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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 13:52:33 GMT -5
The air smelled sweet and sickly, heavy with fresh paint from the new coat on the barns, which glittered white in the distance. From here, you could see the whole lane and the arena, and the back and front paddocks, as well. In the distance, you could just make out the combes around the cross-country course and Stevie's brand-new half-mile oval of mown grass that served as a practice track and a gallop for the horses. The grass in the lawn, too, was freshly mowed after years of conspicuous neglect. Further out, though, the grass was as rough and tumbled as a horse's man, with shallow hollows all throughout and ankle-deep in places. It would take a few days to get all that in order, and at least the pastures were finally clear and the barn painted, and the horses had all been installed with varying degrees of difficulty. Omaha was loving the back pastures.
Currently, everyone was staying in the small stallion barn, because the main barn had just been painted and the fumes were too strong to have the horses stay there. It was older than the stallion barn, too, and had needed a bit of fixing, along with some of the pasture fences, before it was fit to keep horses in. Chris was good at that kind of thing, and he felt extremely happy to have moved in to this place with all there was to do and fix. His ribs still ached a little, but he was long on the way to recovery and he felt as good and active as he ever had, ready for anything. In a few days he could really start to ride again, schooling Omaha in reining now that there were no cattle. The ranch wasn't big enough to keep them, but that didn't bother him in the least - it was perfect in every other respect and quite a step up from living in a horse trailer.
He was sitting on the front steps of the house in the darkening hours of twilight, his hands crossed over his knees and deep in thought, but smiling. Vaguely, he wondered where Stevie was, wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to thank her for about the millionth time and just to have her close to him again - he'd gotten quite used to that and he liked it better than most anything in the world. she'd talked about getting a dog, and he was excited for that. They could, presumably, have any sort of animal they wanted now, and he was on the lookout for a good barn cat, the kind that roams around and kills mice and sits on knees, but he was so contented that he felt as if he needed nothing in the world to make him happy. This was the place for him, this was... Well, it was home. It had been a long time since he had called anywhere that.
Ooc: Kinda lost muse for Flash Fire, but if you really want me to post there again, I will...
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 17:30:53 GMT -5
OOC: ME TOO! SO NO not really!!! Lol I WUV CAPS! actually I turned it on and didn't want to turn it off soo....YEAH! Oh I was so excited! Where was Chris?! The newly painted barns, the training track and the cross country course, that would come in handy when I started to train Lightning for three day eventing. Oh this was so exciting! Now where was that man? I needed to kiss him and ask him how he was doing for the millionth time and ask him to stop thanking me! I had feed everyone in the stallion barn, the foal was driving Dancer nuts and me insaine! Storm was so adventurous and well like his dad. Poor Dancer. Lightning was going insaine being kept in a stall most of the time but the paint fumes where just horrible back there! Well that and he'd probably jump the fence to get to Dancer. Promise was also going nuts because she didn't like to be kept in a stall for long. Omaha and little Rebel were fine, definatly not as keyed up as my horses anyway. Well Rebel was just too fat and lazy to do anything anyway so he was the only one who didn't act like a lunatic. I couldn't wait to try out that new training track! I would have to start training Lightning and Belle there soon, to get them back into shape. There! Chris was sitting on the porch doing nothing. "Hey Chris there you are!" I ran to him and sat down next to him. My heart was souring when ever I saw him. ''What you been doing? How are you? Your ribs hurt much? I love this place! I love you!" I said in my usual rush. I giggled and waited for his reply. | [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true] | [atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/horses/n6nehdd8-1-1.jpg]
"Hey Omaha! This place is pretty cool huh? Aren't you glad that everything worked out great with Stevie and Chris? This way we can always be together!" I said, with my muzzle in my feed bucket. I was almost done eating but hey I had to make sure I got all of it! I was feeling great and my back had stopped aching all over. I was ready to start racing again and Stevie knew it. I heard that there was a training track around here and I was glad. This way we wouldn't have to travel anywhere just to train. I nickered and tossed my head. A new life had started for everyone.
"Belle speaks!"
Belle thinks! |
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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 17:58:53 GMT -5
Chris chuckled as Stevie pranced up to him, moving over slightly so that she could sit down and putting his arm around her shoulder fondly, as usual calm to her buzzing with excitement. He let her get everything out before he spoke, and as usual there was a long pause before he spoke at all. He still wasn't much of a talker usually, and when he did he always had to think about what it was he really wanted to say. "Hello, Stevie," he said, at last, looking over at her with his eyes shining. "Oh, you know... Sitting here, looking at all the work we've gotten done. I'm fine, actually more than fine, I'm awesome. And no, my ribs don't hurt much - but after all that fence-fixing and furniture-moving and barn-painting I needed a bit of a rest." He smiled at her quietly, letting his hand slip down from her shoulder so that it rested around her hip. "Yeah... This place is amazing..."
