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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 14, 2020 16:15:22 GMT -5
The moment he stepped back, James stopped. Okay, so this horse wasn't used to people. He was stumped on what to do. If he got closer, the horse would run. He could try and lasso it was a lead line, but that was o ly if he wouldn't run at the sight of it. They could try and herd him to one of the paddocks, but with only two people, it'd be hard to keep him going in the direction they wanted him to go. "What are we going to do with you?" He asked.
"How's it going?" Sallie called as loud as she dared.
James turned and gave a so-so signal. Then an idea struck him. Backing Upton his horse, he called back, "Guve a few whistles, see if he responds. If he'll follow us that way, it'll be easier for all of us."
Sallie didn't know if it would work, but she tried it anyway. She whistled like she did to call the other horses, repeating the tune several times.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 14, 2020 16:22:44 GMT -5
At the man's question, Ash gave his best horsey shrug — which didn't look like a shrug at all. When the called out from the trees, his ears twitched and he peered through the foliage at her. Then the man voiced his new idea. Aha. Finally. Something I can live with.
When he heard the whistle, he pretended to be surprised by the sound. His head came up, attention on the girl. Then, with a snort, he trotted toward her, being sure to give the man a wide berth. He kept his distance from the girl too, but he got close enough to prove this plan would work. Now, lead me to your home so I can escape to mine.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 14, 2020 17:22:10 GMT -5
As Ash followed the girl to the barn, he finally figured out the trick for moving as a horse and not tripping over every other rock. Or, he figured out the problem, rather: overthinking. When he tried too hard to move a certain way or at a certain speed, he stumbled, tripped, or moved as if he had four left feet. But if he stopped thinking about it for a minute, trotting along after the girl's horse suddenly became effortless. It was even kind of fun, and part if him wanted to go faster, to test out the speed and strength in his long legs.
He told that part of himself to shut up.
When they got to the farm, Ash slowed down, curious despite himself. He looked around, taking in the house and the barn, the animals and the people, the space and the pastures —
Ash slammed to a halt just before entering the pasture he had almost followed the girl blindly into. He pinned his ears and glared at her. I am not going in there.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 14, 2020 18:35:00 GMT -5
Ash only had to turn his head a little to see the man, another thing he was still getting used to. A horse's range of vision was much wider than he was used to. It was habit to turn his head to see, but he really didn't need to, not unless the thing was right behind or directly in front of him.
He swished his tail, ears flicking as the girl tried encouraging him into the paddock. Ash was about to flat out refuse when a thought occurred to him: the pasture had no roof. If he went in there, they could close the gate behind him, but he wouldn't truly be trapped. He could just jump out later.
Looking at the fence, the thought was both daunting and exhilarating. He had jumped things much higher once upon a time. Granted, he had been riding a horse at the time, but still. How hard could it be?
So with a snort, he stepped into the pasture and immediately cantered to the corner farthest from all the people — just in case.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 14, 2020 20:52:53 GMT -5
Ash watched the man and girl (she was definitely his daughter, Ash decided) from his corner, and listened to them talk. That time, he really did roll his eyes. His owner, he scoffed mentally. Good luck with that.
Once they had both wandered off, Ash started walking around the perimeter of the paddock. Then, with nothing better to do while he waited for nightfall and his best chance to leave, he broke into a trot, then a canter, practicing moving as a horse.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 14, 2020 21:24:28 GMT -5
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 14, 2020 21:36:56 GMT -5
The rest if the day was uneventful. Sallie went about her normal routine, making a couple more trips passed the paddock than normal. She checked in on the new horse as much as she could, wishing she could clean him up a bit. A bath would help him feel better, she was sure, it even just a good grooming. However, that wouldn't be likely to happen. He would just run away before she got close. Still, that didn't stop her from scheming up a plan to accomplish it.
The phone calls she had made to the other farms had been unsuccessful. Either they knew they weren't missing any horses, or they claimed everyone was busy at the moment and would get back to her, which was fair. She just hoped they would call back soon.
