“It’s too bad horses can’t talk.” Ray’s eyes glisten at the bittersweet ending of Black Beauty. Her lips quiver between a smile and a frown as she wipes a tear from her cheek.

“What would he say?” Marla closes the book and takes Ray’s hand in hers.

“For one thing, he’d tell everyone his name.”

“I suppose we all have different names for different times of our lives.” Marla rests her cheek on the top of Ray’s head and closes her eyes. “Sometimes I call you Ray and sometimes I call you Sunshine.”

“But you always know who I am,” Ray pulls away to find Taedan.

“Can we go now?” She pulls her backpack from its peg and begins to pack sample envelopes and her notebook.

“Are you going home, Sweet Pea?” Taedan accordions out of his position over his Petri dishes. He smiles at Ray, knowing full-well her intent. Despite her captivation with Black Beauty the birds are never far from her mind.

“You’re the one who first told me to keep my eye on the sparrow.”

“You remember that?”

“You were a spooky man in an overcoat. I remember that, too.”

Taedan’s laugh booms off the top atrium as the two of them inspect the birds. All of them red-capped sparrows.

“Do you notice anything different?”

Ray inspects the sparrows as best she can as they hop and peck across the floor. Every time she gets close to one, it flutters away with a staccato chirp.

“Why did you name me Ray?” Black Beauty swirls in her mind’s eye. “Isn’t it a boy’s name?”

“You are a vector with infinite possibilities,” says Taedan. “You are our Ray of sunshine, our Ray of hope, our Ray of light.”

“That’s a lot for three letters.”

“Three letters can carry a lot of meaning,” Taedan said. “Like DNA.”

“Like D-A-D?”

Taedan knelt beside Ray and pulled her to him. “Yes, like D-A-D.”

“Can I call you that?” Ray feels stiff in Taedan’s arms, waiting for his answer. She lets her breath out slowly before she realizes she’s holding it in.

“That can be my forever name.” Taedan wipes his little finger across the corner of his eye.

“Someday, we’ll be like Black Beauty and have a forever home, too.” Ray pulls away from Taedan and holds his face between her palms.

“A lot happened to Black Beauty along the way.” Marla says from the doorway cradling a cup of chicory tea. Her eyebrows caterpillar above her eyes. “We cried so many times before we got to the end. And even the end made me cry.”

“Me too,” says Ray.

“Me too,” says Taedan.

For no real reason that makes all three of them laugh.

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