u n t i t l e d -- [x] -- {NaNoWriMo}

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

START [Was Already Written Before]
-Tara-
I always wondered. Why did females have to wear these stupid dresses? They were always so thick and so heavy, even the ones supposedly made for summer. How I envied those boys who lived nearby! They could simply wear breeches so that their legs could actually feel the cool air! Why couldn't females dress like that? Was it because of popular opinion that women were weaker than men and that they could get chills easier? If that was it, then it was a stupid choice. Boys were stupid. They didn't know how easy they had it. They didn't have to sit and embroider all day long. They didn't have to stand for hours on end and cook in front of a large, scorching fire, even during the summer! If Mother knew that I was thinking these mutinous thoughts, she would've immediately begun one of those boring stories of how "when she was young, she was always obedient and did everything she was told".
It was after one of these stories - those ancient stories - when I saw him.
After Mother had given me a tongue lashing with one of her old stories to top it off, she brought me to my Uncle's house, which was not far off. She had tried to make me stay and embroider with her and my aunt, but I had slipped away with an excuse to use the outhouse. I had wandered quite a distance away from that room with that blistering hot fire. I hadn't even known where I was going - my feet had just taken footstep after footstep. I hadn't tried to resist, and soon I had found myself in a place that was musty with the mixed smells of sweet hay, leather, and... horses.
A faint nicker in one of the stalls had greeted my arrival. Without thinking, I had walked toward the sound. Finally, I had arrived at the source of the sound. I looked into the stall and immediately looked away. Inside had stood a magnificent stallion, his coat gleaming in spite of the dimness of the stable. He was white enough to rival the pureness of new-fallen snow, white enough to make even the most polished pearl seem dull. I had turned back to face him, forcing myself to stare at him until my eyes had adjusted to his coat. Cautiously, I had stuck my hand out to pat him, but he had instantly shied away, and for a fleeting instant, I had seen a flash of fear pass through his hazelnut colored eyes. It was that moment when my mother had decided to come looking for me. She had called out my name in a loud, demanding voice, ending the perfect silence. With a last glance at the stallion, I had turned and scrambled away, lifting up my skirts a bit so that I could run without tripping and tearing the hem. I had run straight into Mother, almost knocking her small frame over. Quickly, I had begun to stutter an apology, but she cut me off, giving me a reprimand on how I was exposing my ankle - the result of lifting up my skirts. She hadn't even seemed to care that I had nearly made her fall. Well, trust mother to do that.

Thursday, November 1 Add-On [Total For Add-On: 1,725 Words]
-Tara-
"Stitches small and dainty. Embroidery carefully completed. Attentive and eager to learn," I muttered to myself thickly underneath my breath, rather perplexed that I still had to do this. For showing my ankle, my mother had given me more sewing to do. Jabbing the needle into the crisp white cloth, I just managed to prick my second finger. Wincing slightly, I made sure that my mother was looking away when I raised my finger up to my mouth to suck on it lightly. When she turned her harsh cold gray eyes on me, I made sure that I had picked up my cloth and needle and was embroidering.

Wrinkling my nose in disgust at having to do this dratted work, I continued making the needle dart through the cloth. In the end, I had to undo my work and do it all over again - and then over again some more after my mother had inspected it for a few moments. Suppressing a groan, I looked up to watch her embroidering. It wasn't fair - how were her stitches to neat and tidy and managed to all fit into one to make a delicate looking rose while my rose looked more like a broken garden weed? My eyes nearly got cross-eyed as I watched the light glint off of her silver needle that weaved in and out of the cloth quickly.

Sighing quietly to myself, I picked up my needle and yet again attempted to attack the cloth. Make a rose I told myself firmly as if the needle and cloth were going to rise up and embroider a rose all by itself. I wished, of course, but if wishes were horses, I would have my fill of horses currently. Tilting my head, I didn't realize that the tip of my tongue was sticking out while I was concentrating hard on my embroidery. I only noticed the tongue issue when my mother came and rapped the top of my head with her knuckles. Looking up while grimacing at the pain of her hard knuckles on my head, my eyes filled with question. She touched her mouth and I instantly understood what she wanted. I continued embroidering, my thoughts flickering back to the shining white stallion I had seen. Thinking about it, I remembered a gold nameplate that had been installed and nailed on his stable door. Snowfire was what it had said. Snowfire.

