David Huebert's Short Story 'Enigma'

The short story, “Enigma”, by David Huebert is a tale about a woman her who is dealing with the loss of her cherished horse and the meaningful relationship they had. The woman shares her mourning by narrating significant memories from her past that communicate her emotions, the weight of her loss, and imagery she associates with the passing. She emphasizes her devotion to animals, and to her horse specifically.
The story begins with the woman introducing a character named Serge who is unsuccessfully trying to comfort her. “Serge is asking what more can I do… I know he wants to help but I also know what more can you do means your horse is on massive doses of tranks and analgesics, your horse is a giant skeleton walking, your horse is lame and …show more content…
The memory, as she describes, was of a day she had as a child when she went whale-watching with her parents and brother. She narrates the beginning of the day as an uneventful family outing where they had a mediocre lunch and were unsuccessful at spotting any whales. However, eventually they see a mother “humpback” whale and her “calf”, and this is when the woman begins to use this memory as an association to her present sorrows. The woman observes the two whales and illustrates her experience, “The mother left her head underwater but I felt that I knew her more than I had ever known. I knew the curious joy she took in the vastness of the ocean.” This passage is important as she later uses the grandness and all that is unknown about the ocean as a symbol to represent the ambiguity and obscurity that comes with …show more content…
This again, describes her first memories and early experiences of grief which she uses as a form imagery to render the last breaths of her horse. “The breath from her massive lungs slowing, slowing. Her head is in the dirt when I lift it up I find it heavy, heavier than it has ever been before.” She then returns to her memory of the whales and uses it as a way to cope with the death, accepting it as a long peaceful sleep rather than an ending. “The guide described how whales sleep--drifting downwards, fully unconscious, colliding softly with the ocean floor. Then rising again, still sleeping, to take air As the final breath leaves her, I think this is how I will remember this horse: drifting and rising through an endless, liquid