Tacoma Falls: Wild Horses

Survivor

Amber

After Trudy's surprise appearance at home, we didn't hear a lick from her again. That didn't surprise me after I reminded her of the hell I endured with Satan. Girls like Trudy think they have the world by the ass. They don't. They find out real quickly they're no match for guys like Satan. Hell, I was no match for Satan, yet I still survived.

I approached the stall with my horse. Yep, I claimed the terrified animal who stole carrots when he thought no one was looking. I used a different tactic from what Dalton did.

I opened the gate and stepped inside. The horse backed away until he stood in the corner and looked at me.

"I won't hurt you. But we need to talk." I stood by the opening of the stall. "You don't trust me or anyone. That's okay. I don't trust a lot of people except Grayson. And that's iffy."

The horse blinked.

"People are cruel. They hurt you when you did nothing wrong to them. They call you names, beat you, and starve you. It's not right."

The horse lowered its head slightly.

"But there are people who will help you. They'll fail at times because they don't know any better. But they'll learn. I guess you and I can learn together and trust each other. That's if you want to."

The horse lifted its head and blinked before stepping toward me. Once it reached me, we gazed at each other. I didn't lift my hand to touch it but waited. Then the horse bumped my face with its nose before lowering his head. I raised my hand slowly and ran my palm down its nose gently. It moved closed and placed its head on my shoulder. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around its neck and stroke it.

"It's a gelding," a voice said from behind us.

I turned my head to see Dalton leaning against the wall across from the stall. "What?"

"He's a neutered male horse. We call them geldings. His previous owners must have neutered him before putting him through hell."

I stroked the horse. "I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt an animal."

"Because they think that's how you raise them. It's not the animal you need to worry about. It's the owner. Animals aren't mean. People are."

"What about wild animals?"

"It's their instinct to protect themselves and survive. People misread that and treat the wild animal like the enemy. The animal isn't the enemy. We are. We invaded their home and took it from them. It's best to leave them alone in peace. They see us as a threat when  we try to get near them."

"What about hunting?"

"We only hunt to keep the population down, or it overruns us. My family hunts for food, not sport. That's the difference."

I rubbed the horse as he nuzzled my neck.

"You're the first person the horse would let touch him."

I glanced at the horse before looking at Dalton. "We're survivors. We survived a hellish experience at the hands of others. I never thought I would survive. I figured Satan would kill me since he almost succeeded."