Writing@Crow

The Best of Exquisite Corpse, Part Deux

2010-03-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia: Exquisite corpse (also known as "exquisite cadaver" or "rotating corpse") is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled, the result being known as the exquisite corpse or cadavre exquis in French. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see the end of what the previous person contributed.

BOOK REVIEWS

(a word game and collaborative project of the sophomore class)

BOOK TITLE: Dude! Where's my Shoe?

SUBTITLE: (There and Back Again)

AUTHOR: by Ted Nugent

EXCERPT FROM DUDE! WHERE'S MY SHOE? (DWMS)

The air smelled like death. The words were too big and the tune too long.

"Oh, great! Now look what you did," said Sam angrily.

"It's the perfect protein," answered the girl Furby. "It makes me feel all fuzzy inside."

She lived on a dying world. Where others saw darkness, Sam saw life. "It stinks," he said. "Was that a pig or a child?"

"It ain't my baby." It was hot in the land of the sun

"That is not the question. Can someone please tell me the answer?"

"Do you, like, care?"

REVIEWS

"Enough emotion to peel back the crust from cornbread." – Bob Welch
"I feel like I just bathed in worms." – Richard Simmons
"I laughed. I cried. Fantastic!" – Random Dude
"This is a questionable story." – West Lane News, a publication full of action and thrill
"It reads like something crawled between the pages and died." – Cabela's

What if? by John Sevey

2010-03-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

What if looks didn’t matter, and popularity was a myth? What if people could just be nice to one another without the drama? What if life was that simple? Where people could be friends with everyone that they meet. Where war was a word that was never spoken of. A place where violence wasn’t heard of. Where people didn’t make fun of each other for being different. Where people didn’t have to live up to looks that are impossible to reach. A simple place. A happy place. A place that the world today will never reach because standards have already been set to high. But if everybody could ask the simple question of what if, could the world possibly change?

The Hunted by Austin Parson

2010-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

The hunted are the ones I trust
The reason is that I truly must
If you see the mark is in the wood
Then you really really should
If you see it and you don’t
the hunted will slit your throat
and then you will finally see
why you should have listened to me

The Silences of Knowing by Meagera Recca

2010-03-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

The sky is so blue
And the ground is wet with the smell of rain
The rich earth and concrete
And sun
In front of the doors
Two sets
Cool glass and metal
A barrier?
No,
A gateway
I step through
The first
The scent of spring still present
But different
I step through the second doors
Inhale
The scent has changed
Dry
The sun
The warmth
Shines through the glass behind me
The dry smell is both crisp and musty
New and old
Cardboard and wood
Cream and grass
Paper
And Ink
All the kingdoms of the world before me
Around me a low murmur
More calming than silence
And beneath my feet the carpet gives slightly
As I walk forward
The well-lit forest of knowledge before me
Welcoming me again

The Nothing by Nicky Gray

2010-03-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

The day was hot and my fur stood on end
My throat was dry and taking in a breath

it felt rough
Noises scattered in my mind

left and right
Something was wrong here
I lowered my stance and crept

along the forest floor

Snap!

My breathing slowed, almost absent
My muscles tightened and I froze mid-stride
The lump in my throat grew

I felt as if I could not swallow

Bang!

I felt the pain, sharp and growing

as I fell to the dirt
My veins pounding was the only sound
It echoed in my ears

Thump Thump Thump

My eyes grew heavy and my body felt strained
This was the end and now….

Nothing

The Hunted by Hayden Larsen

2010-03-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

It is coming! Running as fast as the wind blows, I cry out as I run through the streets. hoping beyond hopes that my screams will be heard and save me from the thing that is after me.

As I am running I hear a horrible scream of maniacal laughter mixed with the sound of the pattering of clawed feet behind me. As I run down a dark ally in hopes of evading “The Being” behind me, my hopes are shattered as I see to my horror I have came across a dead end. No one will ever find me–even my very bones will not be found. The only one that will know is him: The Eye.

As I turn around to face the nightmare behind me I see nothing at first, then a shadow comes across the ally as I finally see what I have been running from.

