A New Summer Day

[Drogen]

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Mike had just woken up and was getting dressed. Since it was summer, he slept in most days waking up at around nine o’clock. And so, he got dressed, brushed his teeth, and went down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mom was washing dishes over by the sink and his dad was sitting at the breakfast table reading the daily newspaper, like usual.
“Good morning” Mike said, and his parents smiled at him. Mike headed over to the fridge, grabbing the milk from the second shelf in the fridge and also grabbed some cereal from the top of the fridge. He place these items on the breakfast table and went over to the cabinet where they kept the bowls, grabbing one as well as grabbing a spoon from the drawer under the countertop directly underneath the bowls. He once again headed over to the table and poured the cereal into the bowl, along with the milk afterwards. He sat down at the table and started to munch on his cereal. He did not have any plans whatsoever today. So he figured it would be a perfect day to head over to Willow Wood. He liked it there, a lot. Plus, he had to go there every day to at least take care of his own horse. But besides that he had to help around the stable yard to earn his horses keep there. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have a place to stay during the winter. And this year was supposed to be a harsh winter, unfortunately.
So, Mike finished his cereal and got the stuff he needed. He said goodbye to his parents, telling them that he would be back in a few hours. Unless they found him something else to do other than his regular chores at the stable. Instead of wasting gas, he would just take his bike to the stables. It was a lot simpler then getting a ride from his parents and it was nicer then walking there all the time. And so, he started off on his bike ride to the stables. It truly was a nice ride. It was not very long, but also not so short that it was boring. The only problem was on hot days it did get a little uncomfortable. Yet today was an extremely nice day. The sun was shining brightly, but there was also a slight breeze that was very refreshing.
Mike finally made it there, after about a half an hour bike ride. He would usually take the back roads to Willow Wood, but today he went through town. He wanted to see how many people were out on a glorious day like today. Not as many as he expected, but still quite a bit. The town was buzzling with people. People buying stuff, people selling stuff, people walking from point A to point B. It was quite interesting, to tell you the truth, but enough about the silly old town.
Mike made it to the Stables and biked up the drive. He put his bike on the bike stand that George made, apparently a lot of teens rode their bikes there on the nice summer days. There were three other bikes there, which was good news because it meant he would not be the only one here. He propped his bike up on the bike rack. George also put locks on the bike rack, but Mike usually did not bother with locking his bike. Mostly because his bike was really not good enough for anyone to want to steal it, plus he really did not think that any one here were bike thieves.

[Savina]

Heaven walked up the driveway slowly, picking up speed when she saw her horse running along the fence, nickering softly to her. Heaven called out to her, and climbed through the fence, wrapping her arms around the horses neck. Easher rubbed her head on owner's back, nibbling on her clothes and examining all her pockets. With a laugh, Heaven reached inside and pulled out a carrot, holding it as the filly took small bites, chewing them happily.

Walking toward the barns, Heaven beckoned for Easter to follow. The filly was already on her heels, still looking for more treats. Laying her hand on the filly's neck, she walked beside her until they reached the gate that led into the driveway. Grabbing Easter's halter and lead, she quickly slipped it on, buckling the deep purple, almost black halter quickly. Kissing Easter's nose softly before leading her out the gate, in the direction of the tack rooms and training areas.

Suddenly, she noticed someone riding up the driveway on a bike. Easter pulled back, and pranced on the end of her lead, clearly not wanting anything to do with whoever this was. Heaven soothed her, moving closer to her and rubbing her forehead while whispering kind words. Easter moved closer, eyeing the stranger uncertainly as Heaven led her closer.
The blue roan horse looked beautiful in the sunlight, her black mane hanging down past her neck, her tail brushing the ground.

[Drogen]

Mike turned around, after placing his bike on the rack, only to see a gorgeous horse being led by what seemed to be its owner. Perhaps just another volunteer with one of the horses being trained at the stable, but she just seemed to own that horse. Maybe Mike was just crazy, which is a very high possibility. Nevertheless, Mike kept walking. He was headed to the boxes where he kept his horses. He left them in the boxes over night instead of in the pastures last night because he wasn’t sure when he would get here tomorrow and he did not want them to get into any trouble like he knew they would.

