Blackbird, Horse of Destiny

Chapter 2

Mr. Beibcoc never came out when it was time for pep talk/torture time. I could swear it was his favorite time of the day. When it was time for him to pick an unlucky horse that he wanted to glide around with in the fields, no one came.

I decided to work on my practice. If I was good enough, Mr. Beibcoc would make me a show horse. It had always been my dream until I realized it was impossible. But I still loved leaping over fences and chasing my tail. I had always seen myself in glittering silver hooves, with a well brushed, gleaming mane. One of the dark-skinned humans was sitting on my back. The human was riding on a unique white what's-it-called? Was it called a saddle?

I didn't care. I slipped my skinny neck into the loop and readied myself. The loop was attached to a long pole that looped itself around another pole rooted to the ground.

I began to gallop and I raced and raced until my heart was pounding. I was surprised the world itself couldn't hear it.

And so I lapped myself over and again. My legs were aching from the miles upon miles of running in circles. I wanted to stop or whinny, but I just couldn't. And the reasoning was one simple thought of determination.

This will help me escape one day.

Hour after hour of endless sprinting came. My legs felt paralyzed. I felt that if I breathed too hard, my heart would burst. My mind felt as blank as Mr. Beibcoc's standard expression. As minutes slipped past, I stared at the sun. It had almost reached the low horizon.

Was it sleep time yet? I felt as if I couldn't' move my hooves another inch. But this was exactly how Eve had become the fastest horse in the whole enclosure...

And with that thought I powered on. With a surge of energy, I flew around the track. A couple of laps after that I realized that a few of my horse friends were on the side of the dirt circle. One lap later I saw a crowd of seventeen other horses.

All the horses leaped at me with admiration. The crowd of happy faces I'd grown up with seemed to shout one word. Record. I had beaten Eve's record! Which meant that the next chance I got, I could likely escape.

As I was falling asleep I started thinking to myself. Sub. What could 'Sub' mean? One time Mr. Beicbcoc had said 'submarine'. The next day he'd put underwater toys in our water. And I was smart enough to know that marine meant water.

So, Sub was under. Under what? Could Mr. Beibcoc want a small horse to join the pastures and hover under me? No, that was just silly.

I measured out a few more options. The pasture was going underground, which didn't seem likely. The other option was exciting, but doubtful. I was becoming a show horse, but I needed to work harder so I wasn't under the standards.

I replayed the words Mr. Beibcoc had told me the day before. He'd said the word back a few times, so I wondered if that meant something.

And I knew Mr. Beibcoc you have to know what racin' back plus, racin' and running which I knew firsthand. So, Mr. Beibcoc would be running back from a place. And Sub.

Sub meant not quite as "perfect" as Mr. Beibcoc. But was it not as perfect as him or not as perfect as me?

And then I realized that the Sub had to be a human that was taking Mr. Beibcoc's place.

I repeated Mr. Beibcoc's word in my head again and realized exactly what I was missing. I fought to find any other possibility, hoping not to. My wish was granted. The pieces clicked. The Sub was another human meant to watch over us horses. That explained the extra hay and the ropes on our necks that I just realized were missing.

And where was Mr. Beibcoc? On vacation. Mr. Beibcoc was on vacation. It was my turn to escape.