The Being stands seven-feet tall on two muscular legs housing three clawed feet. The creature's head is hideously deformed and dome shaped, but that is not what startled me the most, as the eye that is filled with both insanity, and pure evil, but there is also a light in its eye that suggested that its life is made up of tragedy and horror. The wide mouth that is filled with razor sharp thin, needle-like teeth. The mouth is almost transfixed into a psychotic smile and its two long extremely muscular arms that house four long dagger-like claws that could rip a man in two with incredible ease, and the long sharp spike on each of its elbows....

The Being’s flesh is covered with crusty blood red flesh that has an assortment of scars on its chest and a long scar across his eye. The eye fixates on me now, staring into my soul. The creature’s mouth changes into an evil smile as it takes one step closer, and another, and yet another. Its shuffling changes into a run, then bounding, jumping in the air, grabbing with its long talons onto the concrete walls that sandwich both of us, and repeating the same technique as it bounces from wall to wall, all the while laughing manically.

I have no time to scream, I grope around for a door handle and hidden passageway to escape the fate that awaits me. I find none. I close my eyes as if that could save me from my fate as the creature leaps toward me, talons shining in the moonlight.

Then suddenly the beast speaks in a voice that sounds liketwo people talking at the same time, in an eerie echoing voice. "You reallythink that you could run away without me knowing! Now that's sad. Now I'm goingto kill you now and no one will ever mourn you."

After the creature says this it lets out a maniacal laughterthat sends chills to my very bones. Then suddenly there is a blinding flash ofpain erupting from my chest, and then there is a blinding flash of light and asense of comfort comes over me as I reach towards the light as it fades intopermanent darkness.

The Best Of Exquisite Corpse

2010-03-18T12:17:00.001-07:00

BOOK REVIEWS

(a word game and collaborative project of the freshmen class)

BOOK TITLE: The Back Woods of Johns Hopkins

SUBTITLE: (That's What She Said)

AUTHOR: by Kenny Chesney

EXCERPT FROM THE BACK WOODS OF JOHNS HOPKINS (TWSS)

Love is such a fragile thing, especially when it's short-lived. They stood in the dark void.

"I just ate a bug," she said. The tree was tall. They wanted to cut it down.
He was on his knees, trying to escape the wrath. "I dig these chickens. Can I kiss you, Ms. Bonnie Sparkle-toes?" he asked.

"Did you know that we have secretly been watching you?"
"All's well that falls in a boiling pot of water, as I always say."
"Learn to use it well," is what I've heard.

          The world was dying. The cops were on the way.
          "Oh, dear," he said. "What did I start?"
          "Gives you a lot to think about," she said.

REVIEWS

"This is the best thing since Wonder Bread!" – Dr. Phil

"I think I need a shower." – Michiko Kakutani for The New York Times

"I like cheese." – Your Mom

"This book makes you take a whole new look on life! A 5 out of 5!" – Jimmy Dean

"Please, please, keep reading!"– Kenny Chesney

Norm by Tanner Eastlick

2010-03-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever ridden in an elevator while facing the back wall? Try it some time and just see what people think or say. A lot of the time they will simply let the elevator go by and catch the next one. Why is this? Are we humans really so socially inept that we are afraid of things that are socially out of the norm?

The next person that you talk to, try looking about a foot higher than their head while you talk. Notice their reaction. Do they look where you are looking? Or are they so socially correct that they just carry on with you, in your conversation?

Just think about the things that you do without thinking. When you are occupied in a public restroom and someone walks in, Why not just let it rip? It’s not like that person’s ever going to see you again. And if he dose take notice of your embarrassing bodily functions, just explain to him that when food digests, it creates gasses inside of your intestines.

Sure, some of you might be thinking that my logic might be somehow skewed, but if you really think about it, courtesy is only lying, and lying is a sin.

I know that some things are socially intolerable, I just don’t see why.

If a man walks down the street wearing a bikini, everyone is going to stare at him and crack jokes. But if you see a woman wearing the same bikini on a beach, then it’s just a way to catch some rays. Well, the man may have had the same intentions. It could have been hot, and he might not have had a beach to go to. So, why not catch some good old fashioned Vitamin D on the way to the office?

I just can’t seem to figure out what is so wrong with being abnormal in public. Walking through Wal-Mart can be a hassle. Why not make it fun for everyone? Skip down the hallways singing to the music on your iPod. Make motor noises as you steer the shopping cart through the produce section. Ask people how their day has been, and if they like the color of your hat. Why not be random, love at random, and live randomly? After all, life is short and the best way to pass the time is through laughter.

