peachykat

Short Story page 3

2009-03-10T20:05:50Z

The third page of my short story:

“Come on” I lead Frank to the barn after filling up the pail with clean water and grabbing more rags. For as great a man Frank is, he is terribly lacking in empathy for animals. Of course, my job is secured because of that. After leaving my home, I drifted, looking for farms that had work available. The first couple I moved on from quickly as they were crop farms and had only draft horses used to pull plows. I do not have the strength or work ethic of farmers and could not keep up with the other hired hands. I was directed to Frank as his was the only dairy farm nearby. I secured my employment fairly easily. I happened along at just the right time to save Paula from an angry bull that broke through a pasture fence. She was so thankful and impressed at how I calmed the bull down that she offered me a position on the spot.

“Here she is,” I nodded toward the white horse in the stall about 10 feet away. She started trembling when she saw I was not alone. “Don’t get too close, Frank. She’s very nervous.”

He whistled. “That is a lot of blood. Did you see the wound yet?”

“No, she won’t let me clean that area. I have no idea what happened. Do you still want to find her owner? Give her back to whoever did this cruel thing?” The feeling of fear was growing in the barn. I knew it wasn’t mine, although it was starting to affect me. I was very afraid for her, the little horse who was so terrified I didn’t even need to touch her to pick it up.

“Don’t attack me Jake. I didn’t do it and I’m not supporting it, but there’s the law to consider. I’m not a thief. We give her back to her owner and then make a complaint. That’s the” he was cut off by a shrill neigh and crash as the horse broke the stall door.

“Frank! Get back!” She snapped the door clean off at the hinges and stampeded toward us, screaming. I shoved Frank aside as she reared up and kicked the air where he was a moment ago. She came down, breathed into my face and then turned and galloped off out the barn towards the woods.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I helped Frank up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for that. Well I guess the problem is solved now. I’m going to pretend I never saw that horse and I suggest you do the same.” Frank said, leaving, and shaking his head.

I quickly eliminated all trace that the horse had ever been in stall. Disposed of the straw, left over grain, and scrubbed clean all spots of blood. I spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon working double-time, all the while thinking on the white bloody feather I had found in the stall.

Short Story: pg 2

2009-02-16T17:30:06Z

“Hey Frank!” I found Frank in the equipment shed, bent over some unidentified piece of farm equipment.

“Jake. You need something?” He stretched up slowly, wiping his hands on his pants.

“Yeah. You got any oats anywhere, maybe sugarcubes? I found the grain and corn obviously, but do you have anything that’s more like a treat to a horse?”

“A treat to a horse… how about the alfalfa?” He scratched his head, “It should be in with the grain, plain bags somewhere back there. Just make sure it’s not damp before setting it out."

“Thanks Frank,” I said as I left and he turned back the farm machinery. I have great respect for Frank. He didn’t ask why or even give me a sideways glance. Nothing upset him and once you had his trust, he never questioned you.

Back in the cow barn, I grabbed some alfalfa grain, a pail of water, and some clean towels before heading back to the horse. Both she and the cows had calmed down considerably. The cows now acted as though nothing had happened. The horse had her head down in the stall. She obviously wasn’t feeling great, but at least she was no longer trembling. I spoke to everything when I walked in - to the cows, to myself, to the air, just so she wouldn’t get surprised as I returned. She shied a little and whickered tentatively when I approached. Opening the stall, I stepped in with her and dropped off her treats.

“Here girlie, I brought you a treat.” I watched her tentatively start crewing on the alfalfa grain before considering her withers. The blood definitely came from the withers, right where her mane ended. It looked fresh, but I could see no wound. I dipped my soft rag into the water bucket I brought and started on her legs.

I was wrong. She wasn’t gray, she was a bright white. I washed the blood off as well as I could and found her coat was actually white. I’ve heard of albino horses before, but they normally had red eyes instead of her light blue. She had long finished the grain and was napping while I washed her coat with the exception of her withers. I was afraid of startling her yet. The water and rags were unusable anymore, so I went for clean water and rags.

“Hey Jake, that work for you?” I ran into Frank at the well.

“Sure did. She loved it.” I said as I poured the blooded water into the reservoir next to the well.

“What’s that from? None of my cows are near birthing time. What’s wrong with this horse?” He frowned at me.

I told him what I spent the morning doing. “What do you want to do about her? Keep, sell, set her loose?”

“I think we should hold her and try to find the owner. It probably won’t be difficult to find the owner of a horse that unique.”

“No. I won’t.” Give her back to her owner so he can beat her bloody again?

“Now Jake, she might have gotten an injury from something other than a human. Besides, she’s not ours. You get too attached to these animals, I think.” He shook his head in dismissal.

“Maybe you should come with me and see her before you start defending anyone.” He was right. I do get attached to the animals, but I still won’t turn over that horse to anyone. I hope this isn't going to get me in trouble later.

