It is my birthday.

I am twenty-four years old.

I am writing Phantom Stallion fanfiction.

Do not judge me.

Sam leaned on the edge of the round pen, keeping a watchful eye on its singular occupant. Currently, the skinny bay mustang was pressed against the fence on the opposite side, as far away from her as possible. If she moved too quickly, he'd fly into a panic, maybe slam into the fence like he had the night he first arrived at River Bend. He had scrapes on his chest and ribs to prove it.

Only thirteen hands high and the color of dark chocolate, Sam had picked Windy out because he reminded her of Ace. Physically, at least. As far as personality went, the two geldings had little-to-nothing in common. Ace was confident and spunky. Windy seemed to be afraid of his own shadow.

"I'm sorry you're stuck in here, buddy," Sam murmured. The sound of her voice wasn't quite enough to spook Windy, but he did toss his head once, making the hunter green rope halter bounce on his nose. Sam hadn't been the one to wrestle that halter onto him- it was a souvenir from his time in the BLM holding pens, probably tied on when he was knocked out to be gelded. "I know you'd rather be out on the range with your friends."

As if he understood her words, he lifted his head again, mournfully this time, staring down the driveway at the desert. Sam chewed her lip. It broke her heart to hold him captive, taking him away from everything he knew. She'd already had to talk herself down several times already, in the three days Windy had been hers, to prevent herself from opening the gate and letting him go, just like that.

It had been Brynna's idea for Sam to adopt a TIP mustang. Like a summer job, but you're helping a horse! she'd said encouragingly. Starting completely wild, Windy would be Sam's project for the summer, and once he checked off all the skills on the list- leading, lunging, picking up his feet, and trailering- he would go to a new forever home. Sam would get to show someone how wonderful mustangs could be, and as a bonus, she'd get to make some extra cash.

"It'll get easier soon," Sam promised through the bars. "I'm gonna convince you to be my friend, Windy. No matter how long it takes."

Windy didn't exactly seemed floored by her statement, but when the screen door slammed, he leaped forward a good six feet. "SAM! Let's go!"

"Coming!" Sam called, hopping down from the fence. She would've liked to spend a few more minutes calming Windy down, but it was unlikely he'd draw any comfort from her murmured words anyway. Besides, Brynna's tone had made it pretty clear she meant business. Sam jumped in the Jeep beside and they were on their way to work.

Windy the mustang wasn't Sam's only summer job. Her stepmother had secured her an internship at the Bureau of Land Management- a paid one, fortunately- also under the pretense of combining Sam's love of horses with her need to pay for college. The internship didn't accomplish either of those goals very well, considering it paid very little and Sam's "work" had been entirely office-related so far, but she was enjoying her two days a week at Willow Springs in spite of herself.

"Any luck with your new friend?" Brynna asked conversationally. She was undoubtedly Sam and Windy's biggest cheerleader, and Sam was almost embarrassed to have nothing to report.

"He still doesn't want anything to do with me," Sam admitted. "But it looked like he drank some more water overnight, and I gave him a couple more flakes of hay."

"That's good. For a while, I was worried he wouldn't eat anything at all."

Some mustangs adjusted easily to captivity and some did not. Windy was so far in the "not" category. Things that were normal to most horses were utterly terrifying to him. Buckets. A pan of oats. A hay bale. Most two-year-old horses were curious to the point of inconvenience, but Windy seemed determined to not experience any new things at all.

"I think he'll come around," said Sam, sounding more confident than she felt. So far Windy wouldn't even tolerate her within fifty feet of him. And somehow she had to have him tamed by the end of the summer?

They made the rest of the drive to Willow Springs in silence.

Sam flicked on the lights and Brynna shut herself in her office with a stack of paperwork. Sam couldn't help envying her a little- paperwork might be boring, but at least it was important. As an intern, Sam's main job was to start the coffee pot. On a really good day, she might get to look at some maps. Most days, she just talked about horses with Kay-Lynn and Tasha, while the former answered the phone and the latter manned the front desk.

I'm sure there's a learning experience in here somewhere, Sam thought as she straightened up the desk. And if nothing else, it'll look good on my college apps.

"Morning!" Kay-Lynn chirped as she hung her jacket up on its peg. Tall and skinny with glasses that seemed to take up most of her face, Kay-Lynn's motto was "be prepared". She was the only employee who regularly brought a jacket- it was the end of May and absolutely gorgeous- and her feedbag-sized purse was a vault that contained just about every household item one might need while out and about. Despite having the mannerisms of a mom and the name of two grandmas, Sam thought Kay-Lynn was actually a lot of fun.

Their other coworker, Tasha Sanderson, was arguably even more fun. Arguably even too much fun. Tasha was a whirlwind, always showing up at seven-fifty-nine and talking a mile a minute about everything under the sun. She was the definition of a bit too much, but Sam found herself enjoying Tash's company. Her "last Friday night" stories had redeemed many a dull morning at the front desk for all of them.

"I brought donuts!" Tasha announced as the clock struck eight. "That's my excuse for being late. That and it's Monday."

"I hate Mondays," Kay-Lynn sighed, although she looked just as professional and put-together as she did every other day of the week. At least, Sam assumed she did. She only ever saw Kay-Lynn on Mondays and Thursdays, the days she worked at Willow Springs.