Whether it is your own, or someone else’s.

The Hunted by Laura Grube

2010-03-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

Up and down the woods
sounds of fear and terror were around
The leaves crackling, trees creaking, little screeches
The feeling that someone is creeping along after you
Holding a machete to your head
dripping in crimson red fluid from the last kill
That’s just your mind freaking you out – it’s not real
But after you hear the creaking and screeching
It all comes back to your mind
Your hands shaking so hard, in a cold sweat
Wishing you were home in your warm bed
Why did you take this walk in the mountains?
Someone is stalking you
You can hear its wheezy breathing, heavy footsteps
Someone or something is behind you
Whenever you turn around you feel
eyes peeking out from behind
The darkness of the bushes
Once you turn around and see it
There is nowhere to hide
No time to run
The eyes are bright yellow
Teeth of razors
This is it
You will not be found
Not even your bones
You're caught, so give up
The cougar will give you no mercy

Lincoln City, At the Beach by Mckenzie Engel

2010-03-12T13:46:00.001-08:00

Three-story house, just full of friends

Walking in the water, with just our bare feet

We had to go back to the house, cause it's time to eat

Wake up the next morning

Showered, and ready to go

Headed to the court, to put on a show

After the game, we went back to the house

Bonfire on the beach

Chillin in the sand

Sitting on a log

Cold drink in my hand

Pack my bags, ready to head home

Saying my goodbyes

As the sun starts to rise

Romeo Revisited by Megan Kemp

2010-03-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

"Romeo, oh Romeo, where art thou Romeo?”

“Silly! Oh, silly! Why are you here?”

“Please come see me?”

“No! I don’t like you.”

Juliet walks downstairs to the front door and says, “Leave me alone.”

“Never. I am in love with you, whatever 'in love' means. Is it good or bad?”

“Bad!” says Juliet.

“Oh,” says Romeo.

“Leave me alone.”

“I shall never leave your open wounded window!”

“Leave me the h___ alone!”

Juliet puts her iPod on and headphones in.

“My love, my sweet, sweet love. Your heart desires me, I think?"

“Blah, blah, blah. I can't hear you! I see your lips moving, but I hear nothing.” Juliet stands singing aloud to herself.

“Juliet, your love so sweet, your voice so tender, please come down and sweetly talk to me?” As Romeo climbs through the trees and to the balcony to see Juliet, she softly closes her door, and starts dancing and signing.

Romeo continues to talk, to himself. “Juliet, Juliet. I….I…. I love you!”

Juliet ignores him. Soon enough she closes the window, door, and drapes.

Romeo realizes he shall come back tomorrow night.

My Greatest Memory by Brayden Anderson

2010-03-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Last November I was still trying to fill out my first buck deer tag for Western Oregon. This was my third year hunting and I was determined to get a buck. My hunting season started back in September, on an early rifle-controlled buck hunt in the McKenzie unit in the Three Sisters Wilderness. This is a very tough hunt. You have to pack in on horseback and mules. It's eleven miles into camp.

The number of deer is low for the amount of country. The previous two years I had only seen one buck at a dead sprint, over 100 yards away. But I had gained valuable experience that I could use to my advantage.

The first three days of the hunt I only saw a couple of does. But the morning of the fourth day, my grandpa and his friend Dave and I got close to a forked horn muley in full velvet. My heart was pounding as I grabbed the wooden stock of my Winchester model 64 30-30 and my hand was numb from the cold when I went to pull the hammer back. I saw the young buck and tried to get to the nearest tree while he was focused on the horses. But beginner's luck was no longer on my side. As I pulled up to get him in my open sights, he and the two other does spooked and ran up a small bank.

I was going about a mile a minute hot on the chase. They stopped to get another look at me, when they made it up the ravine. This was my chance, so I pulled the hammer back and put my sights on the bucks shoulder, when I squeezed the trigger I was shaking with buck fever and shot over his back. I quickly worked the lever-action and jacked in another shell, but they were too far-gone, and my second shot wasn’t close. After going up to where the bucks were standing when I shot we found no sign of blood. Now, I knew I had just missed my first buck. As the hunt went on, I never got a crack at another mule deer. I still had a chance at the general season back home for black tail.

