# StableHand- a story I am writing for you guys!



## Karolyne (Jul 31, 2011)

Hey there!

So I really like to write, and being summer I have had plenty of time to do it! I just decided, if any of you are bored, or don't have any reading material, maybe check out my chapters as I update. They may not be regular, but I will update as fast as my hands let me! It is a fictional story, but I think it can carry meaning. Please tell me if you plan on using any of it. Feel free to give me constructive criticism, after all, I am writing this for you! (and me when I am bored...) 

Anyways, enjoy! :mrgreen:


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## Karolyne (Jul 31, 2011)

Chapter One


I stared out of the window, trees and large pastures blurring by. Auntie tapped her hands on the trucks steering wheel to a country song I didn’t know. This summer I would be living with my Aunt and her daughter. My parents decided I needed work, and to be as far as home from possible. I live in Pennsylvania, Auntie lives in Northern California. I wasn’t sure yet, if I liked being so far from everything I know. I only had a few close friends, but still, why the whole summer?
“So do you know anything about horses?” Auntie asked. I laid my head back on the seat. I racked my brain for any knowledge I ever had about horses. When I was little I collected horse toys, but I do not think I learned much from hunks of plastic. 
I answered her with a simple, “nope.” I looked at her for disapproval, but she just smiled widely. Why would she be happy that her new stablehand knew squat about horses?
The rest of the car ride I laid my head by the window and focused on staying awake. After the longest plane ride in my life I was having a difficult time doing just that. Occasionally a bump in the road would wake me, when Auntie raised her voice.
“We’re here darling!” She said with vigor. I slowly raised my head and looked out the front. At the end of a long gravel driveway stood a large two story barn house. Surrounding is were tall trees and a very large grassy yard. Dang. Auntie pulled the car up the driveway and stopped right before the door. We hopped out and grabbed my bags.
“Bree is so excited your going to be staying with us!” I guess that was my cousin’s name. I tried to keep a memo in my head, I was horrible with names. This would be the first time I met her. She was my age, but I never saw Auntie or her. Bree was my only cousin too.
“Your going to be the sister she always wanted!” Auntie exclaimed as she burst through the front door. No pressure.
“I will show you to your room darling!” Auntie directed us up the large main staircase to the second floor. My room was the last one to the right. Auntie held the nob, and opened the door for me to look. My jaw hit the floor. It had to be twice the size as my room at home. Light blue paint covered the walls, and white-ish wood beneath us. My bed was centered in the room. It had a cream and white check covers on it, with lilac purple pillows. My dresser was a light whicker, with a white wood mirror hanging above it on the wall next to us. An antique desk sat across the room to my left. I looked at the billowing curtains covering my walls. I walked over and peeled them back, finding not windows, but two glass doors to a balcony.
On the floor sat a girl my age painting the wooden railing. Must be Bree.She quickly turned around when I opened the doors.
“You must be Carrie!” Bree jumped up from the ground and pulled me into a hug. The first thing I thought was: wow, she’s excited. Second: there better be no paint on my new shirt. She hopped back and shook my hand.
“I’m Bree!” She wore a friendly smile. Bree was wearing her red hair up into a ponytail, and overalls covered in paint.
“Nice to finally meet you, I guess.” I casually looked down at my shirt, now covered in white paint. Great, there goes twenty dollars.
“Do you like my decorating? It was quite a job!” We stepped back into the room.
“Yeah, I love the colors.” After Art this year I wanted to be an interior designer, but never actually decorated a room. 
Bree wore a proud smile, clearly happy with my positive response. She put her hands on her hips and looked at me.
“Oh whoops! I got paint on you!” She stepped up to my and tried wiping it off. I smudged into a larger stain. Of course.
Auntie turned and saw it. “Let’s go get you a new shirt darling, this one is ruined.” I sighed, already ruined one shirt and my summer hadn’t even started yet. Bree lead me to her room, a similar design, and rummaged through her drawers. She held up a blue gingham shirt to me. 
“We must be the same size!” Bree declared. She handed me the shirt, and I changed in the only bathroom in the house. 
“Nice, the blue brings out your eyes.” She remarked. I blushed, they were my favorite feature, my big blue eyes. I felt my stomach rumble, all I had had to eat so far today were peanuts on the plane. Bree laughed and said she was hungry too.
We all head into the kitchen downstairs and made some sandwiches. They tasted wonderful to me. Much better then the diet food my mom had me on. I wasn’t fat! I was a perfect weight according to my doctor! Mom was on this stupid health kick. I guess I should be thankful I don’t have to eat her food all summer long. As I stuffed my face I heard a whinny. I looked up from my sandwich.
“You guys hear that?” I attempted to say with a BLT in my mouth.
Bree laughed, “That’s my horse, Buckey.” She pointed outside the backdoor. Through the small window I could see a stall-type thing, and a pasture holding a horse. I gulped my food down.
“Can we see him later?” I asked recognizably this time. Bree nodded and took a big mouthful too. I hadn’t seen a horse up close that wasn’t a mounted police horse. After lunch was finished Auntie stayed inside to make us lemonade. Bree and I walked outside towards the horse with an apple. 
“Come on Buckey!” Bree walked into the pasture waving the apple in the air. In the far distance, a speck of a horse got larger. Soon enough the speck was a full sized horse, munching on the apple in Bree’s hand. He looked like the horse from the movie I saw while babysitting. What was it? Spirit Stallion I think.
“This is my boy.” Bree said patting Buckey. “I have had him since I turned six!” She waved my over towards them. I climbed over the fence and walked slowly towards the horse. There was no way I was getting kicked already. He turned his head to me and watched me inch closer to his right side. I slowly and quietly ran my hand down his neck.
“You act like he’s poisonous!” Bree laughed at me.
“For all I know he could be!” We both laughed and scratched Buckey. We stood like this for a couple minutes, the horse clearly loving the attention.
“Lemonade, girls!” We heard Auntie yell. We both turned and went to go get our treat. We all grabbed a glass and sat down on one of the four lawn chairs. 
“Homemade recipe, tell me if you like it.” Auntie told me. I took a long sip. it was sweet and sour, but so tasty.
“It’s delicious!” I told her, sitting back deep in my seat, enjoying the sun. Auntie said thanks, and we all sat for a while. The sun beat down, but the breeze kept it pleasant. The lemonade felt cool running down my throat. All three of us watched Buckey running around the pasture. It was summer now.