"May I please use the privy?" I asked my mother, trying to force my eyes to meet hers. My fingers fumbled at the needle and cloth, hoping with all my might that she would dismiss me for a few moments at least. I needed some time to think. Glancing around, it felt as if the stonewalls of my Uncle's mansion were closing in on me, suffocating my supply of air. Holding my breath and looking at her, I prayed silently with all my might that she wouldn't scold me and give me yet another lecture.

My prayers weren't answered. "No," she snapped, glaring at me harshly. "Back in my day..." After those words, I completely stopped listening. I wasn't interested in hearing out another one of her long and drab stories. They had no point in them. I could already tell that it would be a long rest of the day.

-Snowfire-
That girl seemed nice enough, although it was natural habit for me to shy away from those flabby faced creatures. They were all evil in my heart, although I truly did want to start to trust again. You see my family had been captured by a whole lot of them. We lived together, oblivious to their plans, but eventually fell victim to their plotting. My kin were all shipped away and I was given to a man. He didn't really do much - only grooms did the work to take care of me. The grooms were kind, always having a nice word for me, but I did get rather lonely in between the times that they came in to tend after me.

Something in me had stirred a rather strange liking towards her. Was it her raven black hair or was it the sparkling violet eyes that seemed to dance with a rebellious yet gentle spirit, if that was possible? I scuffed a hoof against the soft dirt of my stable, hanging my head over the door. I was just bored. There was nothing at all to do except perhaps chew on the wood or to stare at the spider across from my stall that was making a web.

My eyes blinked a few times. Equines couldn't really cry out of boredom, but I felt as if I were nearly about to with impatience. Snorting and tossing my head, I stamped an obsidian hoof against the ground, ears twitching at any sound nearby. Where was that girl? I wanted to be with her, for no apparent reason. Why was I feeling such emotion for her? I was an equine and to the creatures that owned me, I was nothing better than a four-legged creature that was good for riding and hunting and showing. In the girl's movements and gestures as well as the way she looked at me, I could tell that she thought more of me than what the man who owned me believed.

Mutinous thoughts roamed in my mind. I was getting very near to the idea of kicking down the stable door and being able to run away with my white mane and tail dancing around freely in the wind when one of the grooms walked in, whistling.

"Hello, my beauty," he chirruped cheerfully, walking up to me and petting me gently on the nose. Opening my stable door, he slipped a halter over my head quite easily. Hooking a thick braided rope to it, he led me out of my stall. Cross-tying me, he took out his grooming tools. I didn't quite know what they were called, but when used, they felt quite good. First came a rather odd rubbery brush that seemed to get all the dirt that was deeply embedded within my coat. Next came a brush with hard bristles that made all the loosened dirt disappear. After that, a brush with softer bristles made its way. I wasn't quite sure what the brush did - perhaps it added the glossy shine that my white coat had. Next, the groom combed my mane and tail very carefully. Lastly, he picked up each hoof - something I rather disliked - and took out stones that had been caught into my horseshoe. I absolutely hated having to stand on three legs while he cleaned my fourth leg, but I was sure not to kick him. I think that's the reason why humans favored me so much - my temperament. I had learned when I had been captured to not disobey those that were supposedly in command of you, even if you didn't believe that they held control over you. In my mind, nobody held possession over me except myself, but humans were obviously filled with different ideas than me.

Humans in my idea were weird. They had huge eyes - although equines did too - and had almost no hair on their bodies except on the tops of their heads. It was strange and I wanted to know why the hair was all concentrated at the top of the human, but the language barrier between equine and their English made it rather difficult to communicate. Although I can understand simple commands such as "walk" and "trot" and things like that, commands that used body language were in my preference.

The groom, giving me a rub down with a cloth and then giving me yet another pat, fed me an apple, brought me back into my stall, and left. I stood there, chewing the fleshy and juicy fruit in my mouth, letting the satisfying juices trickle down my throat as I watched the retreating figure of the teenage boy that took care of me so often.

I brushed my white tail briefly over my hindquarters to relieve myself momentarily of the many hordes of bugs that surrounded back there. However, the minute my tail reached back to its normal position, I felt - and even heard - the bugs. Snorting with frustration, I stamped quickly as if I were dancing. Soon, my large hooves unsettled the pail of water that was stored in the corner of my stall. I watched as the liquid seeped into my bedding. I snorted with a bit of disgust. I would have wet bedding tonight unless that girl came back to take a look at me again.

