****** Horse Story by Donna ****** =============================================================================== Horse Story It was a crisp, bright January morning as Donna Wonttell steadily pedaled her bicycle up the two-lane road on her way to work. Most girls her age drove to where they wanted to go, but Donna enjoyed experiencing the scenery at a pace that was unhurried. She passed many family-owned farms and never missed looking for the horses that some of them kept in pasture. She would much rather be riding a horse to work! However, even though she lived in a small town, machinery had managed to push horses out of service in all but the most die- hard of farms. Also, Donna still couldn't afford to take care of a horse on the wages she was making waiting tables. She just had to get a better job! As she pedaled on she dreamed of having a farm of her own where she could raise horses. In the same thought, Donna couldn't help thinking that her dream may never come to pass. Her family couldn't afford to send her to college, and she just couldn't accept her mother's urging to marry this or that young man and settle down. Donna didn't want to settle down as she had seen so many of her high school friends do. Most of them settled for the first eligible bachelor to cross their path, and were busy having babies and not much else. Donna liked children. However, her idea of a happy marriage included a husband who loved horses as much as she did. "Someday," Donna told herself. As she got about two miles from her house, she regretted not using the bathroom before setting off for work. Looking around, she saw a large clump of bushes next to a small pasture that blocked the view of the road. Quickly pulling her bicycle out of sight, she crouched in the bushes and began to relieve herself. In the distance she saw a horse that she had missed before pulling in. The horse, however, had not missed her pulling into his domain. He made his way curiously over towards her and slowed down as he neared. Donna was a bit at a loss as to what to do when the horse finally made it to the fence. Donna hadn't finished urinating yet as the horse put its head curiously over the top rail of the fence. From her vantage point it was quite evident that the horse was a stallion. She had seen many stallions before. However, never when she was in quite so compromising a position. She couldn't believe she was taking a leak next to a stallion whose nose was just a few feet from her. The fact that she was urinating did not escape the stallion's notice either. It was early January, and the breeding season had not started yet. Steam rose from her pussy and the slowly growing pool of urine. Being a stallion, he inhaled deeply and recognized a somewhat familiar scent. As he raised his head and curled his upper lip up in the fleshmen response, Donna couldn't believe that this stallion was treating her as if she might be a mare. The stallion's penis had already dropped a good way out of his sheath and he took another look at her over the fence. A low nicker came from deep in his throat as he looked at her. To Donna it sounded sort of like "Huh, huh. Huh, huh, huh." Donna imagined that in horse language it probably meant something like "Hey, baby! How's about you an' me..." wink wink. By this time the stallion was fully drawn and began slapping his penis against his belly. With every slap, the glans of his penis would flare up larger and larger. "Amazing," thought Donna. "Imagine the lucky mare that gets to receive that on a regular basis! He was fully at least eighteen inches long and more than three inches in diameter." What was most impressive was the way his glans swelled up to over six inches across. At this vantage point, Donna could easily see his urethral process protruding about a half an inch from his glans, surrounded by a large channel, the Urethral diverticulum as she remembered it being called. The stallion's masturbation had begun to have an effect. Donna could see a bit of clear fluid glistening on the tip of his urethra. The stallion was getting into it pretty good now and every so often a small jet of fluid would squirt out of the tip of his cock, not quite reaching his front legs. Donna wished she could help him out with his masturbation and then realized where she was. "Oh, no!," Donna exclaimed. "I've got to get to work!" And with that, she quickly stood up and zipped up her pants. The stallion perked up his ears and gave her some more of his "Huh, huh" solicitations as she prepared to leave. She glanced over at him and his throbbing member and wished she didn't have to leave. Walking over to him, she bravely gave him a quick pat. As an afterthought, she reached her hand down her pants and gave her pussy a quick fingering. She held her hand out to the stallion and let him have a quick sniff. The stallion responded by giving her hand a quick lick followed by more anxious nickering. "What am I doing?" thought Donna. "I just stuck my hand under a perfectly strange stallion's nose! If I'm not more careful, I may be counting my fingers next time." As she walked towards her bicycle, Donna promised herself that she would have to stop by this pasture again if she felt the call of nature--or even if