Flight of the Conchords!!!!!!

2009-02-12T16:25:22Z

My fiancé and I just snapped up tickets to see the Flight of the Conchords at Grand Prairie in May! If you do not know who FotC is, I must shake my head in dismay at you. It’s a show on HBO chronicling the same-named band. After some failed attempts at trying to describe it, I’m instead going to pass you off to the show’s website (below). I highly recommend watching the series! You will be laughing like crazy! Season 1 is out on DVD and 2 is currently playing.

HBO official website.

New Short Story Page I

2009-02-03T20:24:47Z

I decided to start a new short story. This is not the one I mention in my introduction but a new one I started today. I hope to add a page at least every week. I'd love to hear your comments on the story.

“Jake! Get your lazy butt up! Can’t you hear the cows lowing for you?”

I stumbled up slowly to see that the sun had not yet risen. “Aw, can’t I sleep in for once?”

“No you can’t. Every day you ask that and every day the answer’s no. Learn it Jake!” She turned and bustled out, satisfied that I was awake. “Gaw, that boy is lazy. Always complaining, always arguing, why me? If it wasn’t for the animals, I’d have gotten rid of him a long time ago” She muttered under her breath.

I smiled after Paula. It wasn’t a complaint; it was more of a routine. The day could not officially start for me until Paula came up and nagged at me. I pulled on my work clothes and started down the attic stairs. I paused. Paula was right, the cows were calling incessantly. I hoped nothing was wrong.

“Smells delicious!” I swiped a fresh bun off the table and headed outside toward the barn. For some reason, I had an understanding of animals and they of me. The most ornery bull calmed down when I came near, but I told no one about my gift. Most people viewed it superstitiously and I was run out of my family’s village by not guarding this secret. I told my current employers nothing except that I worked wonders with animals.

“Whoa,” I startled as I entered the barn. “How’d you get in here?” There was a small grey horse I’d never seen before standing by the entrance. It looked up at my words, rolled its eyes in fear, and started backing away. I didn’t blame the poor thing – its shoulders were covered in blood. I spoke softly and made soothing noises as I walked slowly up to the horse. The cows were my silent audience as I tried to calm the horse.

“What happened to you? Who did this?” I asked out loud. I was able to stroke the horse’s neck and it shuddered at my touch. At the same time I felt a wave of relief sweep over me. I froze. It wasn’t my relief – it was the horse’s. I searched the eyes, looking for any sign of acknowledgement, that it knew I felt its relief, but I found nothing other than rolling, fear-induced whites. My gift grew somehow. That was the only explanation. I’ve never been to feel what an animal was thinking, it was always intuition.

“It’s OK you gorgeous thing you, it’s OK” I kept murmuring soothing sounds as I placed the horse’s head over my shoulder, rubbing the ears, and slowly guided it to an empty stall. I noticed the horse was a she after I placed her in the stall. She was much calmer by this point, so I left her a pail filled with water and went out in search of oats and first-aid.

My riveting introduction

2009-02-03T14:57:53Z

Hi there. Let me introduce myself. I’m Joy. I lived in Michigan for most of my life, moving down to Texas at the cusp of the economic downturn. I have a degree in Computer Science and have been programming long enough that I regret my degree decision. I’m serious. Most people that I’ve spoken to with experience in programming hated it and I’m no exception. I had one nice job that was a mixture of helpdesk/sys admin/DBA/Programmer, but all the rest I could’ve done without. A programming shop will focus too much on being billable and contain at least one Programming God who will destroy the viability of the software and kill all motivation. One of my Programming Gods loved vbscript so much; he decided that the company would re-write the software using ModelViewPresenter in vbscipt (groan!). On the other hand, programming in an IT department of a small company will pull you in awful places. After working about 4 months in a small manufacturing company, I had developed three complete applications. The company scrapped them all, and I was turned, against my will, from being even an IT worker to a sales rep, a customer service person and a fulfillment employee. A large company has different issues. Everything is bureaucratic and paperwork intensive. Heaven forbid you don’t wear a suit to fill out 30 minutes paperwork for a (normally) 2 minute task of resetting a password.

So anyway, being very unhappy with my profession, I looked into other options where I wouldn’t have to go back to school. After researching, I came to the conclusion that there aren't many options. :( I'm very intrigued by thought of being a paramedic or EMT, but again, it requires school which I don't have time to complete with my current job. If anyone reading this is a paramedic or EMT, especially if you are in the Dallas area, please contact me. I'd love to hear more about the career! So as it stands, I'm trying to branch out into writing, but I don't have enough confidence to apply to anything besides the fact that I have only one short story to my name. This will be my trial - please do not hesitate to praise and heckle and criticize!

I’m not focusing on any one topic; I will write about things as the fancy strikes me. I hope to offer an amusing viewpoint and a unique style, and please excuse me if I happen to vent. Enjoy! Come back to see me again soon!