Follow Your Dreams

Chapter 21: Just Like Old Times

I went to Little Creek Stables like always on Saturday. Over the past week, we have gotten numerous stable hands and riders to come here. The fundraiser really helped with business. I grabbed the wheel barrow and shovel from in front of the barn and proceeded to muck out the stalls I was assigned to. It was a good thing we got new stable hands, because all these new riders were bringing in more horses to take care of. "Um, I need help getting the horse I use." A young girl looked up at my shyly.

"Alright, I'll come help you. What's your horse's name?" I smiled as I rested the shovel against the stall door. Her face became puzzled as she tried to remember the name of her horse. I didn't blame her for not remembering; she was new to this and just recently got the horse.

"Oh! Her name is Sun!" The little girl grinned. I nodded and went to the tack room with her following me. I grabbed an orange halter and the matching lead line before walking with the girl to the pasture. Sun was inside, grazing away from the other horses in the pasture.

"I guess Sun isn't very social with the new horses." I laughed and climbed up onto the fence and jumping down into the pasture. "Wait here, I'll be right back." I told the little girl. She nodded and watched me through the pasture fence. Sun was a golden American Saddlebred horse. I put on his halter and clipped the lead line to it before leading Sun to the gate of the pasture.

"Thank you for helping me!" She smiled brightly and opened the gate for me. I laughed and brought Sun over to the cross ties in the barn. The little girl needed help grooming and tacking Sun up as well so I helped her with what she couldn't do. "Can you help me mount too?" She asked once Sun was out of the barn. I nodded and cupped my hands as I stood beside Sun. The little girl put her left foot into my hands and I helped give her a boost so she sat in the saddle. Once her feet were adjusted into the stirrups, she walked Sun to the indoor arena. I watched her go before returning to mucking my stalls.

"I have never seen Little Creek so busy..." Jake said as he walked over to me. I had just finished my last stall and was bringing the wheel barrow and shovel back to the tool shed.

"It used to be like this all the time. People began to get too busy and less interested in horses after awhile though." I replied and looked over at him. Jake had moved into the town of Rosemary a year after I had begun working at Little Creek. We were both the same age, but I started working here before him. My first year was just volunteer work though since I was still young; I had started working here when I was thirteen. "It's just like old times now." I laughed.

"It's nice to see Little Creek this busy. There are so many new workers too, giving us less work." Jake observed. I nodded in agreement. We reached the tool shed and I put the wheel barrow and shovel away before walking down towards the pasture. Some of the new stable hands have already taken care of putting food and water in the stalls.

"With less work, I get more time to get closer to Hershey too." I smiled at the thought. Jake just laughed at how obsessed I was with that horse. We walked over to the pasture and I climbed the fence before jumping down into the pasture. Gates are just overrated, unless the horse has to go in or out with you. Hershey was grazing off to the side from a group of four other horses. I walked over to him slowly and he lifted his head to stare at me. "Hi there," I greeted him.

Hershey let out a whinny and took a step towards me. He sniffed at my pocket, which just happened to be hiding some carrots. Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that he is already looking for the carrots. I grabbed a carrot and held it in the center of my hand. Hershey quickly ate the carrot, munching loudly like always. "You are such a messy eater." I laughed as the carrot crumbs fell to the grass or stayed on his mouth. Hershey just sniffed my pocket, looking for more carrots. I pulled another one out of my pocket and held it out to him. He ate the carrot and I returned back to the pasture fence that Jake was sitting on. I climbed up next to him and watched the horses like I always did. We were both silent for a long time until Jake finally spoke up.

"You really have gotten closer to Hershey. I wonder if you will be able to ride him..." He observed. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him with wide eyes. The last horse that anybody would ever be able to ride, was Hershey.

"You better be joking. There is no way anybody would be able to ride Hershey. Yeah, I got close to him, but he used to be wild and still doesn't have full trust in humans." I argued. Jake rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"You'll never know until you try. I wouldn't be surprised if you ever did get to ride Hershey." Jake answered me before jumping off the fence. I looked down at him and sighed, giving up the argument. He was right; there was no way to know for sure unless I tried to ride Hershey.

"Maybe I will try to ride him someday, but I'm kind of scared." I laughed. Jake smiled and we both went our separate ways to help the riders and new stable hands get used to the place.

*Author's Note* 3 more chapters! Yes, I'm counting down the chapters now. XD Comment what you thought or if there are any grmmar errors! Thanks for reading! ~AyakaTheNightfury