"Okay, Garfield. Do you want a donut or not?"

Kay-Lynn wanted a donut. So did Sam. Chocolate with sprinkles, her favorite.

"I bet we will have…" Tasha drummed her fingers on the desk, as if she was thinking very hard. "…zero calls this morning."

Kay-Lynn smacked her on the arm. "Stop manifesting. I'm already bored."

"You're bored? Okay then, you have to hear about my weekend."

Sam cleared her throat. "Uh, actually, I think I had the most interesting weekend this time."

Tasha and Kay-Lynn both raised their eyebrows. "What exactly did you do?" Tasha demanded. "Cause mine involves-"

Sam covered her ears. "If your story has the word 'DILFs' in it again I do not want to hear it! I! Am! A! Minor!"

"Well, I was going to say I found this new pizza place that I love, but now that you mention it…"

"My new horse got here!" Sam interrupted, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket. "Isn't he cute?"

The photos of Windy with his head down in the round pen weren't exactly cute, much less flattering, but Kay-Lynn and Tasha ooh-ed and ahh-ed sufficiently anyway. Horse pictures were one thing they could all agree on. Tasha actually had a PowerPoint called "Selfies with Tasha and Pebbles" that she made her coworkers watch when things got really dull at the office.

"A yearling?" Kay-Lynn guessed, squinting at Sam's phone despite her glasses. To be fair, the pictures were quite grainy- although Sam considered herself a pretty decent photographer, she hadn't exactly been able to get close to her subject.

"Two-year-old," Sam corrected. "He's just a little runty. The drought was hard on the mustangs."

"That's why we had to round so many of them up, right?" Tasha asked rhetorically. Of the three girls, she was the only one who was a full time employee and not an intern. Therefore, she was also the only one who said "we" instead of "they" when referring to the BLM.

Sam nodded, although it was still a sore spot for her. It was one of the beliefs she held most strongly: mustangs should be free. But the extra roundups (and consequently, the adoption of Windy) had made sense. Thanks to the drought last year, many mustangs had gone hungry, and Sam would rather they were rounded up than starved. As it was, mustangs had died, and the antelope population was seriously down as well.

"At least there's no shortage of rain this year," Kay-Lynn put in. "I get to show off all my cool umbrellas."

Tasha snorted. "Are you talking about the kitten and puppy one? Is that your idea of 'cool'?"

"What? It's the definition of cool! Sam, you think it's cool, right?"

"Um…" Sam pondered the puppy-and-kitten umbrella. "I think it's preschool-core."

"Hey!"

Sam was saved from further discussion by Boomer, another one of their coworkers. "Coffee?" he asked hopefully, poking his head into the room. Boomer- he had a real name that no one at the office knew- was one of the stockyard employees, but he made his way into the office as often as possible. Either he really liked the coffee or he had a crush on Brynna. Sam couldn't tell.

"It's ready." Sam pointed to the pot she'd started earlier. "Tell me if it's good."

Boomer poured himself a very generous cup of coffee. "Mm. It's good. Where's Brynna?"

Another point for Theory Number Two.

"Right here!" Brynna called as she strode out of her office, a stack of file folders nearly obscuring her face. "What do you need?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Boomer replied. Definitely Theory Number Two.

Brynna set her pile of paperwork on the desk with a thunk. "What's all this?" Sam asked curiously.

"This," Brynna announced. "Is crop reports from the tri-county area from the past five years."

"That sounds…" Sam spent a moment fishing for the right word. "…boring."

Brynna made a face. "Well…yeah. But that's our job, right?"

"Our job?"

Brynna handed her stepdaughter a file. "Start reading, kiddo."

Kay-Lynn and Tasha were each handed a folder as well. Brynna even offered one to Boomer, but he excused himself rather than doing paperwork. A point for Theory Number One.

Sam felt like her eyes were crossing as she scanned the sheet of numbers in front of her. "What am I looking for here, exactly?"

"Well, you just have to-"

Brynna's explanation was cut off by the ringing phone. Kay-Lynn reached for it and spoke in her prim secretary voice. "Willow Springs Wild Horse Center, how may I help you?"

She paused, listening. Her already-pale face turned paler. "Brynna."

"Hmm?" said Brynna. Kay-Lynn passed her the phone. "What? Where, exactly?"

Her tone sent a bolt of fear down Sam's spine. She shot a demanding look at Kay-Lynn, who said nothing, staring straight ahead like a ghost.

Brynna finished her conversation a moment later. "What's going on?" Sam demanded, as soon as the receiver clicked down.

There was a grim look on Brynna's face, and she didn't look at Sam when she spoke. "That was Ben Rowland. There's an injured wild horse on his property we need to investigate. He said to bring the vet."

Sam sucked in a big breath of air, but Brynna wasn't done yet.

"…and a gun."

I've actually been working on this fic since October…yeah, I'm slow, but I SWEAR I'M GOING TO FINISH IT. I'm actively writing chapter 13 of a planned 21 so I'll try to update roughly once a week until I finish it; then maybe I can post faster. I'm aware I'm 15 years late to the Phantom Stallion fandom but I'm pretty sure there are people who still read this stuff, so I hope you enjoy! I would love it if you read & review it.

PS- Jake will be here soon. And I hope you like the OCs.