At this thought, my wonderings turned back to the girl. What was her name? Did she truly care for equines like me? She had seemed quite kind and willing to learn - I could sense it - but was she just fawning over me like silly females of the human race did or did she have an eye for equines that she especially liked?

I pictured her yet again with her pale skin complexion as well as her rather tall and lankly frame. She wasn't like most female humans I'd seen before - most of those were dressed in frilly clothing that had hems that dragged on the floor. Perhaps she was more of the kind that favored not going by the "regal and refined" rules. Frankly, I actually liked the casual way of dress for female humans than I liked all the dresses and the make-up.

More than once, I had had ladies ride me. Although I was a stallion, I was well known for my good temperament. I could tell what type of lady each female was by the way she rode me. For example, those that were tight on the rein were those types of ladies that were uptight and strict. If the rein was loose and I could easily pull ahead and shy away from things, that would mean that they were lazy and submissive. Lastly, if I felt a minor amount of pressure from the reins with a gentle hand that guided me around properly, I knew that that was the type of female human that I liked. Those ladies, however, were very difficult to come by.


November 2 Add On [1713 Words]
-Tara-
At last, I was free from my mother and her terrible stories. To tell the truth, there were times when some points in her tales were actually rather interesting, but most of the time it was just useless droning that I never paid attention to.

After she had dismissed me, I quickly hurried off outside. Looking up at the sky, I saw that the moon was large and full up in the sky. Stars that glinted like jewels in the sky winked at me from up above. Looking around, I could see that the whole manor was bathed in a pretty silver light, making everything have a rather frosty look. Since it was late fall, a chilly tang hung suspended in the crisp air.

For a few moments, I simply stood there in the open, looking up at the sky and admiring the way everything seemed to shine without wavering. Did stars ever lose their light or where they forever there? Why did the earth have day and night? For many years, I’ve longed to have my questions answered, but when I attempt to ask somebody, they scold me and simply say that astrology is for males to learn. My question to that answer is simple. Why?

More disobedient thoughts crossed through my mind. If I had ever voiced them aloud to my mother, she would’ve instantly given me a rebuke for doing so. Suddenly, my contemplations flickered to the horse I had seen earlier in the day. If I closed my eyes, I could almost remember his beautiful and burnished pure white coat. Deciding that I could afford the visit to him, I began walking to my Uncle’s stables. Nearby, the clock within the tower that was part of my Uncle’s manor chimed the hour. Counting the echoing beats, I found that there were nine chimes. I nodded with satisfaction as the last chime sounded, cutting loudly through the silence that surrounded me. Instantly, I resumed walking to the stables.

When I got there, I saw that there were a series of bright torches lined up on the walls, ideal for those who visited the stables even at this late hour. Despite the abundance of lights, it was still rather dim within the stalls. Not bothering to light any more torches, I walked slowly past the stalls, squinting my eyes a few times so that I could read the names on the golden plates that had been installed on each stall door. I passed the names Twilight, Dawnfire, Tigerlily, and Sky Dancer before I finally managed to decipher the name Snowfire on the shiny nameplate. Looking up, I saw that it was indeed the horse I had seen before.

“Hello, boy,” I murmured underneath my breath barely audible. I put my hand out slowly, hoping that he wouldn’t shy away like he did the first time I had tried to do so. To my delight, he pressed his nose against my hand. As I touched him, something I felt a shudder ripple throughout my body. I looked at Snowfire, interest darting through my eyes. At once, I understood his history. I didn’t have a full-illustrated version of his story, but I did understand enough to know that he had suffered great pain and frustration when he was a young colt.

Meanwhile as I was witnessing his memories, I saw that he had a new sense of understanding in his eyes as well. Wondering what had happened, I examined my palm. A tingling feeling had risen in the spot from where he had touched and I was a bit uneasy about what had happened. I cried out quietly when jolts of energy as well as anger flashed through me. Calming down, I looked around wildly. What had caused those emotions to just run through me as if something had set them free from a cage and they were desperate to leave?

