Unceasing Hope

"How could someone do this to him?!" my voice broke into crackled segments of distraught emotion; my stomach still knotted.
"Maria, please, you're making him nervous," Susan pleaded with me, her concerned expression holding onto every word.
How could I not lose myself to anger and fear though? How could I ignore the pain my care for this horse brought? My hand rested against his frail neck, an effort to calm my flooding thoughts.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just- how could they?" I swallowed the lump in my throat in effort to push away any further tears.
My hand glided down his brittle coat and my fingers rippled across dark hair as they ran over the clearly visible ribs which his skin had clung to. His large structure, once bulky and powerful, was now a painful sight. His hair, held down by grime, sunk in with every mountain of bone. His gentle eyes watched me as I stood near him, watching as I defied his view of humans.
I wasn't letting him go again, I wouldn't be that timid little girl.