Under the first few strokes of daylight, before the sun had even woken up enough to rise above the horizon, Wavu and I rode up the small hill that led us straight to the stables. As I tied a sack containing my mother's poem, Pause, around my waist, Carmen had met me there with a huge smile on her face. While a worker took Wavu and prepped a stall for her, Carmen explained a normal volunteer's day at the stables and that to spend time with Blaze I'd be helping Yara out with the show horses and minis. At the border between the miniatures and show, another volunteer, Acacia Lee, took me from Carmen and went over my responsibilities one more time.
After ensuring I understood every job I was taking on, I jumped right into it. The next few hours were an honest blur, a faded memory. It felt as though I were a regular paid worker, though Yara claimed they refused to let volunteers do certain tasks, and, of course, I could back out whenever I pleased. But I didn't, I held it all the way out. Along the way, I made sure I at least waved at Blaze every hour.
Two hours before noon, Yara came up to me and asked if I could take Blaze and a couple other horses out to stretch their legs. Excitedly, I agreed and took maybe four miniatures plus one stallion out to the fields. We weren't anywhere near alone as other horses were diligently preparing for the show on Friday and the whole thing felt so chaotic. I wondered how anyone could possibly care for all these horses under these conditions. And as if to prove my point, Blaze kept looking at me. By the time I took the horses back in, I was convinced and a fire burning inside my begged to manifest and jump out.
"North, take him straight to his stall, please?" Acacia smiled at me through a curtain of voluminous lavender hair and passed Blaze's reigns to me. She was a tall, heavy-set woman, one who would be intimidating if it weren't for her cowardly mannerisms and poor posture. I took Blaze's reigns from her and nodded. Before turning away, Acacia gleamed at me and packed her overflowing waves behind her head, preparing it to be secured with a tie.
Watching her restrict her hair's movement made me inexplicably upset. I'll admit, it was a somewhat minor trigger, but in my mind, it symbolized the caged lives these poor horses lived. The same kind my parents risked their lives to avoid and taught me to despise. The same one my mother went mad fighting. The very lifestyle a dozens of Lenties are forced into in District 31 every passing month.
Lucky for me, no one else happened to be walking down that particular hall, because I was sure my eyes were glowing, bright and silver. I could close my eyes and, underneath my eyelids, feel the faint warmth their glow gave off. Soon, my whole body felt noticeably warmer and my hands felt as though they were about to burst into flames.
Before we could reach Blaze's stall, Everly rounded the corner, giving us an ever so cheerful wave. I grunted, in that moment, I couldn't think of anything more insulting than having the enemy wave at you. Everly paused for second, probably noticing my scowl. An idea rose in my head and I forcibly brightened up, enough to fool the man before me. I picked up my feet and appeared beside him, "Would you like to hear a poem?" Pulling the tiny scroll from the sack under my shirt, I insisted, "My mother wrote it."
Sympathy flashed across Everly's face and he leaned his rake against the wall and stopped, "Alright, North. Lemme at it." Though slightly irritated at his unnecessary pity party, and still ignoring the intensifying heat in my hand, I straightened the scroll and read it.
Pause, please stop
I've fallen the fall
I see the drop
Only after I went over
And as of now, for me, it's over
So as punishment, you fall now
