Sometimes all I do is wonder whether this is a dream or I'm dreaming in reality. And having bright, dappling sunshine streaming down my face doesn't help. Standing with my dung-crusted boots inside the barn, I find myself with ones of my own. And I don't mean humans. Horses. I feel at home with these wonderful creatures. In their hooves, I feel free. I smile at the broad brown face staring straight right through me. Scratching its nose, I feel it move with my fingers as if dancing to a groove. With my free hand, I part my hair to the other side of my head and begin to giggle as its whiskers tickle the back of my hand. I wonder if it can understand me as I begin to speak to it.
"Whisper, you love me don't you?" I asked the dark Palomino.
The horse bobbed its head up and down.
I stand corrected. I thought wide a grin.
Opening the stall door, I walked in and took Whisper by his halter. With my free hand, I pushed the stall door father out of the way. Whisper's hooves clicked on the wood floor as I lead him out of his stall. I clipped him to cross ties and began to brush his back down with a brush. Whisper held his head high and had his rear foot relaxed. When I finished with his back, I moved to his belly and chest. Hair flew everywhere and I sneezed.
Whisper let out a neigh that I took as laughing. I laughed too and nudged him the way I always did when he did that.
Now, I believe, you the reader of this story deserves an introduction of myself before we can go any farther. My name is Aly. I am sixteen years old and I live on a horse farm in Nevada. My parents were murdered two weeks ago and I still feel the emptiness and the loneliness, even though I have five wonderful horses to keep me company. I'm still searching for answers to my parents' mysterious murder, but I've come up empy so far.
Whistling annouced the arrival of the mail. Dropping the curry comb which I had been using, I raced out of the barn to the mail box. Being slightly rich, our mail box can be considered big enough the a Great Dane could be head-level with it. Opening the door, I take out one vanilla envelope. Having no idea what it contained, I opened it on my way back to the barn. As it reached it, I pulled out a letter, neatly typed and a signature at the bottom. Standing next to Whisper and reading the letter, my heart sank and my face turned pale. Whisper saw me and let out a neigh of alarm and pressed his large nose into my cheek. I turned and looked up at him with tears in my eyes.
"You're going to be sold!" were the words that barely escaped from my mouth. Dry and barely autible.