I woke up to a strange sound — a dragging, scraping noise. At first, I assumed it was just the trash cans being knocked over by the wind. But when I walked into the kitchen, I saw that the bottom half of our back door was broken apart… and there stood Oscar, our horse, calmly on the patio with a piece of the broken door looped around his neck.
Somehow, he had managed to get out, even though the latch on his paddock gate was still locked. He wasn’t hurt, but he definitely seemed shaken. Then, something caught my eye — a small movement near the tree line. I grabbed a flashlight and stepped outside.
Oscar didn’t move. It was like he knew his job was done. That’s when I saw her: a young girl, maybe nine or ten years old, huddled beside a backpack at the edge of the woods. Her name was Kendra. She had left home after a difficult moment and wandered through the forest, unsure where to go.
It seems Oscar had sensed her and came to get help.
I gave her something to eat and called the local sheriff. When they arrived, she clung to me tightly, hesitant to leave. Eventually, she went with them, but I made sure to get the number of the social worker who was taking over her care.
That day, something shifted.
Lately, we’d been so focused on money troubles, fixing up the house, and long work hours. But Oscar reminded us that sometimes, in the middle of all the stress, we might actually be making a bigger difference than we realize.
Sometimes, life breaks your door open to show you why you’re really here.
