Silver Hawk Ridge: Taking Flight

{ Chapter 2 }

The summer months following were blissful days of sunshine and perpetual time spent with the horses laced within. However, as summer drew to a close, the fall school year approached. But I wouldn't be going to my normal high school anymore. I'd already been registered at Silver Hawk Ridge over the summer, so all that was left to do was make the drive up there and sign in. My parents were absolutely thrilled upon my receiving of the scholarship. After a quick tour of the campus, they "deemed" it suitable enough for me (they were practically bursting at the seams).

On this, my last day at Whispering Winds Stables, I was rushing around attempting to shove every horse-related item I owned into my trunk, stable backpack, and my travel duffel. Everything from conditioner bottles and polo wraps, to ponytail holders and gloves were haphazardly thrown into the bags. I was later in the office searching for physical copies of Rega's updated paperwork to present upon our arrival (they already had electronic files, but just to be safe, they wanted hard copies), when I felt Debby's rough hands gently cover my eyes.

"Don't peek yet, but turn around". As I slowly turned the other direction, Debby removed her hands. To my surprise, Delaney and the whole stable crew stood there with a cake that read "Good Luck" and a wrapped gift. I immediately felt the tears I'd tried so hard to keep in spring free.

"You guys! You shouldn't have done this", I laughed through my tears. Delaney and another one of my close barn friends, a petite brunette by the name of Izzy, came forward and initiated the mass group hug. I love these people so freaking much!

"Too bad honey, we did it anyway", Izzy boasted. After eating cake and blasting someone's Bluetooth speaker with 0ld pop songs (namely "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls, because why the hell not?), they sat me down and forced me to open the gift. Upon removing the lid, I first found two sleek black picture frames, one containing a picture of all of us and most of the horses during the most recent summer camp. The other held a professionally touched up picture of Rega and I in our show attire. I hugged them both to my chest and then set them aside on the desk.

Upon removing the tissue paper, I found a Pandora charm bracelet with orange, white, and navy colored beads on it, a white Ariat®️ long sleeved quarter-zip, and a sleek, black leather halter with contrasting white stitch designs on the noseband. I set it all on the desk behind me and enfolded them in another tearful group hug.

"I love you guys so much! I'm going to miss you like crazy!" I sobbed. Debby stood me up and wiped my tears away, holding my face gently in her hands.

"This will always be yours to come back to Savannah, and don't you forget it", she said, smiling. Giving her and the other girls one last squeeze, I laid out Rega's travel gear on the blanket rack on her stall and kissed her nose. I loaded my bags, tack trunk, and presents into the back of my white SUV and set off towards home, where all of my packed bags awaited the trip for tomorrow. I was going to miss this so much.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It wasn't even dawn when I woke up the next morning. I took a quick shower, and tied my hair into neat ponytail. I quickly threw on a pair of comfortable, dark-wash jeggings, and an orange, loose long- sleeved, dry-fit shirt. Snagging my last bag, I made my way downstairs into the kitchen to find my mother and father awake, making coffee and packing food to go. I pulled my comfy black trainers that had been sitting on the garage doormat. Once everything was packed and loaded in the truck, we headed towards the stables to put Rega's shipping gear on and load her into the trailer. After snagging one last goodbye from Debby, we set off, listening to Willie Nelson and Jamie Johnson, on the long journey ahead from our small town in South Carolina to Lexington Kentucky. I didn't have a clue what lies ahead as I plugged in my earbuds and fell asleep to the lull of the moving truck.