Yearning to Live

Wild Beginnings

I opened my eyes and it took a minute to adjust to the blazing morning sun. I trotted over to where the grass was greenest and lowered my head, and ate the succulent shreds of grass. When I was finished, I looked around. The herd was sunning, quite content with the warmth of the sun. I saw my mother and father, near each other alert. They were the fastest horses and they had to watch for signs of danger. I inherited their speed, so when I am older, I will take their place. I walked over to my friend and we started to run over the hills and sprinting back. The sun was high in the sky, so the herd tended to settle under blazing heat.

I stood breathing hard, when my mother nickered nervously. Soon after my father reared up, whinnied in terror and charge down the hill at top speed. Soon, the whole herd was running frantically for their lives. I ran after the herd already tired from earlier. My friend ran beside me as we sped up and caught up my my mother. She took one look back and let up her speed a bit seeing the herd was falling behind.

The next thing I know is my hooves are digging into the earth trying to stop myself as the herd is surrounded by red, metal, fencing. I had heard about this stuff once, only the courageous could jump over it and no horse could run through it. Then more horses appeared on the horizon, charging toward us. I thought we were saved, until I saw humans on their back.

In a flash, I was running blindly in fear, and I heard banging and something hard and metal hit my side. Pain flashed through my body, as I was forced to run farther. I saw where I was headed. This big, dark, metal cage was coming closer to me. I stopped myself from running. No matter what, I refused to go in that cage. I stood for a second catching my breath. When I looked over my shoulder, one of the humans was next to the fence and raised something in his hand. He snapped his hand down, and I heard a sharp, loud, crack come from the thing in his hand. Suddenly, that thing hit me and more pain coursed through my body. I bolted forward, I couldn't take the pain if he did it again, I would take a chance in the cage. I couldn't see where I was going as black dots of pain blurred my vision. The pain loomed over me like a blanket. It was like a peaceful darkness. But I was still running, and I would keep running until I was safe. The black dots that blurred my vision suddenly blinded me. I felt a ramp to the cage beneath me, I couldn't make it. I stumbled onto the ramp, but my knees buckled and I fell onto the ground. I opened my eyes hoping I wouldn't get trampled. One of the humans got off their horse, and knelt down beside me. I heard protest from the other humans, but this one stuck his hand under the fence and started stroking my neck. But before I could stand up, pain won over my body. I went limp, I didn't struggle this time and soon the darkness engulfed me, blissful, painless, darkness.