DAY NINE
Username: OutdatedBoombox
Writing: Fandi could remember it like yesterday. She wished she couldn't. She wished she could just leave that memory behind and forget about the whole situation. The roan mare hated her capture. She hated the people who had roped her and penned her. She was fine with her current life- whoever those humans were, they let her run free with Vatn and Lax, only bothering her when it was time for vetting. But the events that had led up to it were less than ideal. The humans who had caught her hadn't been too gentle, especially after her escapes. The ropes were coarse. They yelled things she couldn't understand. It was terrifying, especially given her age at the time. She'd be used to being alone, of course, but she was alone surrounded by other animals while living wild. In the pen, with the high wooden walls, she was truly alone. The humans were too afraid of her to do much more than throw in hay and freshen up her water. She was trapped like that for weeks.
She could hear other horses being led past. She could smell them too. The sabino would cry out to them, begging for company, begging for freedom. Rarely, ever so rarely, she'd get a call back. Mostly they ignored her pleas. It made her heart ache. She sought comfort in her memories of her dam, of her little half sister- just a filly when the herd was separated- but it could only do so much. She worried for them. She worried they'd been captured, that they were going through the same thing she was. All alone and contained in a high-walled pen. The lack of knowledge about their fate gnawed at her persistently. At least when she was wild, she'd felt confident that they wouldn't be captured. But now that she herself was penned, she wasn't so sure. Her sister would be older now, probably growing up into a beautiful young mare. She wondered if she'd ever see her again.
The day the door opened felt like the best day of her life after everything. The rope looped around her neck was soft this time, not tough and abrasive. She didn't recognize the human who led her out, ever so slowly coaxing her with a soft voice. She wasn't sure about them, of course, but their demeanor was so different... So she followed. The dusty metal trailer and truck were things she'd never seen before, and they scared her. Fandi skittered at the sight, until she realized that the rope was slack. It took her a while, but she found that she was allowed to investigate the strange objects. Smelling and touching and looking was rewarded with fresh clover and strange- but delicious- pellets. Eventually, she entered the trailer of her own accord. Delicately stepping up the ramp and inside to investigate. She was nervous at first, wondering if the door would swing shut behind her, but it didn't. She exited, only to enter again several more times. Eventually, she even laid down. Only then was the door slowly shut. She was given plenty of time to choose to walk out again. But she'd made her decision. With a heavy sigh, she shut her eyes and rested in the clean straw for the journey to come. When she woke, she could smell something familiar. Something that made her heart flutter. Tentatively, as the trailer slowed to a stop, she called out. A familiar voice replied, clear as a bell. The excitement almost made her throw a fit in the trailer. The door was opened, and she stepped out into soft grass and the sight of her sister. Her beautiful little sister. She loved that part of the memory- their reunion and her rescue from that damned pen- but the rest... the rest she'd love to forget. [641]
Tolter: Fandi
