The Life Of A Horse

Chapter 19

We are driving and then all of a sudden the driver brakes fast I slide off the seat and am unable to get back up. I feel the towel sliding so it must not be tight. I rub my face on the edge of the seat. The towel slides off and I see a pocketknife on the floor.

If I can get it then I can be free. Well almost. I turn my back to it. Thank gosh no one is paying attention. I feel the ground with my hands and slide them along the floor. I feel the knife so I grab it. Then making sure I'm against the back of the seat so that Max won't see me I get into the process of cutting the rope that ties my hands.

It is very hard. I have managed to get the knife open and I have the knife in my hand and try to flip it so that it is touching the rope. I drop it so I grab it again. It is already facing the right way this time so i move my hand and I cut the back of my hand.

I bite the inside of my lip as hard as I can so I don't scream. I readjust my hand and move my hand again this time over the rope. I push down and move my hand back and forth. It cuts the rope after four tries. My hands fall and I quickly undo my leg ropes. I sit back on the seat. And then in one swift motion I undo the lock and open the door. I jump out and roll onto the side of the road.

The car stops and the front seat door opens. Max's side. I get up and run into the woods as fast as I can. My leg is throbbing like crazy so I climb a tree knowing that I won't be able to run for very long. Once I get up to the top I am hidden and Max no longer can hear me running obviously. He stops.

"You little brat get back here!" I cover my mouth with my hand. If I make the slightest noise I will get caught. I hear a crackling. Why would he change into a horse? I look through a little space between the leaves. He has his head high and he is sniffing the wind. Horses have better smells I'm guessing so if I'm close I will be found.

Which I am. The crackling comes again and I suddenly hear a branch break off and a loud thud. He was climbing the tree but he fell. He groans and gets up. Well he knows where I am so. I get on my feet and see a tree about two feet away. I launch off my injured feet and land in the tree. Thank goodness. I have to do this quickly to get away. I find more trees about 1-3 feet away and jump from tree to tree. I feel like a squirrel.

I can hear his voice behind me. He is angry. I continue tree hopping. I have hopped like ten trees already. Now 11, 12, 13. This next tree is a risky jump. But he will catch me if I don't. Is it worth it? I go to the edge of the tree. I launch off as strong as I can and make it with barely any room to spare.

My heart is beating fast. I continue tree hopping until I am about 50 yards away from him. He doesn't know exactly where I am because I am very quiet. I notice some animal ahead of me. As white as snow. Princess? Princess notices me and she whinnies. She is probably talking to me in horse language.

She sees Max and runs. I look down and see Max super confused. He gets angry and stomps away leaving me and Princess behind. He has been gone for two minutes when I see Princess step from behind her tree. She has her eyes closed and then Ashley quickly climbs my tree. "Ashley," I whisper.

"What happened?" She asks. I quickly tell her the story. She laughs quietly for like a minute straight. "You ate the food after you turned back to Sasha?" I nod and she chuckles. "Ok so that means you are stuck as Sasha. You can ride me back to the herd." "Ok," I answer. "Let's get going." She nods and I hop a tree. "What are you doing?" She asks. "Tree hopping." "Use the shortcut, and I said you can ride me."

"What if Max is still here? Then I will be caught." "If you ride me then you are fast." I nod and we climb down the tree. She changes and I climb on her back. We gallop off into the woods and it feels good to ride again.

But all of a sudden I need to throw up. "Princess! Stop!" She halts and I dismount and throw up in the bushes. Ashley stands beside me, "Are you ok?" "The baby," I say. She nods, "Let's go." She closes her eyes and becomes Princess. I mount and we continue our gallop.

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3 Days Later

It has been 3 days and we still haven't found the herd. I have been throwing up a lot and that's what I'm doing right now. It is night though so Princess is sleeping. I close my eyes and picture Dakota. So graceful and elegant. But of course nothing happens. It hasn't been 5 days yet. I sigh and go back to lay by Princess.

I miss the herd. I see something walk out from behind the bushes and I'm about to wake up Princess when the thing whinnies to me. "Magic?" He gallops toward me and I hug him. "I love you," I whisper. He changes to Colton and that's when I'm embarassed. "Why aren't you Dakota?" I quickly explain everything and he laughs. "Smart one." We both laugh and I realize how happy we are together.

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We wake up the next day and I'm happy that I am one day away from being Dakota again. I really look forward to being a horse. Magic and Princess are grazing but as a human that doesn't fill me up. "Crap." I mutter. Magic raises his head. He walls over to me and I hug him. Crackling comes from in my hug and there I am hugging Colton. I laugh.

We let go of our hug and he smiles. "Ok so. How many days until you can be Dakota?" "One." He doesn't answer. "I'm gonna go find food," I say to end the silence. He nods and follows me. I hear footsteps behind me I turn around and laugh. I run and he chases me. He lightly tackles me and we laugh. We lay there and I take a bite of grass. That sets us off again and when we are done we get up.

We walk to the woods and I see an apple tree by a river like the one I was at with Ashley and Sunstruck. Just thinking about him makes me mad so I stop thinking about him and I pull 10 apples from the tree. I can give 1 to Magic and Princess. They will appreciate that.

As I am standing there Colton hugs me from behind. I smile and just to be courageous I turn around and kiss him. He looks at me. I laugh and hand him the apple. He closes his eyes and when he opens them Magic bites the apple in my hand. I hug his neck never wanting to let go. I kiss him on his nose and walk back to Princess.

From behind I hear footsteps. Then stop and I hear a muted scream. I look behind me and see Max with his hand over Colton's mouth.