((It will get interesting, don't worry!))
((may not update next few days, relatives in town.))


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## gaelgirl (Mar 3, 2011)

That's a good start, I like it.


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## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

subscribing so that I can read it when I have more time


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## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

that's already interesting, I love it!! Keep writing!


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## Karolyne (Jul 31, 2011)

((Sorry it took to so long! So far I think the chapters are going to be separated by days, it just makes it easier for times when I don't have alot of time to write. *cough, lazy, cough*))

Chapter 2

‘Brrring’ My alarm clock went off. First day at my new job. Today Auntie said she would just be showing me how to do everything, so it shouldn’t be too stressful. I slowly sat up. I could hear footsteps from downstairs already. I slumped out of my room and down the hall. I would never be a morning person. 
I quickly showered and dressed in some jeans and a tee shirt. I dried my hair, applied some make-up, and opened the door. Bree was leaning against the wall.
“Man, you take along time!” She said walking into the bathroom. I looked at my watch, it had only been an hour! She peeked into the bathroom. I had already made myself at home and littered the room with my beauty products. 
“City girl.” She chuckled and closed the door before I could apologize. I head downstairs and poured myself some cereal. I didn’t know where Auntie was, and ate in silence. I wasn’t used to this quietness. Normally Dad would be talking on the phone with his business partners and Mom on her cell talking to her assistant. Only a half hour later Bree bounded down the stairs. 
“You ready to go?” She grabbed an energy bar from the counter and an apple. 
“Yes, um, I didn’t brush my teeth yet.” I replied. I thought I had at least another half hour to get ready, guess not.
“No time to. Besides, the horses won’t care!” She laughed and pulled me out the front door. What about Auntie? We walked down to the truck. Bree got in the driver’s seat.
“You got your permit?” I said surprised. In the city I just took buses. There was no need for me to get a permit or a license. 
Bree laughed at me. “Ya I have been steering this thing since I was twelve!” I grabbed onto the side of the door, already nervous. We pulled out onto the empty road. We drove further away from civilization and deeper into the trees. A couple minutes later she pulled the unscathed truck into a large pebble parking lot. Surrounding it where large stables and acres of pastures. Behind the large stable I could see a ring with sand and jumps in it.
As I got out of the car I was bombarded with the smell of hay and horse. I chucked my converse in the truck and put the rubber boots on. The weather was brisk today, so I put on my purple vest too.
“Mom will be in the office by now,” Bree told me and directed me into the stables. Immediately to our right was a door labeled ‘Your Boss’. We entered and inside was Auntie, already busy with work.
“Welcome to Dancing Willow Stables Carrie!” She shook my hand like it was the first time. “Let’s give you the grand tour first, so you don’t get lost and can make yourself useful.” Bree already knew this place like the hair on her head so she stayed behind.
Auntie showed all me all twenty stalls on the left, and twenty stalls on the right. She showed me some sort of ‘tack’ room I think it was called, the wash stall, where all the brush equipment was, the storage room, and the office. Attached to the stables was an indoor arena already being used by boarders. Next we walked out of the stables, and into one of the outdoor sand riding rings.
“This is where the magic happens,” She said with a broad smile. “I teach the lessons here, both hunter/jumper and western disciplines. I would teach dressage, I am qualified, but there was not enough interest so that was shut down.” I had no idea what she was saying, but remembered it in case I could figure it out later.
Next she pointed out the ten acres of pasture, and a smaller field she called a paddock. She lead us back to the other side of the barn, where large red fences enclosed a crazy horse in a small circle. The horse inside was jumping and kicking like mad. As we walked towards it Auntie explained this was where they broke the horse in. 
