Bob and Emily

It was late autumn when he saw her. Indian Summer was in full swing, the sky was a beautiful cerulean blue, and the trees were simply ablaze with color. Bob had decided to take advantage of the unseasonable weather, and was walking through the woods, reveling in the explosion of reds, oranges and yellows.
It was Fourth of July fireworks in October, the forest’s last big show before the icy blanket of snow settled on the land, and silenced the rustling leaves for the winter.

He had stopped to get a drink from the little stream that wound its way through the trees, crystal cool water that babbled contentedly over the rocks on the start of its long journey to the Gulf of Mexico. When he raised his head, she was standing on the other side, and he gazed into the most beautiful chestnut brown eyes that he had ever seen.

“Uh, oh,” he thought. “Goodbye heart.”

Now, there are those who might scoff at the idea of love at first sight, but as for Bob, he never had the slightest doubt. He knew right then and there that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and apparently she felt the same way. They soon became inseparable, spending long afternoons together, walking through the meadows, planning for the future, reminiscing about the past and sharing the present. He wondered how he had ever survived without her, and thrilled to the way his heart would race whenever she was near.

Sure, he knew they had their differences, but what couple doesn’t? Yet his family and friends remained adamantly opposed to the relationship. “Love is blind,” they said, “Wake up and smell the coffee, Bob. She’s too different for you. You’ll never make it work. If nothing else, look at the difference in your ages, for Pete’s sake. She comes from the wrong side of the tracks. A union like this, it’s never been done before, what are you, some kind of radical?”

And even his mother joined in the chorus, “Bob honey, face the facts. She’s black, and you’re white. Folks just can’t accept someone so different from us.”

But Bob didn’t care. When he looked into her eyes, all he saw was the most beautiful, caring soul that he had ever met. And so they persevered. But everywhere they went, they could feel the disapproving stares, and hear the whispered conversations that went on behind their backs. Oh, they tried their best to ignore it, but ultimately, the social stigma was just too much for them to bear.

So, late one evening, after the sun set, they met down by their beloved stream and simply faded away into the darkness of the night, never to return.

Well, the scandal rocked the little community. The enormity of what they had done was unprecedented, and the gossip burned for weeks that stretched into years, and eventually became a legend that reached far beyond the little farm where it was born.

Perhaps you’ve even heard of it...

The day the cow and the horse ran away.