Leora loved the forest, and exploring even more. Her horse Samson snorted at immense amount of trees before her. The forest swallowed his puff and spit it back at him. His ears folded back and he dipped his head down to the ground; sniffing for scrubs to eat. "Come on! Let's go already! No time for grazing," Leora shouted.
She took hold of the rope she was guiding him with and pulled. Samson didn't budge. "Leave the poor plants alone, ok? We need to get a move on," she said with grip loosening. He looked at her briefly; and then to the forest. His big golden eyes looked into Leora's again and his ears folded back. "I know you don't want to go, but you hate all the trails back at the barn. We need to go for a ride somewhere new, ok?", she told him. Samson tossed his head down and nibbled on some weeds sprouting in the lush green grass. "There will be plenty of plants for you to snack on," she added.
Nothing. "Alright Mr. If you say so...", Leora trailed off. She mounted her massive horse and gave him a kick to the sides. He started with a quick trot, and off into the forest they ventured.
The canopy of full evergreen trees shaded her from the golden sun above. Samson gracefully leapt over rotting logs coated with mushrooms and moss, and dodged rocks on his left. Trotting through creeks and up hill sides they went. Leora kicked Samson again, and he started to lope.
The breeze stung her cheeks and trashed her hair all around; but she loved it. The beginning of the lope was smooth, and even graceful. The pounding of Samson's heavy hooves echoed across the forrest. Leora hadn't even noticed that sun was beginning to set. She needed to get back to the barn! Her lesson was over a long time ago; probably hours.
She yanked on the reins; Sampson accelerated. "What are you doing? We need to back to the barn!," she shouted over the howling wind. She turned her head. Standing in the blue light of dusk was a figure. It was low to the ground, trailing behind them. She veered Samson to the right. Leora whipped her head around again, the creature moving fast behind them. "Owooo!", howled the creature. A shiver trickled down her spine, a wolf was following them.
She kept a steady eye on the creature as she willed Samson to go faster. Leora's heart was pounding in rhythm with Samson's heavy hooves. She looked over to the left, and there it was.