"And I love you, too," he finished, kissing her on her temple and scooting closer to her just so that he could be nearer. He hadn't really realized how much that was true until he'd said it, but now that he did he had become more drawn out and expressive than he had been in his entire life. "How are you? What have you been doing?" He asked, speaking softly now, just enjoying her company more than anything else. He sighed and looked out over the barns and the pastures and everything else, joy welling up in his heart as he did so, his eyes shining with love for the world and all that was here now.
Omaha finished eating his grain and looked up at Belle happily from his place under the little tree in the back pasture. He was glad that they had allowed him to keep sharing a pasture with Belle - he was quite lonely without her, and she was certainly the calmest, sweetest horse here. The others were a little stir-crazy, for sure, but unlike him they couldn't be left outdoors because they jumped fences and ate too much. "This place is awesome! Now I never have to go into a stall again!" he said excitedly, trotting over to her and touching noses softly, in a friendly way. She was really his best friend now. "Yeah, and we're pasture buddies, too. I'm so glad everything worked out." |
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 19:13:36 GMT -5
"I'm glad to hear that. All of that." I said excitedly. I shivered as Chris kissed my temple. I kissed him on the lips and moved closer to him. I sighed and put my head on his shoulder. "I've been feeding the horses, they are all fine except did I mention that Storm somehow got out of the pasture? Don't ask how because I walked all over that fence and couldn't find a single clue and he COULDN'T have jumped that fence. Anyway it put Dancer into a tizzy." I laughed. "I'm amazing! Wonderful, spectacular! So I was kind of wondering, looking at Storm, do you want kids? I mean maybe not now but..." I asked tentatively.
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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 19:53:13 GMT -5
Chris smiled as she laid her head down on his shoulder, liking just to be there, with her. There was nothing else he wanted or needed from the world - he was perfectly grounded, content just to sit and be with her, just to look out over the ranch and know that all was secure, and that he wasn't stressed out or anything. "Just like his daddy, huh?" Chris asked, grinning. Who knows how the colt got out? It didn't matter - he had probably squeezed under the bottom board or something, and when he got bigger it wouldn't be a problem. He probably wouldn't go too far from his mother in any case. At her next question, however, his body suddenly tensed and he withdrew his arm from around her hip, looking at her in astonishment. His mouth opened as if to speak, but he only managed a weak sort of stutter. "S-Stevie! a foal is one thing, a baby is something completely different!"
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 20:27:19 GMT -5
"Oh Chris! Not now! Maybe later on a few months maybe or whenever your ready. It takes two to tango." I laughed as he stared a me in a weak, shocked expression. Then my laugh faded. "Chris don't you dare!" I said. He really looked like he was going to pass out. No no no! I had enough of that! He scared me enough doing that. "Now Chris you know that I know a baby is different than a foal but you know...when I saw Storm I thought about us having one. You know a little boy or girl to pass on everything we know." I looked at him, putting my arms around his neck looking into his eyes. I wanted to have kids one day and now Chris kinda knew that.
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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 20:40:34 GMT -5
Chris actually did kinda feel like he was going to pass out again, but it wasn't the same as last time. This time it was just the shock of her words. he wasn't really listening to what she was saying, and when she tried to out her arms around his neck he ducked out of them, stood up, and backed off irritably. He leaned against the side of the porch and looked at her, obviously thrown off guard by her sudden questions. To tell the truth, he didn't want children... He didn't really like children, in the first place, and besides they had just bought the ranch and everything... He knew that if they were going to have children, then at least in his mind they ought to get married first, but he wasn't sure he wanted to marry her. Not yet. He loved her and everything, but... "Stevie... I-I..." he stuttered, sounding just as uncomfortable as he ever had. He didn't know what he wanted, but he felt like he was kind of trapped at the same time.
