Filly

The Outside

It's been days since I last saw the angry man, and I'm glad he's gone. Today, the hunched man I think my mother called a "stablehand", is hooking a blue halter around my head. The rope scratches uncomfortably on my face, and as soon as the man steps away, I lean down and rub my cheek against my knee. The halter doesn't budge, and now my knee is feeling sore too.

"Don't bother, they're practically indestructible," my mother whispers into my ear.

"Almost?" I whisper back mischievously. She gives me that don't-even-think-about-it look, and I lower my gaze.

"So today I get to see the outside?" I ask her excitedly. Ever since Day 1, which, granted, was only 4 days ago, I've been dying to see the outside. Mama tells me that it is bigger than I could ever imagine. I can't wait! But secretly, I really want to see a twig. My legs don't look nearly as thin as they once did, but they still aren't anywhere near the size of Mama's muscular legs. I want to know if they actually look like that so-called "twig".

Distracted, I am surprised to feel a strange tugging feeling on my face. What on Earth? I gasp in shock as I realize the stablehand is pulling me! Suddenly angry, I stomp my right foot down, trying to communicate to the man to stop. But he doesn't. He tugs harder, and I feel my head being being pulled forward. I blink is shock. How did he do that? I have no choice but to walk forward, and I already hate myself for submitting.

I glance back, but mother just shakes her head at me. I grind my teeth together, and decide to follow. That's what mother would want me to do. The man leads me through the door to our stall, and we walk down a long hallway. I can hear the sounds of mother's hooves clicking against the concrete, and I know she is close behind. That provides some comfort, although I am too upset right now to really care.

We continue down the hallway, passing multiple stalls as we go. From what I can tell, almost all of them are empty. As we near the exit, I pick up the scent of another horse. I stop abrubtly, and I can feel the waves of frustration coming off of the stablehand. To his credit, he doesn't act on it, and treats me gently. He gives a slight tug, but I ignore it. To my right, a tall bay horse stares at me, her interest peeked.

"Ah, you're first trip outside! Have fun!" She gives a slight smile, before turning and lying down. My eyes widen, and this time, I don't resist as the stablehand pulls me after him. Another horse! I just met my first real horse! 

Mother makes a chuckling sound behind me, easily guessing my thoughts. I blink my eyelids, slightly embarrassed.

Up ahead, a large stream of light appears, and I am momentarily blinded. The outside! My stablehand leads me through the open doors, and I pause, closing my eyes. So, so bright! I put on a brave face and take a step outwards, making my first move into the outside world. I whinny in shock. Mother wasn't kidding. It's huge!!! 

I glance around wildly, eager to take it all in. The sky is a light blue, and the morning sun is beginning its ascent. A large, dusty road stretches out in front of me, and past the line of short but long stables, a ginormous pasture awaits. The grass is greener than I would have thought possible.

The stablehand nudges me forward, and I follow, still in awe. He leads me down a stretch onto the road, and excitedly, I realize he's leading me to the pasture! With this knowledge, I begin to walk faster. I easily out-stride the man, and I hear him laugh as I pass. Wait. Did he just laugh? Now that was shocking.

Now I'm leading him towards the large white gate that opens up to the pasture, and it doesn't take long for us to reach it. I wait patiently as he fiddles with the lock. After a few seconds, the gate swings out wide, and I'm glad I am standing out it's way. The stablehand doesn't even have to nudge me in. I neigh with joy as my hooves hit the cushioning grass, and I glance back, waiting for mom. She enters the pasture right behind me, and the stablehand takes off her halter.

 Wait! My halters still on! I want to cry that out to the workers, but I recently learned they don't speak horse. As if they read my thoughts, my guy comes over and quickly slides my halter off, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I never want to feel that thing on my face again! But I know I have no choice. The stablehands leave throught the gate, and close it behind them.

Without warning, mother takes off. One second, she is standing calmly beside me, and the next, she is running faster than what I would have thought possible down the field. I look down at my legs, and silently command them to do that. They don't move one inch. I sigh and start walking. Running looks pretty hard! But as I watch my mother run farther and farther away, I panic, and some sort of natural instinct kicks in. Before I know it, I'm running!

The feeling of the dewy grass beneath my feet feels so refreshing, but the cool wind in my hair and eyes is surprising. Nonetheless, it feels good.

Up ahead, I see that Mother has stopped, and is leaning down to eat some grass. Why is she eating grass? The thought circles though my head, but no natural instinct bothers to answer. I catch up to Mama, and she gives me a fond glance.

I look down at my legs, and am surprised by their color. I had thought that the low light had made my legs look dark, but I could see now that my coat was darker than night! I gaped at my legs, then looked up at mom. She was lighter than me, perhaps a dark gray. Huh, I always thought we were the same color. For some reason, that makes me feel a little sad, but I shake the feeling away immediately.

Then I remember my big question.

"Mama, what's a twig?"