A bit of confusion passed through me, but that puzzlement surged forward until I was absolutely bewildered. I gazed at Snowfire in disbelief, wondering what could’ve happened between the two of us. “What did you do?” I whispered, more to myself than to the stallion who was standing only a few feet away from me.

-Snowfire-
I instantly sensed the strangeness of the situation once the girl had touched me. Defiance and energy rippled through my stocky frame. I looked at her, my hazelnut colored eyes filled with question but with a slight understanding. All at once, her memories came pounding into my mind. I instantly figured out why she had seemed so mutinous to me – she was. Well, I couldn’t really contradict her for I knew that if I were in the same position, I would do the same exact thing she was doing. It was like a war between the girl and her mother.

I gave a small whicker to the girl, looking at her with interest. I wished that I could explain to her what was happening, but I myself truly didn’t know. My tail brushed over my hindquarters briefly so that I had something to do. It was too bad that equines couldn’t speak human language – it would make communicating so much easier.

Looking at her, I accepted her treat of a carrot eagerly. I crunched on it for a while with her standing next to me, her mouth moving and speaking to me. Although I didn’t truly understand the way that humans spoke, I could tell the way she was feeling by the way her tone of voice was. Standing there, I looked at her with patient eyes, seeming like I understood everything she was telling me. I even managed to put out a few whinnies and snorts at the right times when she was talking to me. It was as if she had all of a sudden been converted from a shy girl that had reached out timidly to touch me to a girl that was quite open and would willingly talk to me whenever she had the chance.

The chime of the hour cut in while she was still conversing with me. I could see that she was listening intently to the number of chimes, for she had stopped speaking to me. Instantly, I knew that she was probably late for something because she immediately gave me a final pat, hiked up her skirts, and made a mad dash out of the stables, probably going to the place in the mansion where she lived.

-Tara-
I continued my quick run as I ran into my room, panting furiously. My face was nearly cherry red as I breathed quickly, trying to catch my breath. With exhaustion and relief, I collapsed on to my bed only to sit straight back up once I heard my mother’s footsteps climb the stairs that led to my room. She opened the door, looking at me with her gray eyes examining me. “You seem rather flustered,” she stated, her voice nonchalant. Silence filled the gap before her next statement. “Don’t go to sleep too early,” she said then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

I blinked at the closed door, amazed. First I had made some sort of connection with Snowfire and now my mother was actually acting rather civil and decent towards me? Well, I’m not saying that she absolutely hated me but I felt that she could stand to be a bit more loving and caring towards me. Her voice usually had a sharp edge, but this time it didn’t really. Sighing with relief at the fact that she hadn’t scolded me for appearing so red-faced and rather messy, I fell back onto my bed. Closing my eyes, I soon fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up a few moments later, jolting awake. How could I go to sleep in this dress that was now probably crumpled and crinkled beyond repair? Quickly, I changed into my nightgown. Pulling the blankets aside, I covered myself with them, tucking myself in. Blowing out the candle that lit my room, I settled down in the bed and closed my eyes after a reasonably large yawn that I could’ve sworn almost cracked my jaw. Sleep took me into its comforting layers quite easily and smoothly. Soon, I lay there in the darkness of the room, completely asleep. While sleeping, I dreamed.

Obsidian hooves underneath me were pounding against the ground furiously, churning up the rich earth that was underneath. In my dream, I glanced down and immediately recognized the form of Snowfire with his ivory colored coat and his hazelnut eyes. Wondering where the dream was about to lead, I remained seated in the carefully woven saddle that had golden tassels flinging about wildly and banging gently against my leg. Glancing down at Snowfire’s head bobbing up and down from the pace he was going at, I saw that more golden decorations were plaited within his mane and tail. I allowed a smile to dance on my lips as I moved up and down with Snowfire’s gait. Looking up in my dream, I saw that bright rays of sunshine rained down upon us as we made our way past the lush, rolling hills of the current scenery. Through my eyes, I saw a strange darkness and bleakness ahead. Wondering what it was, fear began pounding uneasily in my heart as we got closer and closer to the shadowed area. Closer, closer, closer… And then we were finally there. I had expected that Snowfire and I would ride straight through it, but was nearly thrown off when he skidded to a halt. Glancing around, I heard the cawing of a crow. From nowhere, the bird that the sound had issued from flew straight across in front of me, cutting through the air. I was absolutely confused while Snowfire underneath me was the idea of terror and bewilderment mixed together. “Where are we?” I whispered, still in my dream. When the black crow had crossed our path, I had thought nothing of it – until millions more appeared, their beady eyes glinting with a sense of devilish delight and excitement. More and more kept coming until Snowfire and I were completely surrounded in a black cloud of hungry, unmerciful crows.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

