Robin's Song

Avoiding Our Problems Through Cute Horses

Arlo

After a delicious breakfast filled with fresh fruit and warm bread that still has my mouth watering, Robin announced that he wanted to show us all the horse stables. The dining room was so precious and I hated to leave it. It was almost built like a greenhouse. Above your head, the ceiling was replaced with grand windows that revealed the bright sky that lit up the whole room. Maybe I'm only sad to leave it now because I won't have the same peaceful feeling when I come back for dinner with Mr. Kedron, Robin's Father, later.

Another thing I'm grateful for is the lack of walking I've been doing. Believe it or not, I finally got used to how massive the school was. So, because I'm well conditioned from walking across the large school, smaller distances feel like nothing. It seems like my friends are that way too because we got from the dining room to our bedrooms within several minutes.

Quickly, I changed into clothes I could afford to ride in and lightly combed over my hair again. It's been a while since I've ridden a horse. Back at home, I had my own named Charmer. As a hobby, and because every other boy did it, I participated in some competitive horse racing. But of course, I'll stay humble today and try not to show off my racing skills.

The sound of a hand colliding with my door startles me out of thought. The rest are ready to go. They must be excited since they got dressed so fast. Before I can even open my bedroom door, Robin swings it open, his hand covering his eyes. The gesture of him covering his eyes is nice, but I would have rathered him not burst through like that.

"Are you ready, Arlo? You're taking your sweet time like the princess you are," Robin calls into the room. I don't say a word as I creep closer to the door. Eden's head pops over Robin's shoulder. Her mouth opens once she sees me and I hold a finger to my mouth, asking her to stay silent.

"Arlo, you snail, are you still changing?" Right as Robin finished his sentence, I finished tying his shoelaces together. I've never done it before so I'm surprised I could do it so fast. I stand up and pat Robin on the shoulder. His hand slides from his eyes and he smiles innocently.

"Oh, here you are. Well, let's head down now-" Robin's voice cuts off when he falls to the ground rapidly. His arms catch his fall, but he still takes a moment to glare at me from the ground. Eden's hand released from Fox's mouth where she was trying to stop her from laughing and ruining the prank before I could perform it. The angel on my shoulder bites at my ear, so I extend a hand to help Robin up after he untied and retied his laces correctly. Robin takes it and quickly contorts my arm behind my back. His other arm goes around my neck in a chock-hold.

"Alright, enough of the games," Fox complains while waiting at the end of the hall. "I haven't ridden a horse in ages," She calls out when turning away to find her way to the stables herself. Eden follows after her. Robin releases his grip and runs after Fox. Robin tells me we'll continue this later and that Fox will probably get lost without him.

-

I pull the sleeve of my thick brown sweater down to my hands. My coat was too nice to bring out here, so I'll just have to deal with being cold. It doesn't help that today is a lot colder than usual. Every time I let out a breath, a fog cloud floats in front of me. The walk to the stables wasn't far, so we weren't in the cold for long.

The scenery of Robin's estate is even more beautiful than what I saw from my bedroom window. Grass may not be common in the window time, but large patches of moss and pine trees fill in for the lack of greenery. My boots crunch over the long pebble path that has been constructed through this forest. I see that it continues to go off to my left where a bridge is, but we stop right in front of a wooden building.

A man with the longest beard I have ever seen sits in front of the two large doors that open to the horse stables. He looks hard at work as he's sitting on a haybail and bent over to scrub different pieces of metal. The man didn't look up until Robin sat next to him on his haybail. Robin's arm extends over the clueless man, making him jump in surprise. The metal drops from his hands, but a bright expression replaces the shock immediately. Aggressively, the man pulls Robin into a bear hug.