Like a Spark
The Tarpan Horses
Trample! Zoom! Ruft!
Stomp!
Petra looked over her shoulder as she bolted across the grassy plains of Kasisk Valley. Petra smiled to herself. No one was faster than her on the straight, and she knew it. There was a small creek ahead of her, and then the vast plain continued for miles. She forced her head down and ran faster. Faster and Faster and Faster, she ran until she could see the multitudes of horsetails waving in the wind. She could see her herd in the distance. She was almost there. This was the type of day that Petra loved! The sun was shining, the wind was blowing her beautiful white mane in the wind, and there were absolutely no grown-ups to bother her!
“Petra! Hey Petra! Wait up! Uhh!” yelled Felia, another young horse, who had been chasing her unsuccessfully.
Petra laughed and decided to play a trick on her friend. She turned around and started to run the opposite way towards her friend. Petra closed her eyes and ran right into Felia as she was crossing the creek. They both fell back into the stream, laughing and splashing.
“Ahhh, you got me! Hey Petra, isn’t today the great gathering?”
“No, that was yesterday, wasn’t it? And besides, we are just kids, we don’t have to go!”
“Uh, yeah, we definitely have to go! At least I do since I’m the master’s daughter and all.” Felia said with her nose in the air. She didn’t ever let Petra forget her status as a master’s daughter.
“Alright, I guess we should go back! Race ya?”
Petra didn’t wait for an answer; she just bolted across the plain towards the herd. When she reached the herd, the horses were all positioned in two straight lines, with the most important horses in the first line. That’s where she belonged. Her father was the head healer of the horse, which made him very high up. Petra nudged her way towards her parents and stood beside them. She looked up at her mother’s face. She was a beautiful white horse with a long soft mane and crystal blue eyes. Beside her was her father, Barton. He smiled down at her with his dark brown eyes. His light brown mane tickled her as he whispered silly things to her that made her giggle.
Petra turned around to the sound of a loud screeching NNNNEIIIGHHH! Petra looked up and saw the Master standing directly in front of them. His name was Duncan, and he was a horse not to be crossed. His stern black eyes looked down upon his herd, and his coal-black coat glistened in the sun.
“Order, Tarpan horses! Order!” Duncan’s voice boomed across the plains, and everyone was silenced.
“I have called you all here for our regular gathering so that you are all aware of the changes that need to be made to the herd and of any news…”
This is where Petra stopped listening. These horse meetings were deathly boring! Instead, she discretely played with some pebbles that were conveniently sitting at her feet.
“Petra!” Her mother nudged her, “Listen carefully! This is important to all horses in this herd.” Begrudgingly, Petra lifted her head to listen to Duncan again.
“Just like every other year, we will be changing directions shortly as the seasons are beginning to change, and we do not want to see any of our horses sunburnt or dehydrated.”
Oh, this wasn’t news or exciting! Thought Petra.
“This is particularly important as we have experienced great loss in our herd lately. As you all know, my second in command, Chester, has fallen to the most recent wolf attacks, and so we need a replacement.”
Oh, ok, this is serious then…
“My newest second in command will be the horse that worked so diligently to help Chester: Barton.”
A Vision of a Bird
Barton bowed his head, and the rest of the horses in the herd neighed and stomped to congratulate him. Petra was very excited and proud of her father. After the meeting, Petra’s family rested under the largest tree and ate the most dew filled grass available. Petra smiled. We are living the life! Petra looked around and saw the other horses and how they lived in the herd. Since her family was at the top of the herd now, every other horse lived in a lower state. Just as she admired the freshness of the grass in front of her, an old, very sad looking horse stumbled by her. The horse had uneven black and brown circles all over its coat and a large ring of hardened skin around its hooves that she had heard her dad call a callous.
I’m so glad we don’t have to live like that horse! She thought to herself.
Petra got up from her resting place and broke through the crowd of adult horses surrounding her father.
“So, dad, what exactly do you do now that you are second in command?”
“Well, Petra, it means I have more responsibilities and more horses to take care of.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m in charge of giving the master new ideas on how to avoid wolf attacks.”
Petra’s eyes widened at the prospect of such a difficult job.
“Wow, dad! Cool! So any new…”
Petra’s dad silenced her and nudged her to come closer to him.
“You must understand that my job is very serious and that no one can know about any of the plans that we make.”
Petra nodded her head.
“You can run off now, Petra. The herd isn’t moving today.”
She smiled, jumped up and down, and headed towards her friend’s tree. Felia was lying down.
“Felia, let’s go and play!”
“No, don’t you see all those pesky birds flying overhead? I don’t want to get my coat all dirty!”
Petra scrunched up her nose in confusion. Ok, I’ll just play by myself. Petra stocked off without another word. She didn’t care about the birds! She could always have a bath later! She ran in circles, played with sticks, and kicked pebbles around until she was tired. The sun’s heat was a burden on her cream-coloured coat. Her head was spinning, and she fell hard on the wet grass. While she was sleeping, she dreamed of a funny little blue and yellow bird landing on her face and looking straight into her eyes.