Sorry for the long delay ya'll… Thanks for still reading and not giving up hope on me though… lol
Chapter 6
That night, as the Black found shelter in a small cave, he looked up at the stars and wondered if going back to his old life was a good idea after all. He knew he would miss Alec, Henry, and most of all, Blondie, but he also knew that he hadn't been enjoying his life there lately. He had wanted to go back to his old life for a long time now. Stop it, he thought. Stop thinking about it. You're free, what more could you want?
He shook it off, as he always did, and locked his stifle joints and tried to fall asleep. He knew he had some choices to make.
Meanwhile, back at the stables, Alec was in bed with his bedside lamp on, looking through old and new photo albums. He came across ones of before he had left for the trip by boat with his father, when the ship wrecked and he lost him. He looked through his baby pictures and his school year pictures. Then, he looked through pictures of when he had first brought the Black home. He hadn't changed much… the only thing that changed about him was that he wound down a bit after he started living in Henry's stables. Alec had moved in with Henry after his mother died; now, Henry and the Black were the only family he had… well, now, just Henry.
He knew he would miss the Black a lot, but he knew that he had done the right thing by letting him go, too. The Black would be happy again, and to Alec, that was the only important thing. Seeing the Black unhappy wasn't a pretty sight to Alec. When the Black was depressed, Alec was depressed. When the Black was happy, Alec was happy. But now he would never know if he was happy where he was now or not; that was the hard thing about all this. The only important thing he knew now was that he felt as if he was doing the right thing, so he was somewhat happy for himself.
After a while, Alec grew tired. He closed the photo album, put it in his drawer where it belonged, and turned off his small light and curled up under the covers and tried to sleep… but for some reason, sleep wouldn't come to him. Every time he closed his eyes, they shot back up. Thoughts of the Black swarmed his head like bothersome flies during an old fashioned country picnic. What if he couldn't survive? What if he got into another fight; perhaps, fatal; with the white stallion? What if he grieved all night long because he missed Alec, Henry, and his mare?
Alec pushed the horrible thoughts to the back of his head and tried to look at the positive ones, even if they were made up. He pictured the Black running through a wide-open meadow, as a mighty leader of a band of wild horses. He pictured, clearly, the Black up on the top of a huge hill, looking after his herd. Alec smiled and, finally, sleep swept over him fiercely. He dreamt of the good and bad times with the Black, and he knew, with all his heart, that he would never forget him.
That night, a storm brewed, and the winds from it swept through the Black's dark, warm hideaway and transformed it into a scary, terrifying aura of darkness. His eyes grew wide as he slowly backed up to the very back of the cave, slightly twitching and his heart pounding as if the world was coming to an end. He whinnied loudly with every loud boom the storm made, and he danced around as if his feet were on fire. He had never been as terrified as he was now. He always used to have warm shelter, no matter how bad the storm. Blondie was always beside him, in the stall right next to his, and on very bad nights, Alec would bring his sleeping bag and pillow and extra thick pajamas with him to the stables, and sleep in his stall right beside him. He missed the warm, toasty blankets that Alec would put over his back every night to keep him snuggly and comfortable. He missed the relaxing rides through the trail the next morning, after the storm was over, when it seemed like there never was one. The Black waited for the storm to stop, and when it finally died down a bit, he looked up at the stars and thought once again. He had made his decision.
End of Chapter 6
