Hopes, Dreams, and Horses?

The Houdini of Horses

 Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you. -Marsha Norman

*Vegas*

I shuffled around in my stall, nibbling flakes of hay. An occasional person would pass by, saying the famaliar greeting, "Hey Vegas," or "Good boy, Vegas." It was typical for the humans, they seemed to go by routine.I lifted my head as lone footstep echoed around the barn. This girl had a new scent.

With much curiousity I stuck my head as close to the bars of my stall as I could, wondering who this new girl was and if she would ruin the normal routine. I hated routine.

I watched with great interest as she looked upwards, left to right, left to right, reading the stall numbers. It seemed she was looking for a certain horse. I begged for that horse to be me, my life was so bland, the ame thing happened every day. I still couldn't help but spend all my pasture time watching the other horses do things like jump or do dressage.

Then my hopes crashed as she walked past me. Eager to get her attention I snorted. She ignored me, walking along. I sighed, and decided if she wouldn't give me attention on her own then I'd have to get it from her myself.

I was skilled at this whole 'escaping' thing. After many years- eight to be exact- of confiment, I'd mastered the art of opening locks. I quietly nibbled the nylon lead that kept me stall door closed until the lock on it could be replaced.

As soon as the nylon lead had been broken in half, I stuck my grey nose inbetween the bars and pushed the stall door, hard. With not a sound, it slid open, and I trotted out, my recently trimmed hooves clip clopping loudly as I followed the sound of the footstep eagerly.

I rounded a bend when I came to the girl, standing in front of an empty stall, stall 56, looking very confued. When she heard me approach, she turned and looked at me with panic. Her hands reached for  rope quickly as she tried to find a way to control me and return me to where I belonged.

I whinnied and bobbed my head as she approached, holding a cherry red lead rope. I stepped forward and nuzzled her, and she slipped the lead over my neck, distracting me by petting my neck. I could sense the fear that if she was caught, people would think she let the horse loose.

Trying to stay as quiet as possible, the pulled the lead and lead me back to my empty stall. She looked at it quizically wondering if it was mine, when a vocie echoed around the aisle.

"What are you doing?"

Emily stepped forward, hands on her hips. "Oh, it's Vegas. Did he get out again?" She looked expectantly at the girl.

The new girl held my lead tightly. "Oh, this is Vegas? I thought she said stall 56, but I guess it was actually 46. Yeah, I guess he did..."

Emily chuckled. "Silly Vegas. Hi, I'm Emily. I own the horse in the stall beside him. They look so much alike I thought you had my horse. Sorry!"

THe new gril smiled half heartedly, unsure of what to say. "Hello... I'm Lara. I'm supposed to ride Vegas the entire summer. Is he a bad horse?"

"Oh, no! Definitely not!" I bobbed my head to this. I was a good horse, when I wasn't busy messing with locks, doors, and gates.

"So he escapes a lot?" Lara asked, petting me.

"Yea, he's the Houdini of horses!" Emily grinned, and stroked my mane softly. "You'll love him, he's a smooth ride and sails over jumps."

Lara looked at Emily nervously. "I.. I didn't plan on doing any jumping."

"Oh.. well, don't worry, Sarah will teach you! Have fun!" Emily laughed and walked out of the barn.

"Oh crud," Lara said, tying my stall door shut. "I'm screwed."