The Death of Me

Chapter 3

We drove for I don't know how long. We drove until I got tired and nearly swerved off the rode . We drove on and on until I heard Patches kick the side of the trailer. We drove until the sun no longer shined and the moon took it's place in the kingdom of the sky. We finally stopped when my thoughts did. We stopped at a giant Department store, I let Patches roam free. I figured if he ran off, I wouldn't mind, the expensive horses were free, he deserved just the same. Yet, I knew Patches wouldn't just leave me, he even tried to follow me into the store, and as I pushed the automatic doors  out of the way it spooked him. He waited out in the parking lot, snorting with slight frustration. I looked around the dark store, and bumped around awkwardly in the near night. There was only so much sun light left, and it was fading very quickly. I had to try and find an emergency control panel or something that would light the place up.

After what seemed like hours and after a few whinnies from Patches, I found a room with a huge switch that had a sign above it. "Only for Emergencies" It read. I switched it quickly and a few dim lights around the corners of the store lit up eagerly. I blinked at the sudden light, even though it was quite dim, I could actually see things now. I walked around to the door, finding Patches peering in through the window frantically trying to find me. I walked out of the building to him, stroking him comfortingly. He nickered and nudged me, I smiled,  very flattered by his worry. 

I sat and pondered how I was going to  act on this. I wanted to get Patches into the store. Wanted him close to me, now that everyone was go- Well, missing. Who knows what could be out there waiting for a meal? I stood up and gently cooed him with warm words, and tugged on his halter to get him on the mat in front of the doors, they worked because of the emergency electricity, which I was thankful for. I don't believe I would have been able to pull on him and pry open the doors at the same time. I was frantic though, but made myself be patient with him, even though he was old, he was still much stronger than me.

After an hour of pulling and coaxing, he was half way through the doors, and then, in a frantic pull he bolted through the doors, walking into the store's cool interior. Luckily he wasn't wearing shoes, so his hooves didn't slip and scoot across the marble floors. Yet he was still suspicious, everything scared him, yet he didn't dare try and go back through the doors. I walked farther into the store, looking for blankets and pillows and other things for rest. They weren't hard to find, there were two aisles dedicated to things for sleeping. I turned to find a snorting and pawing Patches behind me, I was thankful he followed. I walked up to him and patted his neck, stroking him and calming him. Soon he was done snorting and simply gazed at me. I smiled at him.

We walked around the store aimlessly, Patches occasionally snorted at something, or trotted closer to my shoulder. He was afraid of this place almost as much as I was. The darkness and the emptiness of the store unsettled us both. We walked into the vegetables and fruits section. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until now. My stomach growled, I hadn't eaten since I left, and I was hardly eating anything before then. I grabbed some carrots from a shelf, and laid them upon the ground, Patches sniffed and snorted, but dug into the small pile of no more than ten carrots. I grabbed the rest so that he wouldn't hurt himself eating too many during the night. I walked on and noticed Patches didn't even finish the carrots, he was too afraid to leave my side. He trotted towards me and kept up well, yet he seemed sluggish. I remembered how he hated being driven in trailers and he couldn't sleep in them like some other horses could. He needed rest.

We walked about, I got lots of food and then we walked back to a corner of the store were there was carpet, I then laid out two thick comforters. I sat on the first one and patted my hand on the other one, "Lay down." I said plainly to him, trying to make my voice as clear as possible. Thankfully, Patches remembered that trick, and he walked up to me, laying upon the blanket with a loud sigh. I smiled at him, I didn't give him the signal to stand up, so he knew better than to stand without permission. He was alert and afraid for a while, but after rubbing his forehead and talking to him gently  for 30 minutes or more, he fell asleep. I sighed with relief, he breathed loudly. The great thing about having an elderly horse was once they were asleep, they were very well asleep.

I was very tired, but so restless. Where was everyone? Where had they gone? I stood up and walked around the store, walking without purpose. After a while I walked into the magazine section, I flipped through some that had celebrities on them. I saw nothing of interest. I sat the magazine down and looked around, then out of the corner of my eyes I saw something moving. My head turned quickly in the direction of the movement, and then I heard something fall. I held my breath. A person? An animal? A demon? It could be anything. One million and two thoughts ran through my head frantically. "Hello?" I called out foolishly, yet if it was a person, I'm sure they would be just as excited as me to find human life. I moved timidly towards the noise.. nothing moved and I began to breathe more heavily. I crept towards it timidly and finally turned the corner and looked around, seeing nothing. I blinked, it was dim but I would be able to see something if it were there, I looked around another aisle... And there it was, I gasped. 

I let out a relieved sigh and touched my forehead, and my heart. A meow came from the cat, rubbing it's body on the jar of pickles on the bottom of the shelf. I sighed again and looked at the cat with a disappointed and yet relieved look. "Hello, kitty." I cooed toward the feline, it meowed happily at me, and started purring as I stroked it's jet black fur. It lifted it's back to my hand and I smiled, but then all of a sudden the cat looked up at me and meowed very loudly. I moved my hand back, it had startled me, then the cat took off down the aisle, and meowed loudly again. I stood up and giggled, it all seemed like a game to me. I glided after it, not running and not walking, it ran ahead, and every time I fell behind, it meowed loudly once more. I walked after it now, my eyes lazy. I made sure I knew where we were, as not to leave Patches by himself, but then the cat walked unto a pile of calendars, it meowed and purred at me. I walked to it and rubbed it's back again, the cat meowed, this time more gently. It seemed very deprived of attention. Then it bolted off the calendar and one flew to the side, I looked to it. I stared at it and then , while still crouched down, pulled the calendar over to myself. I flipped it open, glancing through the calendar. I found the date when the party was supposed to be, and counted the days up to today.. 2....3...4...- I spoke aloud "Five days.." I said, astonished then I glanced at the date. I gasped..... 

It's March 13th. 

 Today is my birthday.