His feet pounded the ground. Eating every inch. Every foot. Every next part of the greater picture. And every stride that was once counted to the inch to make this perfect goes by so fast, I forget it ever existed. All that is in my mind is finding where to go and do it. Don’t over-think. Don’t over-do. Because I know that standing on the other side of that fence are people just waiting for me to fail and to prove that they were right. Nothing is truly possible if you believe. But They. Are. Wrong.
The ground rushes by but I never look down. Only at the next height. The next height. The next place to prove the world wrong.
The feet diminish until there are none left to cover except up. He gathers himself and flies for the fraction of time that will make a lifetime. His hidden wings spread out around us offering a small escape to the watchful eyes of the population. Every frame of the endless but endable time spent together pauses and holds, suspending us in mid-air. The wind and pounding stops as if life its self has stopped to admire this amazing fraction of a second of time.
Then suddenly, like the controller of time un-pauses the sports play, his front legs release from their locked place tucked to his chest. They stretch out and reach from the ground as if he wants to escape this airy suspension more than anything. They reach to grab the ground as our weight is thrown to follow them.
Suddenly all of the suspended weight is hit with a wall of gravity and the sure shock of the ground. The shock spreads up his legs, into his shoulders, through his back, to my legs, and reverberates into my chest. The air is pushed out of my mouth as the energy travels out also. All of his weight landed in the ground on his front hooves but he landed softly on the turned, soft sand without turning up virtually any loose sand under his hooves.
He brings his back end underneath him as he lands and finally has all four feet on the ground. No sooner had all four feet hit the ground was he bringing his front feet up to continue away from his jump. He pushes off with his haunches and catapults forward into his stride and on to the next obstacle.
The rest of the infinitely short course goes the same as the first to a varying degree. Uncountable strides, flying milliseconds, fierce landings, and a steady repeat. That is my life for this amount of time. I’m not sure how long it really was. Although, the large timer behind me at the moment seems to know precisely.
I never look over my shoulder, always ahead. Finally I pass through the finish flags I slow him down to a smooth, heaving walk. Then, and only then, was when I looked at the large timer. Clear and the fastest time. A shew-in. Just like always.
I walk him out of the arena patting his neck for the amazing job he has done. I dismount as he walks and push past the grabbing hands of the grooms who are waiting to take the reins of the champion Warmbloods with riders who don’t deserve the time of the day let alone some of the greatest horses in the country.
I lead him past all of the screaming kids and yelling trainers. The beaming parents and the couple who are crying about not seeing each other for over five minutes.
I escape as far from everyone as I can and strip him of my saddle and the rest of his tack. I walk him in circles and try to calm his breathing. In our own world we stand together tall and strong. I can see the watchful eyes for the onlookers keeping a safe distance from a strong power like him. Like me.
I finally hear the sound of the announcer over the loud speaker calling for the top riders to come. I know I am one. I always am. Its almost is expected of me now. An unknown if I don’t make it. Its uncharted territory.
I reattach the restricting pieces of leather and cloth to his back and remount myself to join him. We walk through the crowds of people. Watching them part around us. Standing in awe. We re-enter the fenced arena and take a stand among the others. He stands with his head high and arched. A king surveying his people.
The awards are placed. Just another ribbon to match the millions of others collecting dust somewhere that has been forgotten. All is as it always is. As it always will be.
We lead the victory lap around the large arena as he throws his large head and neck to show his-
*****
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“Juno!”
“Can you hear me?”
“Hang in there sweet-heart”
“Come on! Come on! Stay with me!”
*****
I open my eyes to a stark white room. In the hospital. Where I’ve always been. Never again with him. Never again with my king.
Never agiain, Forever and Always
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Please let me know what you think... I know there are issues I wrote this all this afternoon.
~A<3
