After finishing 7th grade, my family decided to go on a road trip back into the countryside. There were endless fields of crops and ranches. Having grown up in the city, it was an unusual sight, however what caught my attention were the herds of horses, galloping across the meadows. After that day, I wanted nothing more than to get a chance to actually ride one, so my parents signed me up for horseback riding at a small red farm near my house.
My first day there was so euphoric, yet at the same time nerve wrecking for I was unaware of what was yet to come. Each student got assigned a horse and I got to be paired with Shayen. She was tall and had a luscious brown mane that glistened in the small ray of sunshine visible that day. I was told that she was stubborn, and impetuous, but kind. We spent majority of the time, associating and gearing up our horses. When we arrived at the ranch, I was handed the reins and a small stool to help myself up. At that moment, as I swung my leg over the saddle, I could feel the hair on my arms and the back of my neck spring up like a bolt of energy just coursed through my body, and then suddenly, I was on top of the world. As I slowly released my grip, I began feeling every muscle in my body moving in uniform, like I was being swayed, and a sudden rush of the cold autumn wind brushing against my cheeks. Before I knew it, Shayen was trotting, and I could hear the staccato beat of the hooves against the dirt, as though it was in synchronization with my heartbeat, and in that moment, we were one.
Then Suddenly Shayen froze, and as she stared off into the distance, I could feel the shadow...