November 3 Add On (1693 Words)
-Snowfire-
Something was wrong and I could easily feel it. I grunted as emotions blazing with pain and terror whipped through my mind. I instantly broke from my doze, staring out wildly into my surroundings. Overnight, the torches had continued their fierce glow. Wincing slightly at the light, I noticed that there was a pale stream of sunlight coming through the narrow opening that had been left open in the stable door. It was early morning – probably just after dawn.

There was just enough room in my airy stall to pace around back and forth nervously – and that, obviously, was what I did. When the groom came in a few hours later to feed and take care of me, he saw that I was rather restless.

“Got a tickle in your legs, eh, boy?” he asked me; oblivious to the current state and situation I was in. He simply thought that I was eager to get out and to get exercised along the lush countryside that surrounded the manor. I tossed my head impatiently as he tried to slip the halter over my head so that he could lead me out and groom me. “What’s the matter?” he said, laughter passing through his blue eyes that told me he truly didn’t comprehend why I was acting so. I pulled against the ropes that tied me, trying to bend and snap them with all my might. I continued attempting to do so, but it was all in vain. The ropes were obviously meant to last even underneath the weight of a fairly strong horse like me. The groom looked at me worriedly, but hurried quickly through his normal routine. Finally, he gave me a last pat and led me back into my stall. He left but returned a few minutes later.

“I got permission from ye owner to ride you to get that restlessness out of you,” he told me, leading me out of my stall once more. This time, he took my tack from where it was mounted on the wall. He completed all the buckles and managed to make me open my mouth so that he could slip in the cold, metal bit that told me my directions. Putting his left foot into the left stirrup, he grabbed the reins and swung himself easily over the saddle. His right foot found the other metal stirrup without trouble and he nudged me gently into a walk. In my mind, I gave a sigh of relief for the fact that he didn’t wear spurs. Spurs were pointy metal rings that were attached to the riding boots to make the horse respond faster and better. From seeing other horses, I had learned that spurs could oftentimes cause blood to ooze from cuts and scrapes that they caused. Even though no human being had ever used spurs on me, I resented them in my mind very clearly.

Once outside of the stables and into the wide open, he eased me into a brisk trot. My hooves fell hard on top of the brick path we were currently on. Each step took me closer to the soft tufts of grass that my hooves longed for after a while of clip clopping on the hard walkway. Once the path had ended, he set me for a wide meadow that was filled with open space. I could easily tell that my groom was hoping to bring me at a dead run across the field so that I could stop my skittishness. He kicked me a couple of times and gave me a light tap with the crop he was holding. I, being a good horse, responded almost immediately to his signals. Lengthening my strides, I broke out into a canter. My hooves pounded furiously against the ground until I was finally in a full out gallop. On and on he kept me running, attempting to tire me out. It didn’t work. All that was on my mind while I was running was the girl and our new connection…

-Tara-
I dressed quickly in a plain pale blue cotton dress with all the rest of the clothing needed. When I had woken up, pale rays of sunlight had timidly peeked past the thick burgundy colored curtains that framed my window. Beads of sweat had formed themselves on my forehead as well as my neck and back. I had forgotten what had happened in my dream but the emotions of terror remained locked severely in my mind.

Snapping the clasp of my jewelry box shut, I raised a necklace to my neck to see if it went with the rest of my outfit. Nodding to myself mentally with approval, I began putting necklace on. It was a thin silver chain of silver leaves with diamonds studded in between, adding a finishing and sparkling touch to the piece of jewelry. It was simple compared to what my mother and other ladies wore sometimes, but my current necklace was good enough for my taste.

After admiring how the necklace looked, my thoughts drifted back to my dream about Snowfire. I couldn’t quite remember the whole thing scene for scene, but I did remember the absolute helplessness and fright that had paralyzed me when the blackness had swallowed both of us up. I shivered despite the warmth that the crackling fire in the stone fireplace gave the room. Glancing outside, I could see a faint layer of snow dusting everything outside. Admiring the crystalline scenery, I decided to put on my heavy wool cloak so that I wouldn’t get chilly.

