Hummingbird (on hold...probably not going to finish)

The Red Flower

I woke up, still tired. Then I remembered. Lullaby! I threw the covers off and ran as fast as I could. Hummingbird was in the pasture, screaming and bucking. Just then I knew. I was too late. I walked to her stall. Sure enough, Lullaby wasn't there. But my father was.

"Shes gone. In the pasture. That's where she is. That's where.....shes gone....." he trailed off.

I ran to the pasture. Sure enough Lullaby was there. On her side, dead. I ran to her. Her tongue hung from her mouth. Her brown eyes stared up at the sky. I ran my hand down her cold neck. I moved her forelock, revealing a beautiful white star on her forehead. Hummingbird looked just like her mother, but she didn't have a white star like Lullaby. Only a scar. I wiped a tear from my eye and closed Lullaby's eyes. Now she could be asleep. I got up and walked to the barn. But my eye got caught on something. A small red flower, just laying on the ground. I picked it up and held it close to my chest. I kept walking to the barn. My father was gone. I opened Lullaby's stall and put the red flower in the middle of her stall, careful not to mess up the bedding. I took one petal off the flower and attached it to Hummingbird's nameplate. I walked back to my house, passing the pasture. Lullaby was gone! Hummingbird was standing still, her head down as if she were grazing. But she wasn't. I ran out to her and lifted her head. Her eyes were so much like Lullaby's. I lifted her forelock, only to find the scar, not the star. I grabbed the halter that was on the fence and led Hummingbird to her stall. When she saw her mother's empty stall she thrust her head down, and would not move.

"Come on Hummingbird!" she still would not move. After about thirty minutes of pulling her she finally got in her stall. I closed the door and left. I decided to work instead of just sitting in my room, like I planned. I went into the feed room and got some chicken food. I put it in the chicken coop. I then got horse food. I fed all the horses, but I gave Hummingbird extra. I walked to my father's horse's stable. His name was Red. He was a bay quarter horse. He wasn't fast at all, but he was a strong plow horse. But he was old. He was reaching his limit. Then I went to the horse next to Red. Inside the stall was a strong, chestnut, thoroughbred. Muscles rippled through his sorrel fur. He was only a year older than Hummingbird. When Hummingbird wasn't with Lullaby -in the pasture- she was with the stallion. His name was Seattle. Then I had an idea. Maybe if I put Hummingbird in a stall next to him maybe she wouldn't be so sad! I led her out of her stall and into one next to Seattle. She reared and bucked, trying to get out of the stall. But Seattle rested his nose on her's. Maybe things wont be so bad after all.