Second Chance

I remember seeing her. The little blonde girl with a smile plastered on her face. As I stood off in the field, watching her, I decided that today was going to be the day. I was going to find a home, I was going to be her best friend, I was going to be that little girl’s dream.
I heard a car door slam, and my head shot up. The rest of the horses looked around, and I heard the sound of running footsteps on the gravel driveway. I jogged over to the fence to see the beautiful girl with blue eyes staring off at the others. Well, today was going to be my day, so I did everything I could to get her attention. As she came in the fence, I walked over and nudged her shoulder with my nose, and she merely patted my face and returned her attention to the black mare out in the center of the field. She seemed drawn to her, and walked off in her direction. I followed after her, because I was not going to let this happen again. I’m always the one to be looked over, the one that doesn’t stand out. I watched from a distance as she walked over to the other horse and pet her, and shortly after she called out to the other side of the fence.
“This is the one I want!” She said.
I looked in the direction she was talking, and saw a slightly older woman nod her head and point out the horse to the woman standing next to her. I couldn’t believe it, I had been passed up again, after I had tried to make her love me. That’s all I really wanted, was a friend to love me.
The next day, the little girl returned, and came back into the field. I didn’t expect to see her ever again, she had chosen the black horse, so why was she here? She didn’t look as happy this time, but still, I went over to visit her. She had a different look in her eyes this time, like she was happy to see me. She scratched my neck, and looked me in the eyes once more. I could tell that she felt differently now. She led me over to the fence, and said to the woman once more and said,
“Her. This is the one.”
The next morning, I heard a truck pull in with a trailer attached. It was time for me to go to my new home. They tried leading me on the trailer, but it was scary. It was dark and small and I felt trapped inside, but the girl looked at me with a happy face, and it calmed me down, and I went on the trailer. I was going to do everything I could to make her happy.
Time had passed, and we were still best friends. She would come to see me every day, and brush me and love me and talk to me. I couldn’t understand her words, but they were kind and loving, and it relieved me to have such a wonderful best friend. Shortly after, I was put in another trailer, and we went to a show. We rode around the ring and won first place, and I looked over at her and saw her smile, and I was proud because I did my best just to make her happy.
A year had passed, and she didn’t come to see me as much. She had her own car now, and every time she did come to visit, she had other people with her. Loud people, who would knock things over and played with their hair and laughed at odd things. She was a different person now, and it scared me. She had her friends, and school and entertainment, but I had only her. After a while more of the short and few visits, she stopped coming altogether, and it broke my heart. All of the other horses had their friends visit them, why couldn’t I? The thought tortured me for months, what had I done to make her hate me now? All I ever did was love her and do my best. I soon grew bitter, biting at the other horses and their people, kicking at the stall walls and running away when people came to bring me inside. I hated everyone, and I made sure that they knew that. Day in and day out I was alone, because they separated me from everyone, and I would stare out the window in my stall, wondering why my life had become this way. I would go without being brushed for months at a time, and I realized that I must have done this to myself. I wasn’t good enough anymore, and I simply gave up the hope that one day my best friend would return.
My only companion was the horse across the isle. I did not like him, but his owner would give me a treat every once in a while, so she was my new best friend. One day, she had come to the barn, and had another person with her. She was just like my old best friend, she had blonde hair too, but her eyes were brown, and there was a vacancy in her eyes too. She was just like me, lonely and sad. I whinnied at her to get her attention, and she pet me, and I licked her hands. She had said something to the other girl, and then she brought me out of my stall. She brushed me, and talked to me too. It had been a long time since anyone had been so kind to me, and I wanted to make sure she knew that I appreciated it. I was always kind, but in the back of my mind I was worried that she would leave me too, and she did. But she came back the next day, and did the same thing again. More brushing and talking and I repaid her with my genuine love. This day, she put a saddle on my back and a bit in my mouth, something I would despise before but now I absolutely loved it, because I hadn’t been loved in so long. We went outside, and I could sense that she was afraid, so I listened to what she had cued me to do, and was slow and steady, and I could feel her breath a little steadier and relax. I did too, because I knew that I had a new best friend.
A week went by and she still came to see me, and now when she put a saddle on my back, we could run. It felt wonderful to be able to run again with someone, and to be one with her, and I knew she felt the same way, we were both completely different now, and it showed. Everyone at this barn would constantly tell her,
“You really have changed that horse.”
And they were right, I loved being with her, and I knew she loved me too. We both learned together, little by little, and we loved every minute we spent together.
One day she came to see me, and she had tears in her eyes. I knew something was wrong, so I stayed calm and nudged her with my nose. She continued to absent mindedly pet me, but I could see that she was slipping further and further away, I licked her hands and continued nudging to get her attention, and when she finally looked at me, I could feel her pain. We had become one in the time that we had spent together. She whispered something to me, kissed my nose and left. The next day, she never showed up. I paced the fence, waiting for her, staring out at the road hoping to see her show up. Day after day, week after week, she didn’t come back. My once clean stall was now dusty and uncared for. The knots in my hair were back, and the love in my heart was gone. The rest of the summer slipped by in a blur, and the chilly fall air was setting in. I stood staring one day, and I had sworn I had seen her pass by. I forgot about it, then I saw her again. I neighed after her to get her to see me, sure of the fact that she would come back. She looked over her shoulder and saw me, and the sad look in her eyes returned. She stuck her hands in her pockets and walked off. I couldn’t believe my eyes as she got out another horse and began to give him the same care she had given me. I was envious and felt abandoned. As she went to leave that day, I heard a clunk near my stall door and turned around to see her standing there looking at me. She pat my nose and couldn’t look me in the eye. She murmured something and then left. About two months went by of this same thing every day. A pat, and a whisper.
A week later, she then came running over one day with a smile on her face and flung her arms around my neck. Everyone had come over to us that day and had said congratulations. She hung a sign up on my stall that said her name as my new owner. Things eventually went back to normal, and I had my best friend again. I was so grateful to have her back in my life again, because she had given me my second chance.