Making my way downstairs, I paused in the kitchen for a moment to weasel out two hot buns for myself to devour when I was outside. Before the cook could interrogate me about where I was going, I was already out the door and running.

Once outside, I brushed some snow off of a bench and sat, trying to sort my thoughts about my dream out. I remembered that in the beginning of my dream, everything had been absolutely lovely and wonderful. After that, though, I remember feeling rather desolate and lonely before the black cloud of something swallowed up me as well as Snowfire.

I sat there, staring blankly for goodness knows how long. From time to time, I would tear a piece of the bread I was holding and I would chew it in my mouth, savoring the warm tastes that filed in. My mind was so occupied that I didn’t even realize the hot breath panting near me. Once I had finally heard the breathing, I looked up, surprised. I saw Snowfire with his groom riding him.

“Snowfire wanted to greet you,” the groom said cheerfully, dismounting smoothly and leading Snowfire up to me. Putting my hand up, I was delighted when yet again he pressed his nose against the palm of my hand. “I see that he likes you,” he told me, grinning widely.

I looked at him, surprised that he could tell. Well, he was a groom, wasn’t he? Grooms probably had to know all about horses to be able to get the job. “I don’t know about that…” I said, beginning to babble – one of the worst habits that I had picked up from somewhere that I couldn’t quite say.

“And you’re modest, too,” the groom said, still grinning from almost ear-to-ear. I wondered, did his mouth ever ache from staying in such a happy position for so long? “Snowfire just seemed to jerk against my rein to come here to you,” he told me, leaning against Snowfire and patting him on the flank affectionately. “He be a good, obedient horse. He’s probably one of God’s steeds at the pace that he runs,” he said. For the first time, I realized that the groom had somewhat of an accent – a rather country-like accent.

Standing up, I made a few paces towards Snowfire. I cupped my hands around his soft muzzle and kissed the equine lightly. I expected him to pull away, but he gave a small nicker of what I thought to be joy when I did so. “He’s a good horse,” I voiced out loud although if you had just looked at him once, you would’ve immediately known that fact as well. It didn’t really take a genius to figure out that Snowfire was the ideal horse that anybody would want.

“Indeed he is, lass. I’m glad that you can see through the equine in him. Most folk only see him a majestic steed and that’s it. Just because a horse is pretty, that don’t stop them from pulling the rein too hard to cut the horse’s tender mouth or having them whip them ‘till kingdom come,” he told me. I wasn’t quite sure all the time what he was saying because of his thick and heavy accent, but I was reasonably sure I could tell well enough what he was trying to tell me. He was thankful for me being able to actually understand the use of equines beyond transportation. Horses didn’t only have to be used for ways to get around, they could also be used for companionship – like I had done yesterday when I had told Snowfire about me and how I felt about certain things.

I tilted my head to the side slightly, my eyes seeming rather foggy as I imagined what it would be like if Snowfire had wings. We would soar across the night sky, passing clouds and stars and the moon and everything. A whinny from Snowfire broke me out of my fantasy. I wasn’t quite sure, but I could’ve sworn that there was a hint of amusement hiding in Snowfire’s russet colored eyes. For an equine, Snowfire seemed to understand humans quite well, despite the fact that humans couldn’t really understand horses. A sense of intelligence lingered in his eyes as well as I looked at him, my head still cocked in a rather uncomfortable position. I gave a sigh as I brought my head into its upright position again. Whatever it was, I would probably never understand Snowfire, no matter how much he could easily understand about me.

November 4 Add On (UNCOMPMLETED, 375 Words)
-Snowfire-
The girl seemed to have many dreams and fantasies. It was quite interesting to view them – something that I did in her mind that I never knew I could do before. It was a strange phenomenon that I was able to access her mind. Perhaps one day we would even share some kind of mind link, although currently, I believed that to be highly possible. I knew that from the way she looked at me, she could easily tell that I knew what she was thinking about. I longed to open my mouth and simply have human speech pour out as if I had known it for my whole life, but sadly, it wasn’t that simple.

