Blackbird, Horse of Destiny

Prologue

It was my chance. Maybe the last chance I would ever get. The farmers were careful about where they let us roam. I could die before I got a chance like this.

Yet I didn't move. I dug my hooves into the soft ground as I watched my friends gallop full speed towards the fence. I closed my eyes and prayed that the horses brave enough to run would make it.

But I could see Mr. Beibcoc sprinting towards the fleeing horses. I wanted to follow them, but it was too late. I felt my soul tug me forward but I couldn't break into a full run.

My sister, Eve, whinnied and sped up. She was by far the fastest horse in our cruel enclosure. Eve pedaled her legs faster and faster and faster. The front of her first two hooves crossed the fence. I sucked in a wheezy breath.

Then the flashbacks came.

I had always imagined myself in Eve's exact placement. My dark chiseled hooves just barely crossing over the line, tail flying, mane waving, heart pounding.

But here I was, staring at my sister as she took off towards the pine forest. As she wove through the bushes, to the trees, Eve caught my eye. She seemed to send me a message through the eye contact that lasted a fraction of a second.

This isn't the last time I'll see you, Blackbird. One day you're coming to the pine forest as a free horse and then we will be united again and be the happiest horses in the world.

I repeated the words and tried to believe them, but my fate felt clear. I had a hard life trapped in this pen, and more difficulty was coming.