Survival

IX: More Goodbyes

(Picture is Maple)
3571 words

Sylvia's POV.

I hit the dirt with a grunt coughing up dust and letting out a growl of frustration. It had been two days since Beth had been buried and since Ben had been trying to teach me how to ride Maple... Which hadn't been going so well, I still couldn't stay on that damn horse! Oh, sorry... Very beautiful, very stubborn, and annoying horse!! Every time I got on him he would buck, just flip out of control! And then Ben would come over here and just hop onto the thing like it was nothing, AND OF COURSE Maple wouldn't do a thing... He would just prance around the fence Ben had him in and do everything the man told him. I'd had enough! I mean really hours of this going on and on... It got annoying fast. Of course, by now Simba was almost able to walk around and his wounds were pretty much healed as well as mine. Now only a thick scab remained where the ax had hit my side, as long as I was careful I could do a decent amount of activity without hurting myself or reopening the wound. I hit the ground huffing in anger, I stood stiffly walking towards the field,
"Where are you going!" Ben called to me grabbing Maple by his reins,
"Away!" I yelled back,
"But there's still plenty of daylight!" I just ignored him this time, it was the third day of dealing with that horse and I didn't want to endure it for another second. I sighed with relief as I leaned my back against a tree on the outer rims of Ben's field. My thighs were bruised- Wait no actually a lot of my was bruised from getting bucked off and from when I was able to stay on that horse for maybe 10 seconds. It was relaxing to lay in the shade... To not have to be tense and ready to feel the dirt under me every couple of minutes. I looked back at the house to see Ben bubbling back into the house, while I was slowly getting better it seemed as though Ben was just getting worse. He always said he was fine when I asked but I could see it in his eyes... Something was wrong, but the problem was that I couldn't tell what. I mean it could be the loss of Beth just saying down on him, but I was almost certain it was something more medical. I looked down at my hands before reaching up and grabbing the necklace wrapped around my neck. The silver glinted in the small amount of light that filtered through the leaves and the great tree hovering over me. My fingers traced the place where the fox was cut out of it and I felt a pain in my chest, I knew it was all too foolish of me to care for someone who I'd just met, I mean literally, we'd probably only known each other for a day. Yet I cared so much that the Taipans got him... Maybe it was because I felt guilty, or that he was the only person who had been nice to me in years other than Ben and Beth. I felt another pain in my chest as I remember Beth again... It wasn't fair! I kicked the dirt in frustration, then sighed sitting back down again, life wasn't fair... Nothing was ever fair, I'd lost my parents for no reason, wasn't fair, Beth had died for no reason, wasn't fair, and Jason had been taken... Which wasn't fair. Nothing in my life had been fair and I didn't expect it to change, so I guess I just had to start not playing fair either, if the world didn't want to be fair neither was I going to be! I abruptly stood up looking at the sky, it was darkening already, leaving the landscape around me a blue tint. I suddenly felt a pulse of determination stalking towards the stalls. Ben had already put Maple in his tall in my absence but I luckily knew how to get him out and put the sale back on him as Ben had made sure I could do that before even letting me onto the creature,
"Easy now big boy..." I said patting his neck with my hand as I led him out into the fields by his reins, he gave a grunt using his front hoof to scratch at the dirt,
"Don't worry... Nothing bad's going to happen," I said trying to soothe the horse, he seemed concerned that he was going for a ride this close to dark. I walked aways out until the farmhouse was only a blur, though that was mainly because it was getting dark so quickly, it was probably only about half a mile from the farmhouse.
"Okay, buddy... What do you say, should we give this another shot?" The creature whinnied in response flicking its long tail and main,
"Please don't buck me off, okay?" I asked before heaving myself up into the saddle, he started shifting on his feet already getting antsy,
"Whoa, whoa!" I said trying to remember what Ben had told me, "A horse can feel your fear, if you're scared, then they will be scared. Try to loosen up." I recalled the words shaking my shoulders,
"Loosen up... Yeah I can do that... Can't I?" I sighed before taking a deep breath and calming my nerves, I'd fallen off this horse so many times I couldn't have kept track even if I wanted to... So there was no reason for me to be scared of that now. The horse calmed down a bit though it still seemed nervous with this strange person on its back, even though I'd been trying to ride him for almost three whole days now,
"See? This isn't too bad, now is it? Now lets just take this nice and easy..." I let out a yelp as Maple went into a full outrun. I clung to the reins and my legs tightened around his torso, but that only made him go faster, which was when I remembered Ben telling if you wanted a horse to start moving you kicking their side lightly, the more pressure the faster they went. It was only a matter of seconds before I lost my grip and tumbled to the ground. I cursed ripping a handful of grass out of the ground as I sat there wheezing on my back.
"Well, that'll leave yet another mark," I grumbled half sitting up to see Maple trotting back, if he could speak I figured he'd be saying something like, "You're the one who dragged me out here in the dark,"
"Thanks a lot," I said dusting myself off, "I ain't giving up yet though," I hopped back onto his back making sure not to put pressure on his sides like last time. But instead, I pulled the reins lightly to my left, and to my delight Maple walked slowly in the direction I moved it. I got him to go into a full circle before being us to a stop,
"Now... Let's try going forward again," I sighed trying to re calm my nerves. I lightly tapped his sides and he slowly walked forward; I sighed in relief patting his neck,
"Good job boy, now let's see if I can get used to a trot." I tapped his side a little harder and he picked up the speed, but only enough to where I rose and fell every couple of seconds, but not by a lot. I did this for probably about thirty minutes, just trotting around the field, going in circles or over to the apple tree where I ended up grabbing two apples, giving one to Maple. I had to admit it was much funner riding a horse if you could stay on it for a while. My thighs were starting to get soar from it though, but I wanted to try running before heading back to the farmhouse. I took a deep breath before kicking him on each side with both of my heals, he snorted before picking up the pace a decent bit. I gripped the reins tightly with my back straight, I tried remembering how Ben sat whenever he took Maple for a run to give him some better exercise other than bucking me off. A bright smile slowly spread across my face when I didn't fall and Maple didn't do anything abrupt.
"Whoohooo!!" I yelled at the sky laughing as the wind blew at my face, this was way funner than I thought! I admitted to myself. I rode him for about ten minutes before turning him back towards the farmhouse,
"Thanks, Maple... I haven't had that much fun in a really long time," I said unbuckling Maple's sale and putting it away before leading the horse back to his stall. I tried to be as silent as possible when entering the house knowing that Ben was already asleep. I took off my shoes and hat before laying down on the couch. Simba walked up to me laying his head on my blanket. I smiled stopping myself from letting out a cry of joy; only that morning Simba could barely stand up, yet he now could walk fairly well. I suddenly wondered what I was going to do next... I had no clue, I didn't know whether to try and go find Jason or to just stay here with Ben and help him, learning how to be a farmer. I shook my head deciding to ask Ben about it later.