To tell the truth, I had illusions of soaring through the skies as well with the girl riding me. Oh gosh. I really had to learn her name or else I would be stuck calling her “the girl” forever. Closing my eyes and thinking hard, I listened to what my groom was saying to the girl, attempting to make sense of the words that chattered uselessly and went in through one ear and out the other. I longed to shout at them to talk in a language that I understood, but of course, my shouting out at them would be in a language that they didn’t understand so either way, it was a lose-lose situation when it came to trying to communicate.

Well, at least they could tell how I felt with my body language. Delicate snowflakes were falling and the two humans didn’t even notice. No, they were too absorbed in their conversation of goodness knows what. More and more snow fell onto my coat, unseen because of the whiteness of my coat, but the snow was chilly and I felt as if the moisture from it would soak through my fur and into my skin. I stamped an impatient hoof on the ground to get either human’s attention. When they didn’t respond, I yanked hard on my lead rope. My groom nearly went flying, but I didn’t care, as long as he knew that I was getting cold and that I wanted to go back to my nice, warm stall with a thick blanket covering me.

November 5 Add On [UNCOMPLETE, 387 Words]
-Snowfire-
I suppose that after many minutes of protesting to the cold, my groom finally understood what I wanted. He said something to the girl and gave her a wink before tugging at my lead rope and bringing me back into the stable. Once inside, he brushed all the snow off of my coat, although it surely couldn’t have been an easy task trying to get white off of white. After rubbing me down and leading me into my stall, he climbed up into a loft and forked down pitchforks of sweet alfalfa hay into my hay manger. He left the stables whistling while I was busy munching on the dried grasses. After a few moments, he appeared carrying a bucket of mash. Setting it down in my stall, he left again. Curious at what had gone into this current mash, I stopped eating my hay and nosed around in the bucket that carried the new food. I swallowed some of the mash and found that it was a delightful mix of linseed, chopped apples, carrots, and many more things that I couldn’t quite name. Gobbling the rest of the mash up, I gave a contented snort once I had swallowed the last few licks.

-Tara-
Snowfire’s groom was actually quite good-natured and kind. My mother had told me to not speak to the “lower class” as she put it, but I saw no harm in getting pulled into a conversation like that one, as long as it was intellectual and not about gossip. After formal introductions, I had learned that his name was William although he told me to call him “Will” for short. I promised to do so, but only when we were in private. If my mother had known that I had made friends with a stable hand and had a nickname for him, she would’ve immediately wrung my neck.

Will had platinum blond hair, so blond that it was nearly white. It was a rather odd color for a male to have, but I didn’t say anything about it since raven black hair wasn’t exactly that common either. I decided to ignore his short-cropped hair, but I did like his eyes – they were an intense blue color that always seemed to dance with some sort of merriment or whatever emotion he was feeling.

November 7 Add On [UNCOMPLETE 186 Words]
-Tara-
It was true that his appearance didn’t really fit in with the ‘noble colonial time’ look, but his personality made up for his eccentric looks. I continued sitting on the bench, contemplating about Will and about Snowfire and about anything I could think about. By doing this, I delayed having to go inside and having to sit down and embroider all day long or to read from a boring old textbook that seemed to drone on and on and on…

When a harsh wind pulled through, I instantly jolted awake from my trance-like state. Realizing that the light dusting of snow was falling harder, I stood up and quickly made my way inside the manor hoping that my mother was being diverted from loading me with work. Inside, I quickly brushed all the snow off of my hair and clothing so that I didn’t look like I had been outside. I stood before the crackling and blazing fire for a few moments to dry off completely.

The warmth of the room swallowed me whole, making me even more aware of how chilly it was outside.

-November 13 Add On- [PROCRASTINATION <3]
-Tara-
I looked around, desperately praying that my mother wouldn't be somewhere near and holding a needle and thread that she would hand me. My prayers weren't answered -- sooner or later I was sitting in front of the same fire with a needle and thread in hand while my mother talked on and on about when she was young.

I was just so sick of those stories -- I learned how to stop listening yet still appear like I was hanging on to every word I said. I would nod my head sometimes, pretending that I was completely absorbed in my needlework.

Other times, I would look up and say something like, "How interesting." Most of the time, this trick would work, but there was quite a problem when my mother was talking about a topic such as how the William's dog had died or how cholera was raging its epidemic through a faraway town. When this happened, my mother would often pause and give me a queer look, but hurried on and continued with her story anyway.

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