I walked up to Jasmine. The Belmont Stakes were today. There hadn't been another triple crown winner for the past 20 years. Jasmine nodded her head. I climbed into the truck after her. It had been twenty years since Survivor left, and the barn had been too quiet ever since. I had retired as a jockey, but still helped around the barn. Jasmine started the truck and we drove off down the gravel drive.

I nuzzled my foal next to me. He took a bite of grass, and together we started grazing. My mother approached. She had been sad lately but the foal managed to cheer her up. You see, my father died recently and very tragically. My friend walked up to me. Her filly came up to my little colt and snorted. The colt snapped his head up and playfully tried to bite the filly. They ran off together. I just stood and watched. A heard a noise of a car in the distance. I thought, it can't be them. They said they could never return. Swamped with grief, I shook myself to clear my head. It helped until two foals came back, startled. I walked over and my friend and I tried to calm the pair. We cantered over to where the foals had disappeared, the pair charging up the hill behind us. I stopped at the crest of the hill. Everyone froze. A truck was parked. The foals and my friend started to back away. I stayed there but I pinned my ears back. Two figures were inside, one of them stepped out.

I didn't think she'd be alive, I just wanted to see the herd at least. I stepped out of the truck and saw another horse approach. I could tell it was this horse's mother. The mare was strikingly similar to Survivor, but my horse wouldn't have been hostile to humans, would she? I stepped around the truck and slowly approached the small group. I could see the herd gathered in the distance. The horse motioned to two yearlings. Together they ran back down the hill toward the herd. The mother walked back as well. It was only two mares. One of the mares stood next to the hostile one, then walked back down the hill, leaving the look alike horse with me. She launched at me.

I knew it was her, I just wanted to be alone. I bolted the short distance to her and swung my head over her shoulder. She stood for a moment surprised, then she wrapped her hands around my neck. My colt came back up the hill and stared at me slightly dismayed. I beckoned him over to Anna. He sniffed cautiously and stepped forward. Anna offered her hand, then rubbed his forehead. He gave a small snort, shook his head and stomped away. We sat there looking at each other for a moment, catching up in each other's lives through our eyes. Then, Anna spoke up. " I've been trying to move on, but its hard. And I wanted to tell you something someone told me a long time ago." She pulled out a small slip of paper from her pocket and carefully unfolded it. She read from the paper. " If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it doesn't, it was never meant to be." She put the piece of paper back in her pocket. " I carry this around hoping it might come true. But it was truly never meant to be. I came back to tell you this. I think our bond is meant to be. But staying together, was never meant to be. And now, it's time to truly let you go. I may come back years later, to check on the herd. But I will never come back to take you." She kissed me one last time, and she climbed back into the truck and drove out of sight. I stood there, silent and still. I thought about past events in my life. The wind made the long grass sway gently. It ruffled my mane and made wisps of my tail fly. And as I watched Anna drove away for the last time, I thought to myself, it will always have been meant to be.