They didn't. The sun was setting, pointing the sky in yellows, oranges, and pinks. Her father had went on to the house to start dinner (it was his night to cook), and most of the stable hands had left for the day. That just left her with the horses as she feed and watered everyone for the night.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 15, 2020 1:10:41 GMT -5
Running around got real boring, real fast. God, what did horses do all day? Okay, that was a stupid question. They grazed, mostly. Socialized. Napped. Mostly they just stood around doing nothing. It took less than an hour before the boringness of it all started to drive him stir crazy. What he wouldn't give for a punching bag right about now.
Better yet, what he wouldn't do for hands.
He ignored the food the man had left him, though he did try drinking some water. He only managed a few mouthfulls. The water was cold and fresh, but the bucket sure as hell wasn't. It gave the water a funny taste, and in his frustration Ash ended up spilling what he didn't drink. Then he ran circles around the paddock for a while in an attempt to release some energy.
Ash had to admit, this horse body had some crazy stamina.
When he got tired of running he spent some time in a patch of shade, relaxing and watching the day to day operations of the farm. That too got boring after a while, but he kept watching anyway, until he fell asleep. Standing up.
Waking up from that nap was definitely weird.
But, he noticed with relief, it had gotten him through the rest of the day. It was getting dark when he opened his eyes, and he set out on a victory lap around the pasture. Then he did it again, slower, to check and see if anyone was still around.
That's when he saw the girl. He stopped moving and let out a big breath. Damn it. Go to bed already. He watched her from the middle of his paddock, waiting for her to head to the house.
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*Nightwhisper
"And guilty I may be, but don't give up on me... We will still be thick as thieves."
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Post by *Nightwhisper on Jun 15, 2020 11:22:31 GMT -5
But leave she did not. Sallie enjoyed the quiet hours of the barn. With the sounds of the horses settling in, the crickets striking up a song in the background, it was just relaxing. So she took her time feeding each of the barn inhabitants, biding each a goodnight with a loving pat to the nose. By the time she was finished, the sun was just about out of the next. There was still one stop she had to make before going in.
The woman walked over to the paddock where their guest was staying. She found the horse standing in the middle of the paddock, as if waiting. "You'll have to make do with staying out here tonight. I doubt you'll let us put you in a nice warm stall," she said softly. At that moment, she also noticed the tipped over water bucket. Reaching through the fence, she grabbed it and maneuvered it so she could get it over the fence. "I'll be right back with more water."
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Jun 15, 2020 17:37:30 GMT -5
Ash watched suspiciously when she returned with a rope, but relaxed when she just used it to tie the bucket in place. He intended to wait until she left before getting a drink, but then she spoke, her words coming across as a challenge. So with a snort, he trotted closer, then slowed to a walk and lowered his head to the bucket. He nudged it with his nose, making some water slosh over the rim, and noticed it was a different bucket. An experimental drink proved it. The water still tasted funny, but maybe that was just in his head. Either way, he drank it, until there was only about an inch left. He had forgotten just how much a horse could drink. When he was finished, he lifted his head and backed away from the bucket with a shake of his mane. Thank you, he tried to convey to the girl. Now go away.
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Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Sept 4, 2020 1:00:10 GMT -5
I don't know. Did you accidentally unbookmark the thread? 🤷♀️
Cool. I keep going in and out of this phase where I'm addicted to all things sled dog. xD (I was in that phase when I asked the question. I'm technically past it, for now, but it probably won't take much to push me back in it. xD)
Okay, so I don't even know anymore what sparked this idea, but I was thinking of a childhood friendship/budding romance that ends when he leaves (with no explanation, and barely a word of goodbye). Then, several years later (I'm thinking five to ten) the girl is sent to the castle as that years sacrifice. And to explain that: they live in a small town/village (depending on which time era we want) that was cursed years ago by a witch/enchantress. To lift the curse, the village elders are to send one young woman (between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight, lets say) to the mansion (castle?) as a sacrifice. Although, technically, the woman won't die, IF she breaks the curse. But so far,that hasn't happened, and the women sent before have never returned. So, the villagers consider the women they send a sacrifice.
Now, this year, our young girl who's still missing her childhood friend is chosen. A terrifying prospect on its own, but she's in for a shocking surprise: the "beast" of the manor is none other than her childhood friend. 😉
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