The general season is a lot longer, but with school and football I could hardly find the time for hunting. With the last few weeks of the season closing in, my friend Lane and I hit the woods looking for a black tail that would fill the freezer. We went into the field a handful of times but didn't get a chance for a buck. With the general season winding down we went out one final time on the last weekend.

Though that Friday was the last day of the general season, youth hunters are allowed two extra days. Sunday evening, we ventured out to a spot we had visited earlier in the season. We took Lane's Browning A-Bolt .270 WSM, because my 30-30 doesn’t have the distance of his bolt action, and we knew more than likely a long shot would take place. We set up and started to glass down the canyon and up the other side in search of black tail. Fifteen minutes later, Lane spotted a deer in his binoculars. I turned the scope up to 9x power and found the deer. It had a swollen neck from rut and was big-bodied. Its antlers looked small in the scope. I set up prone to take the shot. I held the crosshairs on the top of his back where neck meets body. When I pulled the trigger, the scope jumped back and I didn’t see if I got a clean hit. The buck ran toward the bottom of the canyon. I passed Lane his gun and he added a follow-up shot, just to be sure. The buck went down, and we started high fivin’. When we got to him and I grabbed the antlers, I was running on pure adrenaline. It was the greatest feeling ever. Lane gutted the buck and we dragged him up the steep canyon walls. By this time it was dark. We knew it was going to be a long couple of hours. When we finally got back to the Four Wheeler and to Lane's house, my dad was waiting. We hung the buck and skinned him out, then went home to get some sleep before school the next day.

Snow Who? by Janey Willis

2010-03-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a kingdom pretty far away, I lived in a castle just outside the kingdom. Almost everyone hated me, but hey, I was pretty evil, so I guess I can’t blame them.

The king and queen were blessed with a daughter, Aurora, and oh, she was beautiful. But as I said, back then I was pretty mad at the world, so I wanted her to suffer. After those stupid little fairies cast their good spell on her, I cursed her to die on her sixteenth birthday. Her parents feared, so she all of a sudden disappeared.

“Oh why have we not found her all these years?” I asked my henchmen one day. Well, it turns out that the stupidheads had been looking for a baby for sixteen years. “You idiots," I said. "She is sixteen now! Look for a young woman.”

“Uh, yeah. OK,” babbled my main henchman.

I knew that they would not find her so I went onto Facebook and looked and looked for a girl like her, I could not find anything. It was useless. So, I waited patiently in my palace watching reruns of SuperNanny and eating leftover Chinese food until my iPhone rang. It was my henchman. He had found the princess living in cottage in the woods. He told me that Aurora had seen the prince, and that it just happened to be her sixteenth birthday, and that she was going to the kingdom that night to get married.

I was thrilled.

I could lure her to a spinning wheel and make her die! I got up from my bed, took off my fuzzy bathrobe and slipped into my, 'evil gown’, as I called it. I put on my very white make-up and horns, and I looked evil again, just like that. As I walked out the door I grabbed my staff and a raven named Lucifer and was ready to raise hell at the royal wedding. I arrived just as Princess Aurora did. She was pretty bent out of shape because she had met her true love that day, only to have to leave to go marry some prince. Little did she know that the prince was the person she was marrying.

Yeah, what a coincidence.

I got to where she was getting ready for her wedding and saw her there crying her eyes out in a wedding gown. Back then I enjoyed people who were sad, so this made me laugh. I did not see the fairies around, so I cast a spell on her to go and prick herself. Without her even thinking she went to the top tower and pricked herself and died. I got away before they knew it was me that had done it. You know the rest. Her parents got very mad, the fairies cast a spell to make her sleep until she got true love's kiss.

Here's what you don't know: After that I quickly got back to my palace in the mountains. And just as I was getting into my bubble bath I heard the doorbell ring.

“Lucille!” I yelled to my maid. “Get the door now!"

“Yes, ma’am!” she yelled back

Boy was I scared when that prince ran into my bathroom, with me naked as the day I was born! I put my robe on and we went at it for a while. As you all think he killed me, but I'm a player. I played dead, and as soon as he left to give Aurora her true love's kiss and then they got married.

I hopped a plane to L.A. for a while so they would not catch me.