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 21:19:59 GMT -5
Oh no. Too fast again. My eyes blazed lightly with anger as he ducked out of my arms. "Chris, you know what I meant. Not now, later I was just asking if you ever wanted kids, not if we could go do it now." My voice sounded slightly agitated, ticked off. That was because I was. "I'll leave you to think about it. I'll go check on the horses." I jumped up and ran toward the stallion barn before he could stop me. A good gallop on Lightning would clear my mind. It was starting to get dark but I wanted to take him out on the track. | [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,400,true] | [atrb=background,http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/amanda1472/horses/dfqy5gkg-1-1.jpg]
I nickered to Stevie as she came in. She was holding my exercise saddle and bridle. I could see that she was angery by the way her eyes blazed but sad tears ran down her face. Oh if that Chris hit her! I was going to stomp him into the ground! I'm gonna bash his head open! He'll die a slow and painful death under my hooves! I stomped the ground and pawed. "Easy Lightning. Easy. I'm not really mad. He didn't hurt me physically.'' She said. That was good. I held still while she saddled me up. "Come on boy let's take a gallop!" She said and led me out of the stall. I whinnied excitedly. Running was fun!
"Lightning speaks!"
Lightning thinks! |
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"Yeah this is great! I'll still have to go in the stall when racing days come near but otherwise we'll be together all the time!" I said excitedly. I looked at Stevie run to the stallion barn. "Oh no! Omaha what have they done now?! Look! Oh if he..." I trailed off. Then I let out a scream and started to run. Omaha said he would never hurt her! Its true its true. It has to be! I let my anger out in my hooves, pounding my frustration into the ground.
"Belle speaks!"
Belle thinks! |
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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 21:38:07 GMT -5
When she got angry, he - unfortunately - did, too. "No you weren't Stevie! You were trying to force me to go too fast, just like you do to everyone. Including your horses!" But by then she was already gone. "Shit," he growled, kicking the side of the house and stubbing his toe. At least the pain took away some of that which was welling in his heart. He instantly regretted his words, and his face burned with shame and desperation. "Stevie! ...Stevie, come back..." he croaked desperately, but she was already too far off. Unbidden, his eyes burned with tears, but they were gone suddenly washed away by a look of determination. He strode off towards the back pasture where Omaha and Belle were standing.
"No! Belle, he wouldn't. You know that as well as I do!" Omaha shouted, and a relieved expression crossed his face when he saw Chris coming. He galloped to the fence. "Look, he's upset. Maybe its your owner who's not so perfect, did you ever thing of that? ...I'm sorry... Stevie's great, I know.. This isn't a time to be fighting..." He looked worriedly back at her as Chris came up. Chris couldn't stop himself from biting his lip and burying his face in Omaha's thin mane, hugging the gelding's neck out of frustration and sorrow. Then Chris straightened up again and went to go open the gate, Omaha following him. He let Omaha out and then closed the gate without saying a word to Belle, and then climbed up on Omaha's back. Chris was quite used to riding without tack, and he trusted Omaha to behave this time.
"Come on, Omaha, go well now," he said, turning the horse with his knees away toward the barns. He had seen Stevie walking off with Lightning from the porch, and he knew where she was. "We have to go find her, boy..." Omaha looked back at Belle in concern, but when Chris squeezed him on gently he broke instantly into a trot in the right direction, with Chris's fingers in his mane. "Stevie! Come back, don't do this to me again..."
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 22:00:57 GMT -5
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I stopped running a Omaha's word. "I'm sorry too it's just that I hate when Stevie's upset. I can feel when she is and it makes me nuts." I said. Chris led Omaha out without a word to me, which was unusual. I knew that he must really be mad at Stevie if he wasn't talking to me. I was in a panic. Stevie don't do anything stupid! I started to run around the fence again, this time in a panic.
"Belle speaks!"
Belle thinks! |
[/sub][/blockquote] [/td][/tr][tr][td] [/td][/tr][/table][/center] "Come on Lightning! Let's go!'' I urged him on the training track. Lightning pranced in place and tossed his head. "Lightning settle down!'' I wanted to warm him up first but he heard the sound of approching hoofbeats and reared. "Lightning!'' I yelled. My feet slide out of the stirrups, the reins fell out of my hands, and I leaned forward. As soon as Lightning's hooves touched the ground he bolted forward. I wasn't ready. I clung for my life the first furlong, Lightning going a full speed, his mane was being ripped slowly out of my hands and finally I had no mane to hang onto and was falling so slowly at maybe 40 miles an hour...
