Victoria rolled over and stared at the red digital numbers. Eight o'clock. It was time to get up.
But she couldn't. Everything that happened the previous night, how could it possibly be true? Did June really return and not even remember Victoria, then willingly leave her to go with a stranger?
It could easily all be a dream. There was only one way to find out.
Ava.
Victoria jumped out of bed, changed, and went trotting across town. Out of breath, she arrived at the hen's house.
She knocked on the door.
After a pause, the door opened.
"Victoria? Is something wrong?" Ava asked with concern in her voice.
"June… she… a…" the horse panted, stumbling into the house and flopping down in a regal armchair.
The hen hurried into the kitchen and returned with a cup of tea that she offered to Victoria.
"Thank you," Victoria said, taking a sip. "Was last night real?" She finally asked.
Ava nodded.
"Ok." Victoria composed herself and set the tea aside. "As we were returning to June's house, this wolf stopped us and took June. He said he belonged to a branch of security. I can't remember what he called it."
Victoria received a wide-eyed look from Ava. "June's gone?!"
The horse nodded, feeling guilt weighing down on her shoulders. All she had to do was keep her friend safe, and she couldn't even do that! She didn't even put up a fight!
All of a sudden, the thoughts and guilt began bombarding Victoria. "I need to go," she decided, jumping out of the chair and leaving before Ava could say a word.
Outside, the fresh air and bright blue sky eased some of Victoria's thoughts, but not all of them. She needed to find June. And June wasn't in Mustang.
With no idea of where else to go, Victoria headed to the train station. Maybe they went to the city.
The train took forever to arrive, but when it did, Victoria jumped on and sat in the first seat. Glancing around, she discovered she was the only one in the train car. It wasn't surprising; there weren't usually many animals that traveled.
Victoria stared out the window as the train lurched forward and rumbled along the tracks. The green hills and fields became a blur, slowly transitioning to a dark green forest. Then it all disappeared as the train shot through a tunnel, eventually slowing and returning into sunlight and the city.
Relieved that the journey was over, Victoria hopped off and strolled across the city plaza, gazing in wonder, as usual.
She'd been to the city plenty of times before, but each time she couldn't help but admire the elegant stone fountain and the colorful stores that lined the plaza. It'd be great to live in the city and on some days the thought of moving tempted Victoria. However, she couldn't bear leaving her friends.
Victoria passed by Gracie Grace and paused to look in the windows. Fancy plaid shirts and cute layered dresses clothed the mannequins. Victoria had a pair of sandals that would match one of those dresses perfectly…
No. She couldn't afford to get side-tracked. June was out there somewhere. Victoria needed to find her friend. But where to start? Should she just wander randomly down streets and alleys in hope of stumbling across her friend? Was there even a point in that? June could be miles away for all Victoria knew…
With a loud sigh, Victoria headed over to one of the benches by the fountain.
A flash of gray caught her eye.
It was the wolf in the trench coat! He was striding towards a shaded alley.
Victoria glanced around the empty plaza, and then began following him from a distance.
He passed through the alley and onto another street. Victoria stopped to watch for a second, and a fox sprinted past her! The fox ran up to the wolf and they spoke for a minute. Then Victoria followed them to a coffee shop.
The horse contemplated following them in, but decided to hang around the corner and keep an eye out.
Eventually the fox left, and then the wolf. Victoria followed the wolf to another alley, where he entered a building.
What was Victoria supposed to do? She was standing in an alley in the city. She just stalked some animal in order to find her friend. What else could she do? She had to go inside.
With trembling hooves, Victoria crept to the door and twisted the knob. Slowly, she pulled it open a crack. Peering inside, darkness stared her back in the face. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her.
Silence.
Darkness.
What now? Part of Victoria was sure the wolf would jump out from nowhere and capture her.
The horse waited. Nothing happened.
Finally, she looked around instead of standing frozen in fear, and realized that in the very dim light she could see the shapes of crates.
Victoria moved towards a faint break in the crates and spotted a faint light halfway up the wall.
A staircase!
Before she could give it a second thought, Victoria climbed up the creaky steps and stopped in front of the door.
This was it. This would be either the most heroic thing she'd done in her life, or the stupidest thing.
Regardless, she yanked open the door.
Can you tell it's from Victoria's perspective? Is it written differently enough from June's character? Also, I decided I'm going to discontinue this story since I'm not really "into" it anymore. Sorry about that, but I can't thank you enough for reading this far!