she didn't. The stallion looked back at her questioningly as she mounted her bicycle, his erection diminishing. Donna couldn't help thinking that she was getting close to her period and had just had a stallion tell her he knew it and wouldn't mind a roll in the hay with her! As she rode away, a man noticed someone riding away from where his stallion was standing. Paul McGregor had been self-employed and was now retired at the ripe young age of 31. He had lucked out in one of his business ventures. After many failures to invent something that would make him rich, he was beginning to wonder whether his dream of financial security was ever attainable. Then he hit upon something that seemed so obvious that no one had ever thought to market. "What the hell," thought Paul. If it fails, that narrows down the list of things that have promise. The immediate success of his invention skyrocketed his bank account and gave Paul financial security and the means to realize his dream. After signing an licensing agreement to have a company manufacture his product, Paul began looking for his dream farm. This cold crispness in the air was beginning to burn off as Paul stepped out of the house. He had just finished his breakfast and wandered over to the stallion barn. He always fed his horses before breakfast so that they would have a good bit of food if he wanted to go for a morning ride. On the rare occasions when he pulled one of his horses from a meal, he had to deal with a very grumpy horse indeed. The old saying The way to a man's heart is through his stomach goes double for horses. His stallion's registered name was "He's a Kings Commander" but Paul just called him King. After all, being the only stallion on his farm, King was quite fitting. As Paul neared King's paddock, he noticed a girl riding a bicycle furiously away from King. The look King was giving her did not escape Paul's notice--neither did the fact that King had his wanker swinging in the breeze as he watched her leave. When the girl was out of sight, Paul gave a shrill whistle to the stallion. King came trotting up to him and then looked back towards the direction the girl had ridden off. "Whatcha up to big guy?" Paul asked. "I saw you waving hello to that girl by the fence. It's getting pretty close to breeding season isn't it? I'll bet you gave that girl something to think about today, didn't you?" King nuzzled Paul's neck and gave him a low "Huh, huh" in response. "OK, boy. I'll get you up on the phantom after our ride. Sasha just came into heat. Next month, you won't have to settle for the plastic pony!" Paul led King out of his paddock and clipped him to the hitching rail. He began his methodical currying and brushing to prepare King for a nice ride. King especially liked it when Paul brushed between his front legs and under his belly. He showed his appreciation by craning his neck way out and bunching his upper lip and making side-to-side grooming motions with it. Sometimes Paul let King groom him back. King's upper lip making sweeping motions all over his back while Paul groomed him. Paul didn't groom too hard when King was doing this. King sometimes tended to forget that he was dealing with tender human flesh and would sometimes give Paul a light nip. Of course, to Paul this felt like he had just had a chunk of flesh ripped from his back. So, Paul had learned King's mannerisms and they both enjoyed a symbiotic grooming when others weren't around. Paul picked out King's hooves and gave his legs a thorough going-over. King rarely turned up lame. Of course, when you can afford the finest veterinary and farrier services in the county, problems were usually circumvented before they had a chance to get out of control. "OK boy, let's get you saddled up," Paul said as he spread the saddle pad and then the saddle over King's back. King's withers were nice and tall so Paul had to bunch up lot of saddle pad over them to prevent chafing. Those tall withers came in handy, especially on steep hills, preventing the saddle from riding up on King's neck. After putting on King's bridle, Paul mounted up and began riding towards the road where he had seen the girl and King. As they approached the spot where the girl had been, King's ears pricked up and he became a little more interested in the bushes next to the fence. When they reached the spot where the girl had been King looked over at the bushes and tried to stop. "What's the matter, buddy? Paul asked. King responded by lifting his head and giving the fleshmen response. Something smell funny big guy? OK, let's have a look." Paul dismounted and walked over to a secluded spot in one of the bushes that King seemed to want to get to. King stuck his nose into a large wet spot in the grass and continued to give the flehmen response, making loud sucking noises. Paul reached down and touched the moist area that King was so interested in. He already had some suspicions as he raised his fingers to his nose. "Well, well," Paul chuckled. "You were watching that girl piss as you beat off, weren't you?" King answered by sticking his nose back into the spot and acting like he was preparing to classify a fine bottle of wine. King raised his head again and had clear fluid dripping from both