He walked to the boxes, taking a few quick glances at the horse and human but looked at them no longer when he reached the boxes. He went inside and headed straight down the hall and off to the last left, where his horses were kept. He looked each of them over before heading back out into the stable yard towards the grain bin to get his horses their minerals. As he was heading over he saw the girl and that horse again. He did think much of them, just that they were also volunteers at the stable. Although, he had not seen her around at all before. Of course he has only been volunteering here for around a week or so. Nevertheless, he thought he would have bumped in to her at least once or twice. Of course there was always the chance that she was new here, but she looked like she knew her way around the stable yard. So she probably was not new. And then he thought, what does it matter? If she is new, if she is old. It does not really matter, all he was here for was to help around the stable. Yet he figured he would get to know the people that volunteered here and hang out with them. It could make working here less of a chore, not that he minded working here.

He walked over to the grain bin, mixing the minerals that he regularly fed his horses into the buckets that he carried from the boxes. Once they were mixed he headed back out of the building, and headed over to the girl. He slowly walked up to her and gently petted the horse she was leading. “So how long have you been volunteering at Willow Wood?” Mike asked, trying to start up a conversation, still holding the minerals in his other hand.

[Savina]

Heaven watched the boy out of the corner of her eye, so that she knew exactly where Easter's reason for spooking was at all times. Leading her across the yard. she was about to lead her into the stables when he began talking to her. Heaven stopped, Pulling Easter around so most of her body was behind Heaven. Easter pinned her ears back, and glared at the stranger uncertainly.
Heaven could hear the filly thoughts as clearly as she could her own, though she couldn't read minds. Easter had a fear of men, and at times, she hated them.

"I volunteer here, and board Easter here until I can get a place of my own to keep her. I wouldn-" Heaven's sentence was cut off as the boy reached out and patted Easter. The filly pinned her ears further back and lunged, snapping her teeth within inches of his hand before moving back behind Heaven, out of his reach. Heaven soothed her, talking in a gentle voice.

"She doesn't like strangers much. Especially male ones. Sorry about that, I did try to warn you."
Easter stomped her foot, and tossed her head in the direction of the stranger, clearly still mad at him and only standing her ground because of the girl holding her halter and lead.
"She was badly abused as a foal, and it has taken me ages to calm her down."
Heaven reached in her pocket, and pulled out another carrot, handing it to the horse before looking behind her at the stranger.

[Drogen]

As soon as he started petting the horse he could feel the hostility. He saw her ears pin straight back on top of her head and her teeth show from beneath her lips. He with drew his hand from the horses reach, no later than a second after he had started petting the horse. So apparently this horse was not keen on much of any one besides its owner. Strange, but not that uncommon. After that incident, he decided to continue the conversation with the girl. “Well, I’m a volunteer here too and I too have horses being boarded here. Been coming around here for a week or two, I think. I’m not sure, when it’s summer my days just seem to always blend together, you know?” Mike replied, chuckling.
“No worries. Just glad nothing bad happened, as it could have ended in a worse situation.” Mike said, shrugging it off. “I’ve dealt with a few horses like your horse at auctions and such. Mine all came fairly friendly, not very well trained though, that’s for sure.”
Mike headed towards the boxes again, gesturing that the girl could follow or not if she wanted to. “So I do not think I caught your name.” Mike said to the girl, as he slowly walked. “I’m Mike; it’s a pleasure to meet you and your horse.” He continued walking now to his horses. He had to give them their minerals and put them out in the pastures and get their stalls cleaned out. Not to mention all the other stalls he had to clean, and other chores like so.

