Once Upon a Time. . . (on hold)

The One and Only Apple Tree

I could tell Snow was as excited as I was to get to the fields early. 

        Unless riding your horse on three A.M. isn't considered early. 

        It had been awhile since Snow ran like this. I dared myself to look down, but I couldn't even see her legs anymore. They were running so quickly that they looked blured. 

        It was finally time to make up for the terrible performance yesterday. I knew I could do so much better than that. Maybe since I would be less nervous to practice if I had the field to myself- unless Axel was there. If anything, he made me even more nervous. 

      I was improving because I'd never gotten two perfect shots in a row, but I needed to keep improving if I didn't want to look like shit compared to all the other students, especially Emily. 

        Okay, maybe I was also slightly excited about seeing Axel again today. 

        Just slightly excited. 

        My mom wasn't kidding about what she said last night. When I woke up she was already cooking and she said she was making practice meals in case Axel wanted to come eat dinner with us. God, my mom could really embarrass me sometimes. She made it seem like Axel was a homeless person who hadn't eaten in weeks or something. By the way he looked, I was pretty sure he fed himself well. I never actually saw any homeless or anorexic people here. 

        Snow abruptly halted. I gripped on the reins a little too hardly, which made Snow panic. She neighed and stood with two of her hind legs, making me drop to the ground, ass first. What a great way to start the day.  

        I lay on the ground, not caring if I'd get my hair dirty by doing so. A set of apples dangled on the tree branches. There were several apple trees around here, but for some reason I knew it was the one Snow usually sat under whenever I was practicing. 

        How did I get here so quickly? 

        I got up and undusted my clothes and hair. "Bad horse," I snapped at Snow as I felt my bottom start to throb. Snow snorted in reply. 

        The dark blue sky was decorated with very small hints of orange. A blanket of clouds that usually covered the sky were nowhere to be seen. When I took a closer look at the leaves, there were small water droplets on them. The beautiful morning dew.

        Apart from that, I couldn't see that much. My eyes weren't accustomed to seeing things with a lighting this dim. I took a deep breath before exhailing with a smile. How could someone hate waking up in the morning? Everything was so quite and peaceful. The birds were chirping, accompanied by the soft croacking from frogs. The air felt so fresh and cold... 

        Now that I thought of it, it was starting to get chilly. I wished I brought my jacket here. But of course, regret always came knocking on your door a little too late. 

        Was Axel here yet? 

        "Axel?" 

        No response. I huffed, blowing my warm breath at my palms that were starting to feel stiff. I wasn't a big fan of the heat, but it didn't mean I wanted it to be this cold either. Not being heat resistant, I thought I'd be more cold resitant than this. I could've sworn it wasn't this cold earlier. Maybe it was because we were surrounded with trees and uncountable blades of grass? I never paid attention to my mother's brief biology lessons she used to give me.

        I walked to one of the target boards.

        The bows were already set up. That means Axel was here. But where in here?