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Post by Forte on Jul 15, 2010 22:11:55 GMT -5
Chris was suddenly seized by an inexplicable misgiving, and he kicked Omaha into a gallop, feeling the exhilaration of the shift and hanging on with his knees. "Go, Omaha, go!" he shouted, and one of the horse's ears flickered towards him. How did Chris know that Stevie was in trouble? He couldn't have explained that in a million years, but somehow he just knew. Omaha felt his urgency and ran as well as any race horse, a sudden burst of speed that Chris hadn't known was in him. Omaha was ready to do his best, now, and they went along at a surprisingly quick pace... As they pulled up to the race track Chris had mere instants to analyze the situation - Stevie was already slipping off. He leaped off of Omaha's back, ignoring a sharp pain that shot through his leg as it hit the ground, while the horse was still galloping and shot towards Stevie, fueled by adrenaline and desperation. He reached out his hands to catch her as she fell, and felt the impact of her body, falling quickly, on his ribs. They shattered, again, with her weight and speed, and the next thing he knew he was flat on his back on the ground, with her on top of him, and fireworks bursting before his eyes.
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 15, 2010 22:31:01 GMT -5
I hit the ground on something. I fainted with relief for about a minuate or so before I came to again. I relized something. I wasn't wearing a helmet. Oh gosh, how am I even alive?! I started to praise the lord and curse that stud horse when I realized that the something I landed on was alive. Chris! I rolled over. "Chris. Oh my! Chris your ribs! Oh Chris I'm soo stupid! I could have...'' I whispered. I started to cry. Lightning had come over to me. "Get over here! We gotta go for help!" I ran to Omaha and whisper stay with him. I leapt onto Lightning, he had been following me and rode to the house at a fast gallop. I jumped off of him just before he went into a cow horse stop. I ran into the house, getting the phone, dialing 911, and praying hoping the ambulance came quickly. This is all my fault, this is all my fault I kept repeating in my mind as I mounted Lightning, riding back to the track.
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Post by Forte on Jul 16, 2010 11:29:38 GMT -5
Chris had passed out upon impact, but he came to after a few moments. Panic coursed through him quickly, for a moment he couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing there. It all came back to him in a rush, and then Stevie's face was looming over him. She was blabbing on again, but he listened to every word... She could have DIED! She could be dead right now... He couldn't even bear the thought. He didn't want her to leave, and when she did he felt empty and terrified. Was she back on Lightning? What if she fell again? Why the heck didn't she have her cell phone with her? He had his, she could have gotten it out of his pocket... He was almost mad with terror until she came back, although Omaha stayed right where he was and watched over him in concern. The gelding nickered joyfully when he saw Lightning and Stevie coming back. With a herculean effort, Chris rose his head a little to look at Stevie, and grabbed her hand to pull her down to him. "Stevie... are you hurt?" he whispered hoarsely, feeling pain shoot through him as he tried to speak. Didn't matter. She was alive. She could have died, that's all he could think - around and around in his head. Shecouldhavedied, shecouldhavedied, she could have DIED! And then he wouldn't ever have forgiven himself for backing away from her.
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Post by racingbelle on Jul 16, 2010 20:04:21 GMT -5
"No. But...your ribs and they were almost healed. Oh Chris! You could have DIED! I should have just fallen off of Lightning when he reared. This all my fault everything is ruined you were going to start riding..." I stopped because I had burst out into tears. I could only think about how I nearly killed Chris. I almost killed the one I loved! Oh my gosh! I coulda KILLED him! "Chris tell me one thing...if you can...why didn't you stay at the house? I would have came back, after I cooled off. I will always come back to you, Chris. Always. We're in this together, remember?" I said shakily. Lightning licked Chris's face and then mine. "Silly boy." I said affectionatly. He knew this was mostly his fault and he was trying to cheer us up. "I love you. Both of you." I said. I was still shocked from my fall and then this. Who wouldn't be? Then the dark thoughts swam into my mind again. My vision started blurring but I fought it. I couldn't pass out again, not when Chris needed me.
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Post by Forte on Jul 16, 2010 20:26:12 GMT -5
"Good," Chris chocked out - apparently the only thing he'd heard was that she wasn't hurt. He didn't care that she could have killed him. She was quite right about that, actually. Had one of his broken ribs punctured his lung... He hardly dared think about it. But at least she would have lived. He tried to listen to her talk, but her voice kept going in and out, as if he were hearing it from far, far away. Nonetheless he listened to her question. "I... I didn't want to stay mad at you..." he managed, reaching out to take her hand and squeezing her fingers reassuringly. "Unlike you, I'm not so sure I would have come back." He was still whispering - anything louder was unbearable for him. All the same, he tried to grin when she talked to Lightning. "Him, or me?" he said in response to the 'silly boy' comment, wincing a little as Lightning licked his face. "Don't leave me again, alright?" he said finally, fighting against the rising darkness of unconsciousness. He couldn't bear it if she went away, he knew that all too well.
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