𝐈'𝐌 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 ►𝐒.𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

𝙄 𝙒𝘼𝙉𝙉𝘼 𝘽𝙀 𝙔𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙎

► 𝙈𝙮 (𝙋𝙊𝙑)
—
𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓
—

The sounds of the race track surrounded me, the bustle of the horses eating, jockeys heading out for early morning training. Currently, I was out taking care of the out rider horses and stalls. Putting the dirty shavings into a muck tub, I heard a familiar voice. "Mornin' Uncle James." I beamed a smile at him, and then it fell when I looked over toward Nathan. How did he get here?

"𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏' 𝒌𝒊𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

"Nate? Hi, how's it going?" I questioned softly, the chestnut gelding in the stall I was cleaning, nuzzled my hands. "Where's Sam? He promised me he'd visit me when he-"

"𝑺𝒂𝒎-𝑺𝒂𝒎'𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆-"

Setting the pitch fork to the side, I walked closer to Nate, and tears started to run down my cheeks. "What?"

"𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅, 𝑺𝒂𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕."

Extending my arms out, I pulled Nate into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Nate." I was upset, I began to ball, and the gelding pushed his nose in between our embrace. He seemed to know what was going on. "It's okay." Closing my eyes tightly, I tightened my grip on Nathan.

"𝑹𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅-"

(𝑮𝒂𝒔𝒑)

"It's alright." Whilst we continued to hug, I offered a faint smile. Without a word, Nate pulled away, his eyes wavering slightly. I knew he was upset, and so was I. "We'll get through this together, ya?"

"𝑴𝒉𝒎."

"Where'd Rafe end up?" I questioned. My eyes started to burn with hatred as Nate replied. "Sh**, he's really doing that? Forget about him, ya?" Sighing heavily, I rubbed my eyes and then ruffled up his hair to try to cheer him up. The gelding nosed his way towards Nate, making him smile a little. "He likes you, Nate."

"𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆."

(𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒈)

"𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒈𝒐, 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂. 𝑺𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓."

"Okay, Nate, tell Sully I said hi! Ya?" With Nate gone, I was unaware that my uncle was still hanging out. I went back to cleaning the stall before startling at my uncle's voice.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝒌𝒊𝒅?"

"Mhm. Wish I could've said goodbye to Sam sooner." I replied quietly, pulling the muck tub out of the stall and pushing it out into the grass. Seconds later, I dumped the water bucket and filled it with fresh water. "Sam and I were supposed to be there for each other. He leaves me behind, doesn't say goodbye, now he's dead." I rolled my eyes and watched the gelding take a drink of water. Afterward, I stepped out of the stall and then continued down the line of the stalls. My uncle continued to follow. His bright blue eyes stared into me.