I decided to move after that–being evil wasn’t any fun in that kingdom anymore. I got a husband, moved to the suburbs, and had kids, and now I’m a soccer mom by day and an evil witch by night.

The Hunted by Bailey Engel

2010-03-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

It was a rainy day,

The sky was full of dark clouds.

The air smelled like death,

Not so much that it smelled like death,

But sounded like death.

Shots were being fired.

It was hunting season.

It was time for me

To put all my practice before this to good use.

Practice of running and dogging bullets.

It was an exhilarating feeling,

For the hunter and me.

The feeling of not knowing if I was going to get hit,

A nervous feeling of anxiety.

One of use would either be

Excited, sad, or gone.

I pounced around

As long as I possible could

Until…

BOOM!

I was hit, but just barley,

So I kept going.

I made it to a thin, narrow spot

That I knew the hunter wouldn’t be able to

Fit or squeeze into.

At last

I was safe.

The Feeling of Being Hunted by Talisha Liles

2010-03-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

You know that feeling that you get once you've watched a scary movie that involves people about your age or older being followed, chased down and killed? You feel that same adrenaline those people must have experienced in that situation. Sometimes, when you go into a room you feel as if you're being watched, that even if your window curtain is down someone can still see you. In the shadows there are piercing eyes staring at your every movement, waiting for that perfect moment for you to turn your back. It feels as if you're not alone. You start to make yourself sick thinking about all the possibilities that could be behind the closed door–or behind the bathroom curtain–making your stomach turn to knots, and your head hurt so bad it starts to spin. You can't sleep because when you close your eyes you're afraid to open them.

Cow Wrangling by Hayley Kau

2010-03-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

It was a nice summer day that I was going to enjoy by just laying out in the sun, but I heard the four words I hate most: the cows are out.

It seems like every summer, at least one day out of every month, the cows break through the fence and go to our neighbor’s field.

This time, we had to go and saddle up the horses because the stupid cows were to far out to rescue on foot. I went out to the barn and got the horse I was going to ride. That horse's name was Rafeen. First, I had to haul the saddle and the saddle blanket from the truck all the way to the horses. The only person who was on foot was my dad. He brought a lasso.

When we reached the heard there was this one cow who just keep running away. When my dad finally got that lasso around its neck, it took off–with my dad trying to hang on for dear life. It seemed like my dad was on water skis. I was laughing so hard I almost fell off my horse. It took us a while, after that, to catch that cow.

Romeo and Juliet Revised by Casey Willits

2010-03-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

The scene takes place in preschool in Verona

(Baby Romeo enters to find Juliet sucking on her thumb)

Romeo– I am here my Juliet!

Juliet– Leave me alone (Turns away from Romeo)

Romeo– Can I get you some warm milk and some goldfish to mellow you down?

Juliet– No! (Screams and walks away)

Juliet– Teacher, Romeo keeps on saying nice things to me

Teacher– Well, maybe he has a crush on you

Juliet– But I hate him!

Teacher– Maybe you should at least talk to him

Juliet– No. He is stupid

Teacher– If that is what you think then I can’t tell you any different

(Juliet walks over to see Romeo in a black suit, sitting at a table with roses and candles on the table)

Juliet – Are you having a tea party?

Romeo– No I am trying to flatter you

Juliet– That is dumb, Why are you so dumb?

Romeo– Maybe I’m dumb because of love

Juliet– Well I hate love

Romeo– You can’t run from fate

Juliet– Watch me

My Greatest Memory by Buddy Myers

2010-03-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

My greatest memory was when I got my truck. I remember when I first woke up it was a Saturday morning. I'd just gotten out of bed and my parents were dressed and getting ready to go to town, and then to Sweet Home (where my truck was), but I did not know that.

About an hour and a half passed and I started to wonder where they had gone.

About another hour and a half passed, and a truck that I did not recognize pulled into the driveway, and then our Ford pulled in beside it. When I saw the truck, I had mixed emotions. I ran outside and hugged both of my parents and almost cried. When I ran outside I could smell the old truck's exhaust, which I loved. The truck was black and silver and had a red pinstripe and a 6-inch lift. It was a long bed, 1986 Chevy 4x4 with 35-inch tires. There is only one problem: I'm only fourteen (but I will be fifteen on May Third).

