After work, I drive home through Burbank’s equestrian neighborhood. I like to peek into the back yards with their traditional stables. I like to smell hay and manure from the parking lot at Pavilions. I drive slowly, keeping an eye out for horses clopping down the sycamore-lined streets.
One evening as I waited at an arterial, a unicorn paraded solemnly across the crosswalk in front of me. He had red satin ribbons braided through his tail and mane, and a pink satin horn tied to his forehead. He seemed very comfortable in this getup, almost as though he didn’t like to go out in public without his costume. I imagined he was once part of a stage show in Vegas and had retired to Burbank to wait out his golden years. He probably had a pet tiger at home in his sumptuous marble stable, like Siegfried and Roy.
I read that when Roy (of Siegfried and) was bitten by one of his tigers during his famous stage show at The Mirage, doctors removed a quarter of his skull to relieve the pressure of his swelling brain and placed it in a pouch in Horn’s abdomen in the hope of replacing it later. That tidbit came from Wikipedia, so it may not be true, however, you may certainly believe me about the unicorn part.
So. Ever seen a unicorn? Ever been to Burbank? Ever had one of your own body parts in your stomach?
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