They could smell it in the air. It was the kind of static electricity that raised every hair on your body and gave the impression that the very air could catch on fire any second. It was dark, but I could see the outline of them in the stables. More than that, I could hear them as if they were standing right beside me. I could only imagine them as people, scared and screaming as they awaited the coming storm, not being able to do what their very nature told them to — run. I creeped along the barbed wire fence. Lightening lit up the sky in black and white and purple. I was close enough now that I could see them rearing up in the stable and as the lightening flashed again, I could’ve sworn one of them looked me in the eyes, begging. Pleading. As I reached their gate, I felt the slightest trickle of water run down my cheek. I reached out my hand in offering and they seemed to still as if my very presence gave them hope. Truth be told, they’d be safer here sheltered from the storm. I recognized that look in their eyes though. The wild yearning for freedom and safety that only they could achieve for themselves. The hands of another could never give them that. As I unlocked the gate, the storm finally broke free of the clouds. Pouring rain, lightning, and thunder echoed off the metal roof as their gate swung open. I watched as they surveyed their new found freedom. Indecision and fear shone in their big eyes but there was something else too — releif. Their relentless anticipation seemed to melt away with the knowlage that they had a choice. As I made my way back down the barbed wire fence, I looked back once more through bleary eyes and saw them once again as people. They were now a family seeking shelter from the storm and no longer prisoners under the pretense of safety. I smiled.