nostrils. "Analysis, Mr. Spock," Paul jokingly asked King. "Is she in heat?" If King's hard-on was any indication, she most certainly was. Paul began to feel a bit conspicuous standing in the bushes with a stallion who was getting hornier by the minute as he wacked his pecker against his belly. Leading a reluctant King from the bushes, Paul mounted up again and continued on with their ride. As they rode on, Paul couldn't get the thought of the girl out of his mind. "Who was she?," he thought. "Does she ride by here often? I wonder if she likes horses." "Of course, she may have been scared off by that monster dick of yours," he told King. "I hope she likes stallions." Paul road off into the mountains and just plain enjoyed life. As they began to make their way back to the barn they passed by the now well-known bushes, King turned his head towards them and gave a low nicker. "Huh, huh. Huh, huh, huh." Donna waited her tables in a fog. She had made it to work with just minutes to spare. She had just gotten this job recently and didn't want to lose it. She kept thinking about the sight of the stallion beating off as she had the closest look of a flaring stallion's cock than she had ever hoped for. The sight of it had made her nipples crinkle in pleasure. The fact that she was endowed with more than an ample bosom, (42-D to be exact), made the effect all the more impressive. She thought about the size of the stallion's balls as she absentmindedly refilled a rough-looking customer's coffee cup. Those stud's balls were big enough to completely fill both her palms held together. They were as large as a grapefruit! "Hey, Honey! Are you cold or just happy to see me?" the man asked as she was filling his cup. Donna came out of her daydream and realized that she must have been thinking about that stallion a little too hard. Her nipples were in an obvious state arousal. She self-consciously moved away from the crude jerk and accidentally spilled some hot coffee on his groin. "Shit!" the man yelped. "I'm so sorry sir," Donna apologized insincerely. She hoped the guy's nuts were roasted for a few days. Still, she didn't want to get fired. Jobs in this little town were few and far between. If someone got canned, everybody I knew about it and I the supposed events that caused it. She wished that she could work with horses -- that she could breed horses. She found herself thinking back to the stallion and looked at her watch. It was only two hours before her shift was over. She planned on seeing if the stallion was still near the fence on her ride home. As Donna approached the bushes where she had stopped that morning, she began getting anxious. The stallion was nowhere in sight. Just as she was about to ride on, she decided that she would relieve herself in the bushes. Perhaps if she freshened the scent, the stallion would decide that these bushes were a nice place to hang out. She quickly pulled into the bushes and relieved herself. King was just getting into enjoying his dinner when he heard a bicycle in the distance. He thought of going out to investigate but changed his mind as he polished off the last bits of his hot bran mash. He really enjoyed the way Paul treated him. He always seemed to find the best spots to scratch, he fed him well, and he got to get his rocks off on a regular basis. Yes, King had a wonderful life. As he began to start on his alfalfa, he heard the bicycle again. This time he decided to have a look outside. He ambled outside just in time to see The Girl riding away from the bushes that he had been at this morning. He pricked his ears forward and was about to trumpet a call to her when she rode out of sight. King let out a deep sigh and slowly walked back to finish his dinner. Donna got home and helped her mother with dinner. Her mother asked her The Question during dinner again. She hated it when her mother brought the subject up. "You don't want to grow up to be an old maid, do you?" Her mother chided her once again. "How about that nice young man that took you to the prom last year? He seemed like such a nice young man. He even picked you up in a limousine." "Mother! His father's a mortician!" Donna protested. "That 'limo' he picked me up in is what they use to carry dead people in!" "Well, you could do worse," her mother countered. "After all, he does pull a steady income." Donna didn't to point out to her mother that his steady income came from the fact that people were dying to the tune of an exorbitantly large profit. After dinner, Donna mindlessly washed the dishes as she looked out the kitchen window. The sun had almost set and created a spectacular sunset across the horizon. Donna's thoughts went back to the stallion. She imagined herself riding him bareback in the moonlight as their naked flesh pressed together, joined in a sweaty, erotic fusion that they experienced as one. They stopped in a warm, secluded meadow next to a crystal-clear babbling brook. As she dismounted she glanced down at his maleness which hung prominently between his hind legs, nicely accented by his more than ample testicles. She slowly inhaled his scent as he nuzzled her between her breasts, and gave her an affectionate lick as he made his way down towards her navel and beyond. He