[Savina]

Heaven nodded, and continued petting her horse. Easter danced behind her, clearly ready to get away from here. Heaven smiled softly at her, and followed Mike into the stables. She slipped Easter into her stall, and gave the filly a hug before removing her halter."Easter came untrained, abused, and scared to death of everything. Just the sound of the buckle on her halter jingling used to cause her to bolt. She's an amazing horse though. "

"Well, I will warn you in advance. You should never be assigned to clean Easter's stall, but should you ever be assigned to do so by accident, I don't suggest going in there with her. She will hurt you, without hesitation."She smiled at the mare as she latched the heavy wooden door behind her. It was obvious some work had been done to make the stall a bit stronger than most of the others. The lock had also been changed, and a sign hung on the stall, warning people to keep their hands off the horse if they wanted to keep their fingers.

Easter nickered softly as Heaven walked away, but Heaven needed to get to work. She had horses to exercise, and plus Easter needed her feed,which was the reason Heaven brought her in to begin with. That, and brushing her down and taking her out for a ride later.
"Nice meeting you Mike. I'm Heaven, and this is Easter." She gestured to the blue roan filly standing with her head over the stall, nickering for Heaven to return and give her breakfast.

Heaven left the stalls, and returned with Easter's meal, before she got too fussy and decided to open her stall..

[Drogen]

He started feeding his horses now, giving them each the minerals they needed and closing the stall doors to give them a few minutes to finish their minerals. As he did this he listened to Heaven, standing outside of his horses stalls.
“Well, do you really think that’s safe to have around the stable?” He asked her, genuinely curious. “I mean, she’s good with you. And I’m smart enough to listen to the sign. But, common sense is apparently not that common.” Mike said, chuckling.
“Tell Easter it was nice meeting her.” Mike said, smiling. “Well, this is Quiver and Arrow right next to each other. They’re twins. And then this is Magic, Dream, and last but not least, this is Zacky boy. He’s the one I have had the longest, out of the ones I have now anyway.”
Mike went over to a random stall and grabbed the lead rope off of the wall. There was a hook in the wall that was holding up the lead rope. He didn’t know if it belonged to anyone, but he figured he was just going to use it for a few minutes and then he would return so no harm done from taking it. He walked back over to Zack Attack’s stall, noticing that he was done eating his minerals. Mike unlatched the stall and opened the door widely, walking in and clipping the lead to Zack Attack’s halter and leading him out of the stall and in the walk way of the big building. He lead him out to the door that lead to the pastures, letting him go and watching him run around for a bit but then going back to his other horses. He did the same process four time over with the rest of his horses and then watched them all jump around, galloping around the big pastures with each other. They were obviously glad to finally get out side and enjoy the nice summer day . Mike loved seeing them like this, it was beautiful really. He smiled and walked back over to his horses boxes and hung the lead rope back up on the hook.

[Savina]

Heaven smiled at his concern, and moved back toward Easter, waiting for the filly to finish her meal.
"Don't worry, she's not normally inside unless it's mealtimes. Any other time, she's out in the pasture, and out there she generally just avoids people. She isn't mean, just fightened, and she feels trapped in her stall, or when someone is trying to control her. I never control her, or make her do things. When she does things for me, it's because she wants to, and because I ask instead of demand."

Heaven reached over and rubbed Easter's neck lovingly as the filly continued eating her feed.
"Those are beautiful horses you have, they sure are happy to be outside after a long night of being boxed in."

Heaven went to get her brushes from the tack room, and brought them back, finding Easter finished and eagerly awaiting her return. Smiling, she haltered the filly, and led her out, tying her so that there was plenty of room for anyone to pass by.

"The owners around here all know about Easter's history, so they normally warn newcomers to keep away from her. The owners of the barn said if people don't listen to others, then they deserve what they get. She isn't the killing type."

Besides.. it's not like I have anywhere else to keep her.. Heaven though to herself as she began rubbing the curry comb in slow circles along the filly's neck and shoulder.
Easter reached back and nibbled on Heaven's shirt, clearly enjoying the grooming session.

