail on my left. I thought about jetting away. I was slightly trapped, between Mary and the rail. I was not totally relaxed with Mary being this close, but I was not so frightened as to jet off. I decided to stand there. We both remained still. As time grew on I became more at ease and felt my body relax. Mary eased in closer. I felt a bit of apprehension swell up in me and shifted my weight back, but did not take a step. Again we stood.

Mary was now within a foot from me. She slowly, ever so slowly raised her hand. My body grew tense and I shifted my weight to hug the rail. Just before I shot away Mary stopped. She held her hand still in mid air, just at the edge of my comfort zone. Had she moved an inch closer I would have been gone, but I held my own and watched as her hand rested in mid air, only a mear 6 inches from the side of my neck. We remained like this for quite some time. I gradually become more comfortable with her being there and began to relax.

Mary slowly drifted her hand closer to my neck. Her fingers hung down relaxed with her palm down. Her hand was within two inches from my skin. I could feel the energy from it. I watched, I felt, but I did not move. Slowly I saw Mary out stretch her fingers towards me. I felt two fingers land softly on the side of my neck. They slide down my neck only a few inches as I grew ridged and went to jump back. In that very moment, as my energy sailed backwards away from Mary she stepped back away from me. It was as if we were connected by that invisible line. I felt my body surge back forward to fill the space she had created so quickly. I found myself back as I was before. She was at my shoulder, only a foot away. I relaxed as I remembered how long we had stood like this, I was ok with her here.

Again she slowly lifted her hand. I watched, but did not move. She stretched her fingers back out and my eyes widened as she rested them back on my skin. My body grew tense and I shifted my weight back, but did not move. I quivered slightly as I stood still and let her fingers rest on my neck. I felt their warmth as her fingers laid still. I could feel that they were real, a part of a living being. They were full of life, not dead and empty like the metal panel that brushed my left side. She slowly eased her entire hand against my neck. All five fingers slowly applied soft pressure and then her palm landed quietly in between them. I could feel the added heat that was caused by her hand covering more surface area on my neck. I could even feel her pulse gently touching me. It was rhythmical, I liked that it was rhythmical. She rested her hand there for quite some time. I gradually began to take comfort in it. It did not hurt, the energy I felt exuding from her was kind. Gentle and kind.