began his low nickering as he prepared to lick her nether regions. Her nipples crinkled in sensual anticipation... "Donna! What are you looking at?" her mother asked. "Oh, nothing mother, just enjoying the sunset." Donna finished with the dishes and finished stacking them neatly in the cupboard. I'm going to my room and read a novel, Donna said as she headed for her room. Donna's mother absently watched TV in the living room where she sat with Donna's father. Without responding, she stared blankly, watching another rerun that they had seen many times before. Donna took in the scene and hoped that she could avoid the mindless ritual that her parents had gotten into. She quietly walked to her room and opened her novel. Donna woke with a start, she had been dreaming about the stallion and their ride in the moonlit meadow. Her panties were absolutely soaked, and she was as horny as the proverbial two- peckered goat. She began to rub her clit to find some relief when she thought, "Why not? Everybody's asleep, and won't notice me leaving." With that, she quickly bundled up in some warm clothes and quietly made her way out to her bicycle. She couldn't believe she was actually riding at night to visit a stallion; a stallion that she hadn't known of before today. She almost turned back before she realized that if she chickened out now, she may never get the courage or the opportunity to try this again. She resolutely pedaled on, the bushes, her bushes, were beckoning. As she approached, she could just make out the form of a horse in the paddock. His shiny Palomino coat was easy to make out in the half-light of the moon. She slowed her approach and silently parked her bike in the bushes away from the narrow road. The stallion of course didn't overlook the fact that someone had just stopped in the bushes where The Girl had been. He made his way cautiously towards the person when he caught a familiar scent on the breeze. It was the girl--the mysterious mare! King let out a low nicker as he approached closer. Donna saw the stallion and thought she saw recognition in his eyes as he nickered to her. "Hello, boy! It's nice to see you again." King craned his neck over the top fence rail as he nickered to her again. Donna didn't think as she reached over and petted King that she was in any danger. He seemed like such a mellow horse -- for a stallion. Donna decided that now would be a good time to relieve herself. After all, it had stimulated the stallion before. As she began relieving herself, King tried to crane his neck closer to her, sniffing loudly. The top rail prevented him from getting closer to her. Just as Donna had really started flowing, King backed away a bit from the fence and then stuck his head between the middle and top fence rails. Ah! Now he had access to this mysterious mare! Donna didn't see what King was up to until he stuck his muzzle right into her urine stream. Donna almost fell over as she yelped and clamped off her flow. King was in heaven! This new mare had just pissed her scent right on his muzzle! She must certainly be in heat! King was fleshmening and making loud sniffing sounds as he analyzed Donna's scent. "Yes! She most definitely was in heat!" thought King. His cock was well on its way to becoming a ravingly serious hard-on. He began belly slapping with his cock just as Donna was regaining her composure. She backed off a ways and decided it was safe for her to finish pissing. King continued to belly slap and then turned to her and nickered again. "You sure are horny, aren't you boy? When's the last time you had a mare?" With that, Donna said to herself "What the hell, you only live once." She quickly pulled up her pants and approached the lustful stallion. King pulled his neck out from between the rails and craned his head back over the top rail. Easy, boy, Donna said as she cautiously approached the horny stud. "Do you want me to help you with that big boner of yours?" To herself, Donna wondered just how exactly she proposed to help him out with something the size of a Louisville Slugger. As she patted him on the forehead, King nuzzled her shoulder the way he nuzzled Paul. "You seem gentle enough boy. Promise you'll be good?" To that Donna got another nicker and a nuzzle on the cheek. Donna looked underneath the stud and just began to realize the enormity of what she proposed to do. There was no way she could ever get the flared head of that monster inside any of her orifices. It wasn't flared right now, but Donna wasn't about to kid herself. As soon as the stallion started getting really excited, his glans would flare up to the size she had witnessed that morning. Something like that would split her in two. If she tried to deep-throat him, he would surely dislocate her jaw. Donna decided to take the cautious approach. She took off her sweater and hung it on one of the branches behind her. She reached through the fence and patted the stallion's belly. King obliged her by moving closer to the fence. She took a tentative rub against his glans with her right hand. King rewarded her with a slap of his cock against his belly and a small squirt of clear fluid. Donna was getting bolder now. She reached out and grabbed the head of his cock and didn't let