[Drogen]

“Well, I just do not want to see anyone hurt. I have heard that there has been a few injuries occur here. And I do not think that the owners need the stress of another injury.” Mike said and smiled. “I hope I am not offended you by my concern. I just.. am a worry wart I guess.” He said and chuckled now, as he watched Heaven pet Easter gently. She seemed like a kind enough horse, he just was always extra careful when it came to horses. Even his own horses he has had for several years he worries that some thing will happen to some one because of them or that some thing will happen to them directly. And he couldn’t deal with anyone getting hurt by his animals or his animals getting hurt themselves because of his negligence.
But alas, it was her horse and her choice. If there were any mistakes taken along the path it was her job to deal with them. Yet, he felt like she should not have to do it all alone. Because if he had made a mistake, he would not want to have to deal with it later on in his life all by himself. But by the looks of it that is what would happen to him.
“Thanks.” Mike said as he smiled. “They love being outside, but they were acting strange last night and I don’t want anything to happen to them. They’re my life, without them I am pretty much nothing.” Mike sat down on a sack full of sawdust. Well, it was actually sacks. There were about five of them filled up with saw dust. Probably for the horse stalls, because by the looks of it there were five for about every other stall in the stable.
“Well, I just hope that nothing happens.” Mike continued, relaxing on the bags of saw dust.

[Savina]

"I don't like seeing anyone hurt either, that is why I make sure everyone knows that she can be dangerous. Right now, there isn;t anywhere else for her to go. Most stables won't even agree to let a horse like her on the property, not only because of her temperment, but she is a mustang, and they dislike having impure horses living on their property." Heaven spoke in a firm tone, slightly unhappy that this person who knew nothing about her and her horse, was implying that she was intentinally endangering people. She continued brushing her horse, switching from the curry to a stiff brush, designed to sweep off the now loose dirt.

" My horses are my life as well, in fact all horses are. The occurences that have happened here were not because of anything my horse did. She threatens, but only actually hurts someone if they don't back down." Heaven's blue eyes clearly showed she was unhappy with what he said, and she quickly looked away, losing herself in Easter's grooming before she lost her temper with him.

Easter nudged her again, and then began toying with her rope, pulling on it with her mouth to see if the knot would loosen up. Glancing up, Heaven noticed what the filly was doing, and made a kissing sound. Easter's ears swiveled to catch her owner's words, before she turned her head toward Heaven, giving her a look that said, Why are we still standing here? I'm ready to go back out and play.

Smiling at her, Heaven finished brushing the filly's now gleaming blue coat, and untied her lead, leading her out to the gate, and turning her loose in the very small pasture that was generally reserved for her, to keep her and everyone else out of trouble. The second the halter was off, Easter tossed her head and galloped off, happy to be free once again.

Heading back into the barn, she began taking the lesson horses out of their stalls, leading them one by one toward the larger pastures, so that they could graze and exercise while the stalls were being cleaned.

[Drogen]

Jason listened carefully, picking up on the anger in her voice immediately. “No, no. You have me all wrong.” Jason said, trying to clarify. “I did not mean to say that you are endangering every one at the stable. I was just simply stating that I did not like seeing any one get hurt. I did not mean to imply that your horse is going to purposely harm any one.” Jason said, slightly backing up.

“I should probably just go.”Jason said, shifting his head and heading off to his horses boxes, grabbing one of the wheel barrows and started mucking out his horses stalls so that he could muck out the others as well. He silently watched as Heaven led the other horses out of their stalls and out to the green pastures.


|OOC/ Gahh, it's so short. >.>|

[Savina]

((It's Mike.. not Jason ))

Heaven sighed heavily and after putting the last horse outside, she turned back around and went inside the barn to find Mike. He was cleaning stalls, and she watched him work for a moment before speaking up. "I'm sorry I snapped, I just don't really like when people act like they know better than I do. I get treated like an idiot quite often, and it tends to make me a bit angry." After saying this, she turned and walked in the other direction, picking up the other wheelbarrow and pitchfork and muckng the stalls on the opposite side as he was.

Great job Heaven.. You are really going to make friends like this.
She shook her head, and continued working, ignoring the fact that she had already make herself look like a total idiot in front of the only person here age that worked here at the moment.