The Long Race Home (Being Rewritten)

Aftermath

I stood there in shock. Maybe I was wrong about that horse, he kept up with Night Runner. I mean, Night Runner had a bad race, but he had the courage to try. I look at the watch. Neither time was very remarkable, but they weren't far off from each other. I looked down the path to the barn. It felt eerily quiet. I walked to the barn and made my decision. But as I walked, they all left for vans and trailers, even Anna. I peeked into the barn. All of Jessica's stuff was gone. Maybe I was too harsh on them.

I look around. None of the horses seemed to notice anything uptight. They were all contently munching on hay, even Night Runner. She acted like nothing unordinary happened today. I thought about what happened. Why did I single Win Big out like that? Why did I refuse to house him? Looking back on it, if we didn't have Night Runner, I would've been happy to give him a home. If I hadn't seen him race, he would've helped calm horses in their stalls. Ugh, why am I so stupid? I took this lesson to heart and used it well. No matter how hard things may get, there's always something good around the corner, and I had to find those things. I didn't even get the chance to tell Jessica that he proved fast enough to stay. Now my quest was to make it up to Jessica. I had to bring her and Win Big back.