go. King gave a few short humps and quite a bit more pre-cum squirted out. At first Donna thought he had ejaculated. But as she looked at her hand in the pale moonlight, she could see that the fluid was still clear. Donna knew that stallions ejaculated in fractions. The first being a clear, thin fluid that helped neutralize any urine that was in the urethra. The second fraction should be the whitish, watery sperm-rich fraction. The last fraction would be the thick, clear gel-fraction that some people say acts as a plug to prevent the semen from being discharged from the mare. So, Donna kept her eye out for any evidence of this. King was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to get on with what she had started. He nickered to her and gave his belly another slap with his cock. You're a horny one, aren't you boy? Donna said happily to King. She sniffed her fingers. It didn't smell like much. "Oh, why not?" she thought as she extended her tongue and experimentally licked a little bit of the pre-cum off of her fingers. Slightly salty, pleasant actually, she decided. She began wondering what stallion cum would taste like. King had begun to get restless with her momentary lapse of attention. However, as she grasped his glans again, he returned to spurting small jets of pre-cum onto her hands. Donna switched hand positions so that King's glans was in her left hand and she grasped the shaft of his penis right behind the ring. King responded by even more vigorous thrusting than before. Donna's hands were riding his cock like a professional bronc rider. King was making steady pumping motions and low groans as she gripped his glans tightly and lightly rotated it like a living doorknob. With every thrust, she would jack his shaft just behind the ring, attempting to imitate what she thought a mare would feel like to him. This went on for about a minute when all of a sudden King's thrusting got more pronounced and sporadic. His glans was flared up to maximum when all of a sudden King let out a loud grunt, dropped his head and started flagging his tail up and down. Donna's efforts were rewarded with jet after jet of creamy- white cum. Some of it shot on the fence rail and splashed on the ground beyond, however most of it was blocked by her fingers as it ran down her left arm and dripped from her elbow. After about seven strong jets of cum followed by three or four smaller ones, King's head was dropped nearly to the grass in his paddock. He was spent and his penis almost immediately began to retract back into its sheath. Donna didn't want to miss her chance. She quickly pulled King's glans towards her waiting mouth and gave it a long lick. Cum dribbled out of the tip onto her waiting tongue. "Marvelous!" she thought as King's penis finished its retraction out of sight. She looked at her left arm and realized that it was covered in stallion cum. She hadn't the forethought to bring anything for cleanup, so without any hesitation she began licking her arm clean. This was a trip she was sure to remember for the rest of her life. Of course, she planned on having many other visits to help out her stud. She was half way home when she realized that the stallion's penis had been incredibly clean. Most stallions and geldings she had seen always had blackish crusty flakes of smegma that needed periodic washing off. His owner must be a real stickler for health, she thought. I've just got to meet him. She hoped the owner was a him... Paul had tried to sleep but just couldn't forget the thought of the mysterious girl urinating in front of horny ol' King. His hard-on demanded attention and he knew just the cure for that! Paul quickly threw on a warm robe and made his way out to the heated barn. "Money has its uses," Paul thought with a smile. Sasha was his bay mare, and she had just come into heat. She greeted him happily with a nicker and a light nuzzle on the cheek. The other mares looked out at him and nickered their greetings to him. "OK, OK," Paul said as he reached into his robe pocket and gave each one of them a carrot stick and scratched them in turn. Paul liked to buy the baby carrots because they were the perfect size for his robe pockets. The contented sounds of horses chewing filled the barn. As the mares munched away contentedly, Paul opened Sasha's stall door and gave her a nice scratching along the sides of her withers. She craned her neck and made ecstatic goofy faces with her upper lip. He moved in closer and embraced her around the neck as he scratched along the side of her neck just beneath her mane. He was rewarded with a crushing pony hug as she tried to groom his back. Paul stepped away from her after a bit and looked deeply into her eyes. Nothing there except love and devotion. The same feelings Paul had for all of his horses. He embraced her head and stroked the side of her neck for a while. Sasha let out a long, contented sigh and nuzzled Paul's cheek. Paul kissed her affectionately on the side of her muzzle and gave her an exploratory lick. Sasha leaned into him and licked back. Her breath smelled of carrots and tasted like carrots mixed with the slight tanginess of alfalfa. Paul began to French- kiss her deeply. After a few minutes, Sasha was practically purring