Bloom

Hugh

Upon walking out of her family's cemetery, Adeline felt raindrops beginning to fall from the blackening sky and onto her skin. The storm is already upon us!

"Charlotte, we must hurry!" She leaped into the saddle, tapping her heels against the horse's side. Charlotte jumped forward, her hooves pounding against the earth as they raced through the meadow and into the thick underbrush of the forest. "Please!" She urged the horse forward, making herself flat against its' mane. Adeline heard the rain as it began to fall more heavily, its' water splashing against the leaves and blinding her eyes. "Ugh, Charlotte! We have to go faster if we are ever going to escape the rain!"

The horse's heavy breathing could clearly be heard as she tried to keep up with her rider's demands. Adeline could faintly hear in the distance the babbling of a brook. "Charlotte, we will be able to make it, wont we?" Charlotte merely snorted as her nostrils flared.

As the brook's sound became louder, Adeline tensed at the thought of jumping over a body of water. Of course brooks are not even that wide, nor that deep, don't be such a sissy. The two rounded a tree and carved through the forest floor was a rising body of water, its' water a bright, clear blue as it streamed through the underbrush. "Alright, Charlotte, this is it." She tightened her hands on the reins, leaning herself against Charlotte as she prepared herself to jump with the horse.

But the moment the horse got right next to the body of water, she stopped, stiff legged, throwing her head back into the air in utter dismay. Adeline, having been preparing herself for the jump, could not stop herself as she flew, head over heels, over Charlotte's head and into the brook. The water was pitch black underneath the surface and froze the scream inside of her as she flailed about, swimming towards the surface. The brook was barely above three feet, but even that slight amount of water still posed Adeline a threat due to the swift current. Her left arm hit the bottom of the brook with a crack as she felt the bone move an odd way, nausea making her head spin as more bubbles escaped from her mouth in a silent scream of pain.

"Charlotte," she gasped, "come here!" The horse slowly ambled over to her, cautious as to not get too close to the gurgling brook. "Oh!" Adeline cried in exasperation as she gripped Charlotte's reins and hoisted herself out of the water. Her left arm jolt with pain at the action but Adeline grit her teeth, trying ignoring it as it throbbed with each pump of her heart. Instantly, she began shaking from the downpour of rain that had begun. I need help, she thought as she rubbed her arms desperately to try and conserve body heat.

"Help!" She croaked, leaning against Charlotte's warm hide, fingering her wet mane between her frozen fingers. "Help!" She exclaimed, putting her hands up to her mouth as she blew on them for warmth. It was only then that she felt a searing pain in her left arm, a pain that centered around her wrist. Upon looking down at her arm, Adeline realized that her arms were covered with minute scratches from pestering branches that had slapped her on her way to the brook. Tree branches, she huffed, rubbing her hands along either arm. This was only met with more pain as her wrist began to throb uncontrollably as it began to swell slightly.

I am not going to be able to ride... A sickening feeling settled in the bottom of her stomach as she realized what horrible circumstances she had put herself in. Why God?! Adeline glared up at the heavens in utter protest, her only answer being several raindrops in the eye. I will just have to walk back then... in the rain. She sighed, taking Charlotte's reins in her right hand as she led her over to a nearby tree. Or I could wait out the storm, Adeline looked up at the blackened sky and felt the icy fingers of night already on her skin and knew that was not an option. Walking in the blasted rain it is!

"Hello? Who called for help?" Adeline froze, her hand gripping Charlotte's reins even tighter as she stepped on the other side of the horse, Charlotte's form blocking her from sight as well as the shrubbery that surrounded the tree's trunk.