BurningRod

Chapter 2

Jackson softened his stiff posture after the sun warmed him again. The winged horse took two large steps towards him. The power of he stallion was magnificent. He snorted loudly and his whinny seemed to echo loudly. He reached his head forward and sniffed Jackson's nose, then caulked his head weirdly. Jackson patted the horse's neck and turned around to go up the hill and grab his bike. On the way up, the horse followed him.

"Shoo!" Jackson swatted his hand at the horse. It moved its head slightly to dodge the hand and then continued to follow him up the hill.

"Go on! I freed you, now go on." He turned, let out a sigh, and softened his voice. "What do you want?"

The horse nudge him his his nose on the shoulder and looked up he hill. Then, without warning, put his head between Jackson's legs, and picked it up forcing Jackson on the stallion's back and he rode off towards home. Jackson held onto the horses mane tightly and with wide eyes, held on for dear life. Wind whipped past his face. The horse moved faster than a car and his hooves thundered like lightning. Jackson had to dodge branches as they pasted low hanging limbs.

A rush of relief filled him as they neared the last corner of trail. He would be home soon. But what was around the turn, was not home. Instead, he found himself in a large open field of tall green grass with nothing else in sight. When he looked back, even the forest behind him had disappeared. It was... Magic? Jackson couldn't even explain to himself how he felt. He knew it was real, he had already tried pinching himself to wake up, but how could it be? He reached down and patted the animal's neck.

"Good boy." The words barley came out though as he stared around in awe. Where was he and how would he ever get home? There was only one place to start. Forward. So he gave the stallion a nudge and it trotted farther into the field.

They went together threw the empty field for several hours. It provided thinking time for Jackson. He wondered where the winged horse came from. Was this it's home? If it was then how did it get to where Jackson lived? Was this magic? He wondered what his family thought about him. But most of all he asked himself why he ever decided to help the animal in the first place. If he hadn't, he would't be in this mess.

It was dark when they came to a stream of water. Jackson was about to give up and rest there for the night until he noticed a light in the distance. Not only was it a light, but it was the light of a broken down shack. If someone lived there that could help... maybe he would be ok.

He mounted the horse and began towards the shelter. It wasn't far from the small stream. Smoke puffed from the chimney of the shelter. It was made of mostly sticks, leaves, and stones. A little garden had been made to the left of the house. Jackson didn't really know why he wasn't scared, but he guessed it was because someone else in this open field was a welcome sight.

After dismounting, he and the stallion walked to the door. It was made of wood, the bark had been stripped off, and it had no door handle. Jackson could have just pushed it open if he wanted to, which, would be of course, a very bad idea. So, he gave three, large, slow knocks as if he were knocking on the neighbor's house and everything was perfectly normal.

After a few sounds of clanging from inside, the door was pushed open and a friendly looking man with a beard and shaggy brown hair stepped out.

"Well," He said in a rather cheerful yet strong voice. "If it isn't BurningRod and..."

His voice faded as he turned his attention from the horse to Jackson.

"What do ya' know! He's brought a visitor!" He sounded even more joyful this time. "Come in, come in!"

And he walked back in his house leaving the door wide open for Jackson.