as she enjoyed Paul's affections. Paul removed his robe and draped it over the stall door. Sasha looked at him knowingly and walked over to him. She sniffed his quite ready manhood and gave it a small nuzzle. Paul stroked her neck and Sasha dropped her head expectantly. Paul placed his penis along the side of her well-lubricated lips and they parted effortlessly. The warm embrace of her mouth was pure ecstasy. Sasha began a slow rhythmic tonguing of Paul's penis as she drove him closer to his limit. Paul was buried to the hilt and making ragged breathing sounds. Sasha felt Paul's penis begin to really stiffen up and redoubled her efforts. She knew that this meant that she was going to get to taste one of Paul's special treats. Paul came explosively while Sasha kept up her relentless tonguing, swallowing every spurt of cum that Paul could supply. Finally, Paul's member began to subside. Sasha really enjoyed giving head! Paul loved Sasha very much and had a very full sex life with all of his horses. He walked around to her hindquarters and scratched her gently along her rump. Sasha responded by raising her tail off to the left side. Paul looked at her vulva with eager anticipation. She was in raging heat. Small dribbles of semi- thick clear fluid dripped from her vulva. Paul wet his middle finger in his mouth and ran it along the length of her vulva. He was rewarded by Sasha raising her tail until it curled almost on top of her backbone. Paul leaned over and gave her vulva a teasing lick. She responded by raising her tail even higher and winking her clitoris outward a few times. Paul never ceased to be amazed at how mares were able to actually make their clitorises protrude outward and then disappear back into hiding. Truly remarkable! Paul continued tonguing Sasha's clit and inside her vagina as she kept up her rhythmic winking. "You sure are hot tonight!" Paul thought as he drank deeply of her offerings. She was exceedingly horny and wanted to lean hard into Paul's face for more penetration. Paul imagined that if it were within Sasha's capabilities, she would have Paul's entire head inside her pussy. She had learned though that if she backed up too far, Paul would stop what he was doing and make her take a few steps forward. She didn't realize that in her efforts to get Paul's magic tongue further within her vagina, she had once pinned his head against the stall's wall. Of course, Paul enjoyed a willing sex partner as much as the next guy. However, there is such a thing as too much enthusiasm where fragile humans are concerned. Paul stopped his tonguing to walk into the tack room and came back with a milk crate. Sasha knew that this meant even greater enjoyment. Her tail was curled up against her back as Paul set the milk crate behind her. Her vulva was really dripping her natural lubrication now. Paul stood on the milk crate and positioned himself behind her waiting vulva. Sasha looked back over her shoulder at him expectantly. Paul reached down and smeared some of her love juice around with head of his penis as he prepared to enter her. As he slowly inserted himself into her, she responded by contracting her pussy walls against his penis and leaning back into him. Paul felt his penis rub against her pelvic arch as he pressed deeper. When all of Paul's penis was buried deeply within her, he began a slow, rhythmic pumping. Sasha ears were flicking back and forth and she paused every once in a while to look over her shoulder at Paul. Every second or third stroke Paul was rewarded by Sasha tensing up her vaginal walls giving him an extra-tight fit. Paul kept up his pumping while scratching Sasha's back. This double-dose of attention began to have a marked effect on Sasha. She began to moan softly every ten or so seconds. "Unh, unh." Her small moans were punctuated by Paul's balls slapping against her periodically protruding clitoris. Sasha's moans were beginning to get louder and closer together. Each moan was accompanied by a cock-crunching spasm that began to send Paul into a pumping frenzy. Sasha's orgasms were getting closer and quite strong now as Paul approached his limit. With a few final spasmodic thrusts, Paul buried himself to the hilt as he came deep within Sasha. He bent over, spent, and rested his sweating cheek along her back as he hugged and kissed her. All the while giving her scratches along the sides of her withers. Sasha craned her head back and gave Paul a loving nuzzle on his cheek and forehead and Paul responded with several kisses along her muzzle and cheek. After about five minutes, Paul slowly removed his spent cock from Sasha and stepped off the milk crate. Sasha turned around and gave him another nuzzle. Paul leaned into her and hugged her long and hard. Sasha returned his affection by giving him another bone-crushing pony hug. As Paul stepped away from her, she gave his penis a nuzzle, trying to coax it back to attention. "Sorry, Sash, the soldier's all marched out for a while yet. However," he said as he reached for his robe, "here's a carrot that you can chew on for now." Sasha took the baby carrot from Paul and crunched it happily. Paul finished petting the other mares and gave them some more carrots as he prepared to say good night to them.