I didn’t understand that either until she said, “Or where we tame them.” I watched the horse, in awe almost. It looked like a pure fighting spirit. Auntie kept walking though, so I followed. We got back to her office and picked up Bree. Now we would go over some of our work. Bree probably knew all this too, and went along just for refreshers.
For the next few hours she taught me about horse’s behavior. I learned what to do and what not to do around the large creatures. Then, all about how to groom them. that took quite a while. We were really thorough. Later, I learned how to muck out a stall, then bed it down again. It was hard and smelly work. We had a lunch break at noon, and she heated up some pizza in a microwave for me. Auntie turned out to be a really good teacher, and everything stuck pretty well. I felt smart for picking it all up. Next, I learned how to put on and take off a halter and lead rope. One of the other many stablehands, Marcus, who was twenty-four, showed me how to lead the horses around the stables and some common etiquette. Of course I excelled at etiquette, that was all my mother talked to me about. Finally, Bree showed me how to tack and untack a horse. I would definitely need help for a while, but I got the basics. 
After all that the day was finally over. Bree and I sat in the viewing room for the indoor ring and watched the riders.
“So, what your favorite color?” She asked. I guess she did want to get to know me a little better too.
“Purple,” I said. I asked her the same question back. When she replied ‘Lili Lilac’ I told her that was my room’s paint color. We launched into conversation about color. I liked it for room design, and she liked painting for her art. I was excited to see some of her work at home. Time passed quickly as we shared opinions and ideas. Auntie waked into the room. 
“There you girls are! I saw the truck out there but I couldn’t find you!” She pointed towards the clock. “Time to go ladies.” She herded us out of the door and into the truck. 
“How did you get here without a car?” I asked Auntie, the thought had just struck me as Bree and I sat in the back of the truck. 
“I jog in the mornings and get ready for the day here.” She said through the little window. I looked at Bree surprised. She just smiled and nodded her head. As we pulled out of Dancing Willow Stables I could finally relax.
“I have never sat in the back of a truck before. . .is it safe, like, to not be in seat with a seatbelt?” I grabbed onto the side for support.
Bree watched me curiously as I tried to make myself comfortable. “Yea, it’s a slow road, and it’s only a few minutes drive.” She laughed. “You are really missing out on some staple life experiences!” I watched the scenery fly by. A city just had different experiences, that’s all. When we got to Bree’s house I immediately ran to the bathroom and showered. I put my pajamas on and head downstairs for dinner. By now it was late and I was starved.
Auntie and Bree were gazing proudly at their chicken dinner, when they noticed me walk in. Bree laughed at once, and Auntie smiled widely and gestured towards my outfit. 
“Your already dressed to sleep, hun?” I laughed sarcastically back at them and joined them at the dinner table. I just did not want to waste clothing! We said our prayers, and began to scarf down our meals. The food tasted absolutely heavenly going down my throat. I have not had a good chicken and mashed potato meal in forever. When we all finished Auntie passed around some salad. Afterwords, we all washed our dishes and retired to our rooms. 
As I laid in bed I gave a large sigh. Finally some rest. So far my visit had been pretty good. I was making a friend out of Bree, and the work was not boring like I originally thought. Before I could even turn my head I fell asleep.

((More Soon! ))


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## gaelgirl (Mar 3, 2011)

I still love it. Can't wait for more.


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## cowgirls4 (May 25, 2011)

Ill be sure to read it but im taken on the weekends, horses, friends, horses, friends......


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## Cheyennes mom (Aug 6, 2010)

It's awesome! Keeeep writing!!


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