Winter in August

Chapter 1

I hear gunshots surrounding me. I frantically look around for something to fight with, some place to hide, something, anything.

"August,"

I whip my head in the direction and my eyes soften. My mother stands before me, her long brown hair in a bun. I run to her and squeeze her into a hug.

"We finally found you." My dad says behind my mom.

I can't believe it. My parents are back and with me. I take my dad into the hug and feel so warm inside.

That is until I feel liquid on my shirt.

It's light at first, unnoticeable. Then it gets heavier and faster. The sticky red substance is covering my whole body, and when I look up, I see my parents. But not just my parents, they both have bullet holes all through out their bodies.

The gunshots get louder as more and more bullet holes go through my parents bodies.

Then they stop. All is silent.

"August, come join us. We could all be a happy family, toogeetthheerr."

The last word gets carried away by the breeze. I look up at my father with fearful eyes and he smiles. A creepy smile I might say. He then lifts a gun up to my face and ---

My eyes shoot open and my sweat covered body gulps down large amounts of air.

I look at the clock. 5:45.

I heave myself out of bed and head straight for the shower. The warm water soothes me as I scrub all of the sweat and grime from my body.

When I finish I wrap a towel around myself and walk back into my room. I grab a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt and slip those on. I run down the stairs, slip my boots on and grab a granola bar out of the pantry before heading outside.

When I arrive at the barn I throw my trash away and get to chores. First I measure the grain amount and feed each horse, then I clean out water buckets before replacing the water in them. After that I turn each horse out into their correct pasture and start mucking stalls. Fun.

About half an hour later, I'm finished cleaning the stalls out and replacing hay. Now time for the fun part, training horses.

I grab Dream's yellow halter and lead rope, then go to her pasture.

I walk into the pasture and up to Dream. She glances at me then goes back to eating grass. I slip her halter on and clip the lead rope on, and walk her out of the pasture and to a pair of cross ties.

I curry her till her paint coat is shining like the sun, then I lead her to the round pen. As I close the gate a familiar face makes its way into my view. "Good morning Aunt Lucy!" I chirp. She has a bridle in her hands which I forgot to grab. She hands me the bridle and I smile in thanks. I take Dream's halter off and slip the bridle on with little difficulty. The only hard part is the bit.

Once the bridle is securely on Dream I walk to her left side. I wanted to try to mount her today but first I would have to get her used to pressure on her back. I put my hands on her withers and slide them down to her back. When she doesn't react to this I push a little and get the same results. I push harder on her back and she turns her head to look at me with boredom evident in her eyes.

I take this as my cue to move a bit faster. I rest my hands on her back and jump, putting all of my weight onto her back before I land back on the floor. This earns me another look.

"Fine, but you asked for this Dream, I was trying to go slow with you but apparently that's not what you want."

I grab a hunk of her mane in my hand along with rein and hoist myself onto her back. She doesn't move so I move myself until I get comfy. When I am sitting comfortably on her back I look ahead and gently tap my feet to her sides.