I whistled softly, both my arms outstretched, a carrot in one hand and an apple in the other. I whistled again, this time louder. I caught a flash of golden brown out of the corner of my eye. A centaur.
My heart beat quickly and excitedly as the centaur trotted closer. He grazed closer, pretending to ignore me while all the time watching out of the corner of his eye. The centaur lifted his head every once in a while to stare at me with brown pools of eyes. Then he would duck his head and proceed in pretending I wasn't there.
He was a beauty of a centaur, still a colt. His fur glistened in the sunlight, sending golden waves rippling down his back. He was young, but showed strength in the very way he moved. In a way, he was like Ella. And his eyes- Ella would love the eyes. They seemed to go on forever, and if you started too long, you could become lost in them.
As soon as I judged the centaur was close enough, I tossed the carrot from my left hand. Bad mistake. My right hand is my prominent one, and instead of landing off to the side of the centaur as I intended, the carrot sailed in a straight line towards the unaware beast, still grazing contentedly. I covered my eyes, I couldn't watch! The poor thing would be hit right on the nose, judging from the path of the carrot's flight. I fought my urge to laugh hysterically, for the suddenly the situation seemed extremely humorous. What would Ella say of me bonking her gift on the nose with a carrot?
To my intense relief, the carrot barely brushed the centaur, but his head shot up immediately, and he looked at me as reproachfully as if it had hit him squarely between the ears. He ignored the carrot and began to trot away. My heart sank. This centaur was perfect for Ella. I knew if I didn't win him now, I never would. In one last desperate attempt to catch his attention, I whistled once more and swung the apple back and forth.
Suddenly, the centaur's head shot around, and he began to charge straight towards me, too fast for me to react. As he butted he in the chest with his head, I dropped the apple from surprise. As I fell to the ground, I saw this golden beauty of a centaur snatch the apple from midair, crunching loudly, and trot across the field and away as if nothing had happened. At the very edge of the exposure, he swung back around to face me. Was I mistaken, or was that a hint of merriment in his eyes? Indeed, the centaur's name would be Apple. This time I didn't hold back my laughter.
Icame to the clearing every day after that, always with an apple. As time passed, he grew to expect it. One memorable day I forgot one. Apple came cantering to me with a hint of a grin in his eyes, but as I spread my arms out wide to show I had no offering, his eyes radiated hurt. Immediately, he spun around and ran back, his hooves pounding the earth. No matter how I called, Apple wouldn't come to me for two days, for love or apples.
I think he forgave me after that, for he came back with a silly grin plastered on his face, and the incident was erased from my mind, in a manner of speaking.
Eventually, I climbed the fence to the enclosure, a length of rope hidden behind my back. Apple came galloping towards me as usual for his treat. As I fed it to him, I also sneaked the coil of rope from behind my back, and fastened it slowly around his neck. Despite my care, he bucked and reared with a look of fear in his eyes, and no matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't calm down until I had taken the lead off.
After experimenting many times with the rope over the course of several days, Apple gave in and meekly allowed himself to be led around, though he held a reproachful look in his eyes, as if to say, "How could you do this to me?" and would only allow the lead to be on for short periods of time. I felt guilty every time I put it on.
But at last, I believed he was tame, at least enough for my purpose.. For at last it was time for me to deliver the sweet Apple to my beloved Ella.
I'm so sorry it was short, but I've been caught up with homework and stuff. Besides, I've had the hardest time of even getting on fanfiction. And when I do, I can't review anyone or anything. So I'll try to make the next chapter longer and come more quickly than this one, depending on how many reviews i get for this and my new Redwall fanfic, Maiaiu. I'd appreciate if anyone reviewed that too. I know I only put it up two days ago, but i get frustrated when I don't get any reviews! (Hint, hint!) So thanks for at least reading this, and double thanks to all who review!