Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, lived a beautiful horse named Gabriel. He was fast as the wind and smart as an encyclopedia, he was really proud of it. He had many friends because of his kind attitude. Every morning he would go into the woods for a run. Nothing ever seemed to change, until one day, on his usual morning run, he saw something approaching, though it didn't seem dangerous.
Gabriel stood there, waiting and as soon as the other creature realized that, it slowed down. The other creature stared at Gabriel from not so far away. That’s when Gabriel could see him more clearly.
‘’If I were his meal or a threat, he would have done something already.’’
That’s what crossed Gabriel's mind as he saw him so peacefully. He was intrigued by his attitude…
‘’I see you’re not afraid of me’’
‘’Why would I? If you wanted to harm me, you would have done something already’’
He ignored Gabriel and started to move in circles around him.
‘’I see you are very fast, much like the wind. And very smart’’
‘’Everyone keeps saying that, I suppose you’re right’
‘’You know you could be their king if you wanted to, right?’’
‘’What? I don’t understand’’
‘’You could be the most powerful creature around everyone else. You could be a god for everyone.’’
Gabriel was shocked by even thinking about it, given that the idea had never crossed his mind
‘’Why would I want that?’’
‘’Power is one of the best feelings in the world, it can get you anywhere you want, and specially anything you want. And you know, I am a King. If you were a King, we could bring our kingdoms together and become even stronger”’
‘’But I like the way things are right now, why change it?’’
‘’We could accomplish great things together… Just think about it’’
And as soon as he said it, he left. He went away so fast that Gabriel barely had time to react and see who he was talking to. Time went by and he was still standing there, thinking about what the other creature had said. Gabriel started to imagine how things would change, but he could only see good scenarios, there wasn’t any problem he could think of if things changed. That’s when he made up his mind.
He came back with his friends, explained what happened and everyone agreed with him, because he was the smartest there. They agreed everyone would report to him and do whatever Gabriel wanted and it worked, for a while. Until it didn’t...
Weeks passed and Gabriel started to get really demanding, which caused his friends to start disliking him. He would do nothing all day and make everyone do his chores.
‘”You, the one I don’t like anymore, bring me water. Cold water. And you, the one with the ugly hair, bring me some food, I’m feeling a little hungry’’
His friends were sick of the situation, so little by little, they started moving away. Seeing that things would not change, they thought it was the best option. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by Gabriel.
“Where’s everybody? Someone explain what’s going on, right now”
He felt something moving behind him and turned around
“Feeling lonely?”
Gabriel turned around and there he was again, this time, he had the biggest smile he had ever seen.
“Yes, and it’s all because of you! You’re the one who told me to become a King”
“I did not. You did. I thought you were smart, but I guess I was wrong. It worked the way I wanted though”
“Why would you do this to me?”
“I consider myself a king, more like The King. And the thing is, there can only be a king in this world.”
“I lost everything...”
Gabriel saw him leave. He stood where everyone had left him, he knew it was a little too late for apologies, but was determined to do it. He wanted to do things right, even though he did not know how.