by puckish » Sun Dec 27, 2015 4:34 am
Name: Christmas Bells // Belle
Gender: mare
Height: 17.2 hh
Halter colour: red and white stripes, like the bow
Prompt 1: "Your reaction on Christmas day when you see your special Gypsy from Santa. 500 words minimum."
........I woke up and didn't remember it was Christmas. That might sound ridiculous, but Christmas had lost almost all of its charm for me. I lived alone, and far away from my family, so I was usually by myself on Christmas. Stumbling into my kitchen, I started to make my regular breakfast of toast and fruit. After finishing the mediocre meal, I decided to check if there was anything under my small Christmas tree. I assumed that there wasn't, as my family had already mailed me presents, and Santa hadn't left anything for me since I was a little girl. So, when there was a single medium-sized package peaking out from under my tree, it's fair to say that I was shocked and delighted. I racked my brain, trying to think of what this gift could be and who it could be from, but I came up with nothing.
........I approached the package and gingerly flipped the hang tag attached to it. In a slightly slanted scrawl was written: to Hufflepuff from Santa. Still perplexed, I ripped off the wrapping paper from the box and opened it. Inside was a red and white striped halter and a note. The note read: This is for Belle, your new horse. Go to stall #3 in the barn to meet her.
........Now, what you have to understand is that I had worked at my town's stable for over 5 years at this point. I had long since given up the hope of getting my own horse, so I contented myself with looking after those belonging to others. The thought that I could finally look after a horse belonging to me was fantastic and somewhat frightening. Having a horse was my dream, but I realized that I would probably have to work harder than ever to afford keeping one. Nevertheless, I was so excited to see Belle that I almost tripped over my own feet as I hurried through the barn to stall #3.
........My first glimpse of Belle was an amusing one. She poked her head out of the stall with hay sticking out all over the place from her forelock and mane, and she looked at me with a puzzled but curious expression. All I could think was "thank you thank you thank you Santa" for not only giving me a horse, but a horse with a good personality and without a snobbish bone in her body. I stuck out my hand for Belle to sniff, and once she showed no aversion to me, I slipped into her stall to get a better look at her.
........What I found delighted me. Belle was a stocky, but still tall, Gupsy Vanner-like horse. Her coat was a dappled sooty palomino with sabino markings that seemed to glow in the mid-morning sunlight. Her long, cream-colored mane and tail were perfectly clean, save for the hay. Belle had instantly started nuzzling me the moment I stepped into the stall, and I decided that even though she was stunning in appearance, Belle was even more amazing in character. {511 words}
Prompt 2: "Something you want to write about doing with your new Gypsy, it can be going out riding for the first time or anything that you want to do with them. 400 words minimum."
........The day I received Belle from Santa, I was over the moon. After meeting my new horse and introducing her to everyone else in the barn, human and horse alike, I called up my friend Alex. "Oh my gosh, you will not believe what just happened!" I shouted as soon as she picked up the phone. "Woah there, calm down and tell me what happened!" was Alex's surprised reply. "Are you sitting down?" I asked breathlessly, not wanting to shock Alex too much. "Umm, yeah, I am now," was all I needed to hear to finally shout out my amazing news.
........"I got a horse for Christmas!!!" I exclaimed. There was a long, silent pause on the other end of the line. "That's... well... great, I guess," was Alex's unenthusiastic reply. I was confused as to why she wasn't as excited as me, and I asked "Aren't you happy for me?" Alex seemed to think over her words a bit before finally saying, "I am happy for you, it's just that I'm not exactly a fan of horses. Worst nightmare, deathly afraid, all that? Don't you remember?" Of course! How had I forgotten? Alex's cousin had been near-fatally injured by a horse when they were younger, and Alex has been afraid of horses ever since. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Of course I remember now!" I exclaimed. Then, a possibly brilliant but definitely absurd idea popped into my head. What if I, together with Belle, could help Alex overcome her fear of horses?
........"Would you like to meet my horse—her name is Belle, by the way—anyway?" I proposed. "Are you kidding? Never in a million years could you convince me to do that!" Alex sputtered. "Come on, Alex, Belle is really nice and funny and gentle, and maybe you can conquer your fear of horses when you meet her!" I begged. Alex reluctantly agreed to meet me at the barn in half an hour.
........When Alex arrived at the barn, she looked nervous, but not overly so. I took her hand and led her to stall #3. She got progressively paler and her grip on my hand progressively tighter as we got closer to Belle, and she looked like she wanted to chicken out. However, when Belle stuck her head out of the stall, complete with hay sticking out of her forelock and mane, Alex giggled. "Wait... your horse doesn't seem so bad," she said thoughtfully.
........It would take about another month for Alex to completely relax around horses, but her first meeting with Belle was critical to overcoming her fear. Alex was forever grateful to "that funny little horse of yours." {441 words}
puckish is trying to hitch a ride on the back of a passing ray so they can realize their dream of becoming a champion racing jockey.
