Rediscovered

6. Eli

"Gods, I hate stable cleaning duty." Eli complained, as he leaned against a crumbling red wall. He was forced to clean the stables every Saturday for the next 2 weeks after he was caught sneaking Bleu out by the stable owner. The horse neighed in agreement, shaking its long mane. "Well, at least I have you for company, Bleu." Eli sighed. He wished that he could ride him instead of cleaning the stables. It was tiring, smelly, and a very physically disturbing task. 

Bleu wasn't blue but Eli loved the color. The horse was actually a pitch black. Not a single part of him was blue except for his eyes, but Eli still felt like he should name him Bleu.  It was French for blue, so it sounded nice. It was the word started jumping on a trampoline whenever someone tried to pronounce it.

"Hey, wanna just go riding? I'm getting real bored of cleaning on my free days." Eli smirked. He didn't usually get in trouble, and he tried to follow the rules at school. Most of the time. Bleu neighed in protest, but Eli could tell that he wanted to run too. He had been stuck in the stables since last week. "Let's go, bud." He laughed, as he put the reins  and saddle on Bleu. The horse didn't really like it but he had to do, what he had to do.

As Eli got on Bleu, he felt relaxed and calm. He had been riding Bleu ever since he was 10 and he loved it. The feeling of riding on something living and not a car or bus, just felt right. It was natural in a way he couldn't explain. He tapped his heels on the side of his flank to signal that he was ready. Bleu started at a slow pace, a trot. Then he started to speed up. His trot turned into a run, then a gallop. Eli could feel the wind slap his face, but he felt so free. Free from stable cleaning, but also free from people. He didn't really like socializing. He liked to be alone and quiet. People would call him shy for not talking to anyone, but he just didn't like talking at all. A waste of energy, he would think to himself. Even if you did talk, what would you get out of it? He thought things like this a lot. He knew that he would be shamed for not having any friends, but he didn't care. He had Bleu, his one true friend. 

As Bleu started to track farther away from the stables, Eli slowly started to get anxious. They weren't allowed to ride so far away from the stables. "Hey, Bleu.." He started, getting worried on how far away the stables were. If Eli squinted really hard, then he could hardly make out the dusty red roof of the barns. "Lets go back." He continued, pulling the reins on Bleu. He didn't listen. This didn't usually happen. If Eli pulled the reins, Bleu would always follow his lead, but not today. Bleu completely ignored Eli and just kept running. Eli started to panic as Bleu sped up toward a nearby river. "Hey! Slow down!" he yelped.

Bleu started to run even faster. Now Eli was really freaking out. The pair was just a few yards away from the water and they weren't slowing down. "Bleu!!" He yelled, as the horse jumped into the water, rider and all. Eli fell into the river head first, the force nearly knocking the consciousness out of him. The murky water blinded him and filled his lungs as he tried to reach for air. It was slowly getting impossible to move. The cold water froze his limbs so that his bones ached. Eli tried to cry out but only ended up getting a mouthful of dirty water. He could only think of what happened to Bleu. He knew that the horse was much stronger than he was, but he only imagined the worst. Eli picture the drowning horse. He imagined the pain that Bleu would be feeling, having his leges not working and water filling his lungs. Eli couldn't bear the thoughts of his only friend, his best friend, drowning to his death. 

That thought gave Eli determination and courage. He put all his strength into moving his legs and arms. His frozen bones screamed in protest, but he kept swimming up for air. He would need to get air first for him to rescue Bleu. If he could get there. Eli's vision was slowly darkening. The small pocket of air he had in his lungs, were being overcome. I'm really drowning now, he thought as the efforts into moving his body was slowly dying. His throat felt dry despite being submerged in the river. Eli wasn't mad at Bleu for chucking him into the water, but he was curious on why he did it. There has to be a reason, he thought as he started to grow desperate on the reason why. I want to know.