Just like those horses

"She was the best kind of girl, and the worst. She was the kind that would look you in the eye and smile, and you knew she meant it, and for the next few minutes while you had her attention, you felt like the only living being on the planet, aside from her. Then, a few minutes later, her attention would shift, and she'd smile at someone else, and she'd mean that one too, and it would inspire great bouts of jealousy within you. She was as free and careless as a wild horse roaming the foothills back home. You'd catch a glimpse every now and then, and when she noticed you, she'd saunter over to study you for a few seconds, let you run your hand down her neck, and entertain the thought that you might be able to tame her, only for her to take off, wild and free, with no particular place to go. You'd spend hours, days, searching for her, for just a glimpse, and occasionally you'd sight her, but you could never get close enough. She made you want to run free with her, anything, as long as you were next to her. She made you want to tame her so she'd always stay with you, so you could always be with her. But you would drive yourself mad, because you couldn't do either one. In the end, I knew I had to let go. I knew she wasn't the kind of girl that could be tamed, I knew she didn't need to be tamed, that her wild spirit is exactly what made me fall in love with her to begin with. She'd come around every now and then, and she'd stay for a while, just like those horses. And just like those horses, one day she'd just be gone, taken off to roam where she may. I realized, that last day, that just like the wild horses I grew up wishing I could be, her happiness was inextricably tied to her freedom, her will to come and go as she pleased. I realized that day, so long ago, that just like those horses, she was too beautiful to keep. That was the last time I saw her, running free in the wind, her hair trailing after her. I came back home, to the rolling hills of my youth, carrying with me every memory, every touch, every kiss. My time in the Army was over, so I hung up my uniform, put on my jeans and boots, grabbed my Stetson, and set out across the hills, with no particular place to go. I still think about her from time to time, whenever the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle fills the air, whenever the sunset strikes just so that the sky explodes in her favorite shade of orange, whenever I hear a note or two of her favorite song, carried like a whisper on the wind. And I see her in my mind, barefoot and beautiful, wild and free, flashing one last smile with a twinkle in her eye, right before she turns and runs toward her next great adventure, just like those horses."