Filling in the Pieces // Luke Brooks

Chapter 1 - Sunset Farms

        It was Saturday afternoon and the sun was beating down on my truck wind shield, as I drove down the twisted roads into town to go eat lunch with my best friend Theresa.

        "Are you going to be here soon? I look like an idiot sitting at a table by myself," Theresa whined at me from over the phone.

        "So don't just sit there, go and help your mother or something, be useful for once," I giggled. Her parents were the owners of the most popular diner in all of Hudson, the place we were also meeting today.

        "Ugh I don't wanna.... Just tell me how much longer," she continued to whine at me, getting more and more frustrated.

        "I'll be there in five minutes," I began to say, but suddenly got distracted by something down in the field just to the side of the road. There was a little chestnut mare lying in the middle of the field. "Umm actually...make that 20 minutes," I mumbled, before hanging up.

        Seconds later a herd of horses sprinted across the road, directly in front of my car. I quickly slammed my foot on the break, hearing the screeching sound of the tires against the pavement the car came to a stop and I exhaled an uneasy breath. Calming down from that quick scare, I parked the car at the side of the road. I scanned the area and I could see from afar there were hunters with guns and arrows hiding in the bushes. They had gotten one of the members of the herd. It was a young filly with a light bay coat, it's father must be Flash, the stallion I have identified as the leader of the herd, she resembled him in almost every way.

        It wasn't long until the hunters came out of the bush, but when they did my heart and jaw dropped. They were a bunch of teenagers no older than me, who were hunting innocent horses for fun. That sickens me. Do they honestly have nothing better to do with their lives? Some people are just unbelievable. From where I was standing I could faintly see that the filly was still breathing, so once the low life teens were finished admiring what they had done, I rushed down to her side, while calling my grandfather. I reached her side and luckily the arrow that had hit her was only in her thigh, she was most likely going to live. Within ten minutes my grandpa arrived with our horse trailer and medical supplies.

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        That was the day I saved my favourite girl, Kali. She really is the toughest horse I have ever had, I can always count on her to pull through. Ever since that day I have seen Flash's herd everywhere. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch them, I even know them well enough to had given them all names. I'm a loser I know, but when you live in a town as small Hudson, you find ways to pass the time.

        Of course, the leader of the herd Flash who is jet back apart from the white spot of his face, and his mare Jewels who is a dapple grey. I guess that's where her colt gets his colouring from from, I named him Chance. There are two Pinto's in the herd as well. The gelding Elliot is black and white, and the mare Stella is brown and white with beautiful blue eyes. They are completely inseparable and I had no idea why, until a couple of weeks ago I realized that her beautiful blue eyes where actually so blue because she was blind. To prevent her from getting lost Elliot would guide her around from place to place. The last two are mares are always getting into fights, I named them Rosie and Jinx.

        Now that I have told you all the names of the horses I should probably introduce myself as well. My name is Kaitlyn Rivers, but everyone calls me Kait. My appearance? Well let's just say I have the typical white girl look, but I'm just less of a bitch. I am 17 and have long blonde hair that is pin straight, and green eyes. I am around 5'6 and wishing I was a tad shorter due to the fact that wearing heels around the guys my age is kind of awkward when you're the tallest person in the room. As to where I live I have already mentioned, but in case you forgot you can find me on a small ranch called Sunset Farms in the town of Hudson which is located in the province of Manitoba.

        I live with my mother, grandpa, and younger sister Danica. My grandmother had past away a long, long time ago when I was just a baby, so I don't remember her that well. What I do remember though is the year of 2004, it was the worst. I was 8 years old and my father entered a very popular rodeo competition in Calgary called "The Ring of Fire," to ride bucking horses for 8 seconds straight. The whole family went along to Calgary with him because it could be a big win. We were waiting in the stands watching him get ready to ride a horse called Cracker Jack. As he was getting ready he clenched his hand tightly onto the saddle, next he signalled for the horse to be released. Unfortunately after getting thrown around his hand got caught underneath all the ropes. My dad was on for the full 8 seconds, but once it was time to get off his hand would not release. The horse continued to buck, swing, and slam my dad against walls. Eventually his hand came lose and he was rushed to the hospital. For hours the doctors tried to resuscitate him, but the hits he had endured were unfixable.

        Right before the accident he had given me a beautiful jumping horse that was saved from the slaughter house. When I got him on my 8th birthday he had a little bow on his halter along with a card that said, "it's now, or never." That is when I began competitions. He is a beautiful Palomino stallion with the same tan coloured main. I named him Puka after the puka shell necklace my dad would always wear for good luck. Puka defiantly is a tough horse to handle, but he is a real sweetheart as well. He is the one who helped me through my dad's accident, he is my good luck charm.

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That's the end for this chapter. It's a little boring with all the background stories and stuff. I promise it will get more entertaining. More drama!