Super Hero by Eli Lay

2010-03-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

Sam Mathews was an ordinary everyday window cleaner, nothing special–just a part time job until he graduated college. The only problem he had was he wasn’t all that bright. So graduating college was harder than you would think.

Sam loved the view from where he would clean the 35th floor apartment building window on the corner of 8^th and Barger in downtown Portland, Oregon. He had only been up there once. He was deathly afraid of heights he would convince his co-worker Jim to do that floor. Today was different, however. He was by himself. Jim, who was supposed to clean that floor, had died the other day. They say he got hypothermia from the wind chill and fell thirty plus floors to his death, but Sam secretly knew something was suspicious about that because the wind blows from the west and they were on the east part of the building.

Sam had cleaned every window when suddenly he felt it a strong chill running down his spine. He broke out into a cold sweat and no longer could stand. He tumbled over and landed safely on the scaffold. He started to mumble something when he suddenly blacked out. When he woke all he could see was white.

He took in his surroundings. He was laying face down on the scaffolding. His ears and arms where tingling. He reached up and touched his ears. They had changed and the tops of his ears were pointy like an elf’s. He looked at his hands and he was shocked. He had symbols on his hands in the shape of fire and they shined a silvery red.

Sam stood. He peered through the window. To his amazement, he saw a glowing green asteroid that had put a hole through the roof and landed in the apartment's fireplace. After much deliberation he decided to go check it out so he went to lower himself down. He saw something strange (as if what happened to him wasn’t strange enough): he saw his partner Jim (who had died from falling of the lift earlier that week) was in the room looking for the rock. Sam touched the window so that he could see through the window better. He went to press his head against it when it began glowing red. He took his hands off and the glass shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Jim shot a glance at Sam with an icy gaze then he spoke. “You can’t take it from me.” He reached behind his back and grabbed something. He pulled it from behind him and lifted it above his head. It was a long, skinny sliver of ice. It somewhat resembled a javelin. Sam exclaimed in terror, “Jim, don’t do this! We're old friends, right?”

Jim replied, “No. You were friends with Jim and he is a thing of the past now. I am known as Ice Man and once I find that rock, no one will stop me.” He thrust it at Sam.

Sam threw up his hands to protect himself and like Mt. Saint Helens erupting, fire burst from his hands, sending Jim through the walls and out a window, on the opposing side of the building. Jim fell 35 stories until he was abruptly shish kabobbed by a lamppost.

Sam spoke. “I like the idea of having a super name. In fact, everyone can now call me Elf Ears, the amazing. My motto will be, 'have no fear, Elf Ears is here.”

Sam went on to save the world, but six months later he was struck by a stalling 747 Boeing airplane and was killed on impact.

Brussels Sprouts by Nephi Jentzsch

2010-03-11T10:51:00.001-08:00

I hate Brussels sprouts. They are my most eschewed vegetable. First off they are a greenish, puckish color and they look like regurgitated Rocky Mountain Oysters. The stench of them when they are being cooked makes me gag like the smell of an unflushed toilet. If you don’t cook them right they get about as slimy and snotty as the inside of a nose with a cold. I have but one piece of advice for farmers: trade out that lovely patch of Brussels sprouts with some carrots.

The Day by Kaitlin Hogate

2010-03-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

It was the day I couldn’t wait for. The drive seemed like it took hours. We were on our way to Oakridge to look at a new horse. We had found him on craigslist. He was a beautiful dark brown with a black mane and tail.

When we finally arrived I could hardly sit still. He was even more amazing then in the pictures. He was a Quarter Horse, Spanish Mustang cross. He had the muscular build of a Quarter Horse, with the elegance and beauty of a Spanish Mustang. His mane was full and pure black. He had only one white sock, which was located on his left back leg. With the soft touch of his muzzle against my hand, it was meant to be. His eyes were nervous, but also so curious. He had the build of a stallion, with wondrous posture and a look of great speed. He was labeled as a trail horse, but I saw more.

The owners leased him to us for a few weeks. As we cantered around the arena with the sun shining down, all you could hear was the beat of his hooves pounding into the arena dirt. The sound was almost like a heart beat. He was a part of me, and I was a part of him. As we became closer, we were able to gain trust. All summer long we were together, under the hot sun working barrels, flags, and poles. In the year-end show, together, we won sixteen ribbons total.