August Story Contest

THE HORSE NO MAN CAN RIDE
By Shadownight & Shadownight    Age 12

            Emily lay awake, listening.  Unsure what had woken her up, she pulled her quilt tighter and tried to fall asleep again.  She had almost succeeded when she heard a crack.  Quickly, Emily slipped on her bathrobe and slippers.  She sneaked to the door, eased it open, and stepped into the chilly night.
            The first thing Emily noticed was the full moon, shining bright as day in the ink-black sky.  Suddenly, one of her father's horses whinnied.  She slipped inside the barn.
            All the horses looked skittish, but only the twin stallions, Midnight and Twister, looked scared.  Emily walked up to the nicer of the two, Twister, and tried to calm him.  Then she saw why the horses were nervous.
            In one corner of the barn, a small tongue of fire licked at the straw.  For a moment, Emily stood paralyzed with fear.  Midnight snorted, and she jumped.  Then she pulled open the barn door and released the horses. 
            Running back to the house she yelled “Fire!  Fire!”  Emily's father poked his head out of the window.  He took one look at the barn, now half blazing, and yelled “Go get the fire department!”  Then he ducked back inside. 
            The fire department?  Emily wondered.  They're a mile away!  Suddenly she knew the answer.  Ride a horse!  Emily looked around.  The only horses around were Midnight and Twister.  The rest must have run off to visit the neighbor's horses, thought Emily.  She examined the horses.  Even though she had grown up with them, she was terrified of them.  They seemed so huge and strong to her.
            Nevertheless, she would have to ride one into town to get the fire department.  Emily decided to ride Twister.  He was a gentle and laid back horse.  Midnight was known as “The horse no man can ride.”  She whistled for them.  One walked up to her, and the other just looked at her.
            Emily took a deep breath.  She was terrified to mount the huge black stallion, but she knew that every second she delayed, more of the barn burned.  Now she wished she had paid more attention to her riding instructor.  Emily hadn't figured out how to ride with tack, let alone bareback.  Yet she would have to try.
            Grabbing a large handful of thick black mane, she hauled herself up onto the stallion's back.  She buried both hands in the stallion's mane, turned him towards the town, and squeezed him hard with her legs.  He took off like a bullet.
            Once Emily figured the rhythm of the horse's gallop, she could stay on rather well.  She also discovered that if she leaned forward and gripped with her knees, it was even easier to keep her seat. 
            The ride seemed interminable.  Emily began to feel like a horse was the best riding instructor there was.  The reason for that was she had figured out how to gallop bareback, and even how to stay on when a horse jumped.  She figured that any professional rider would say that her form was horrible, but at least she was staying on. 
            Emily was busier with staying on the stallion's back than watching where she was going, so when the horse stopped, she knew she was in town.  Lucky, the fire department was on main street, so she simply rang the firehouse bell.  When the fire chief came out, she told him her address.  The fire wagon drove off to the farm, and Emily rode the stallion home, this time at a walk.
            Once she reached her home, she saw the fire wagon packing up, and all the horses in the yard.  The barn was still standing, although charred.  When she walked the stallion into the yard, her sister Mary ran up to her.
            “You conquered your fear of horses!”  she cried.
            Emily smiled.  “I'm still afraid of horses,”  she said.  “I'm just not so afraid of riding them anymore.”
            “You shouldn't be,”  said her father, walking up to them.  “Any girl who can ride Midnight at a gallop for a mile with no tack can't be afraid of riding.”
            Emily looked stunned.  “Midnight?”  she asked.  “I thought this was Twister.”  She slipped down off the stallion and looked at his left foreleg.  Sure enough, there was the telltale white spot that distinguished Midnight from Twister.  “I thought Midnight was the horse no man can ride.”
            “Apparently not the horse no woman can ride,” Mary piped up.
            Emily smiled.  “Apparently not.”