Every evening, Leroy rode Maybelline to work. Maybelline stood beside the Bijou Drive-In Theater concession stand. She watched the movies. She ate popcorn.

Maybelline liked all the movies. She was particularly delighted when a horse showed up in a movie. Or a cowboy.

But Maybelline’s favorite movies were the love stories. She put her ears up in the air and listened very closely to the beautiful words that people said to each other. As they spoke, she nodded and nickered quietly.

The horse was happy.

She knew that late at night, on the way home from the Bijou, Leroy would speak to her. Word after beautiful word would come from the cowboy’s mouth, from his heart.

And in the darkness, underneath the bright stars, Maybelline would listen to them all.