Elsie could see him; his light silver body reflecting the light, the sunlight dancing on his back as he shifted around restlessly.’ I’m coming.’ she thought. ‘Please wait for me.’
But the horse wasn’t listening. He let out a loud whinny, rearing up as he did so, turned on his heels, and just as fast as the wind whistled around the rocky mountain, he was gone.
Elsie ( http://dreamself.me/d/in80 ) awoke, gasping and shivering. She wrapped her blue horse-patterned duvet around her; a night sweat had worked up and was freezing her until she felt like her heart was frozen completely. Not only was it cold, but it was broken too. The horse was always gone before she could get to him.
“Elsie! ELSIE ROSE FLETCHER! If you’re not down here before the minute is up, I’m going to at ALL your pancakes for myself!” yelled her dad.
“Oi! Not ALL of them! I want some too!” Elsie could hear her brother’s voice from downstairs, and smiled. Her brother never failed to make her laugh.
Suddenly realising that her minute was almost up, she hoisted herself out of bed and dressed in her favourite horsey top and red jeans with blue horses embroidered up each side. Her mum, Michelle, had helped her sew them herself. Oh, Mum, she thought. I miss you so much. She shuddered as the memories reawakened...
“Go, Mum!” she cheered as Blue leaped the triple oxer which was adorned with flowers and rosettes to distract both the horse and the rider. Blue, however, just soared into the air without a second glance at the brightly-coloured jump. They were just turning the corner to the combination when it all went wrong.
“Dog!” someone yelled from the sidelines.
“There appears to be a dog on the showjumping course.” declared Fionn Jackson, the announcer, casually, as the little white terrier went mad, barking at Blue and leaping around crazily. Elsie could see Blue’s eyes widen, terrified, as he advanced on the first jump. Michelle urged him on, and trusting in his rider, he jumped, however he shattered two poles in the process. This was enough to startle him, and he launched himself up to the second jump on an off stride. Elsie could only scream as Blueberry Pie fell, skidding on the slippery, wet sand. Michelle fell without a sound, but Blue let out a agonized whinny as he watched his rider land. He tried to scramble to his feet, but he could only stand on three legs. The one held high above the ground was quite obviously broken.
Elsie ran to her mother, but Michelle’s eyes were closed. As paramedics raced out to wheel her mother away on a stretcher, she could only hope for the best.
She knew, in her heart, that this fall was fatal.
“ELSIE!” her brother yelled. “I’m eating your pancakes!”
Elsie noticed that she’d been daydreaming for quite a while.
“Sorry!” she shouted down. “I’ll be right there!” she swiftly dragged a brush through her long, light blonde hair and grabbed a hairband to quickly tie up her hair in a ponytail while she ran down the stairs.
“Finally! Elsie, we were just about to call out a search party!” her dad, James, joked.
“Sorry, Dad.” she sat down.
"Sorry, Els. Thought you were never coming, so I ate your pancakes for you.” Michael, her brother, laughed, patting her on the shoulder.
Elsie just looked at them. From past experience, she had learned not to encourage her dad and her brother.
