By the Fence (Bryya0 Blitz

It was rather hot outside today so I decided to walk, instead of ride, into the market. To ride would mean the heat would be more intense so at the time I thought it was a good idea. Now I was halfway home from the market and started to strongly regret that decision. I'd never been good when it came to running and that was exactly what I decided to do on the way home. Now my muscles ached and I needed to rest.

A fence ran along my side and I decided that would be a good place to rest. I had just stopped and leaned against the fence when I heard a voice. “Hello? What are you doing?” Picking my head up, I looked closely at the girl. She seemed about my age, maybe a few years younger. My muscles tensed and I instinctively stepped back. I'm by no means a people person and I was not comfortable around this stranger.

After some hesitation I answered with caution in my voice, "I'm going home, I think?" It wasn't exactly the definitive answer I was hoping for, rather it came out of a sort of question. I hung my head down and let my hair fall over my eyes. This fence must belong to the girl, why else would she be questioning me? The polite thing for me to do now would be leave, I guess. But I didn't. No, something made me stay and I was not sure why.

The girl leaned against the fence so casually. It helped me relax a bit but I couldn't help feel nervous around the girl. Why? She's definitely smaller than me. Even if she wasn't smaller, she still was posing no threat. What is wrong with you girl? I scolded myself. “Well I guess you could stay here,” the girl said with a nervous twang to her voice. Now I was making her nervous, I really didn't mean to though.

I wasn't really listening when the girl began to talk but I picked up a few things. Her name, for one, was Fawn. Fawn, isn't that a baby deer? I wondered and cocked an eyebrow at her, even almost laughed. When I looked up and saw her face I had the feeling she had asked me something but I wasn't listening. A confused look crossed my face and made a guess at what she had asked me.

"Uh, yea, Irafine. Well, Ira Delyn," I stuttered out and cursed myself again. If I wasn't comfortable, which I obviously wasn't, I at least needed to make it look like I was. To accomplish that I lifted my head and pushed my hair back from my face but even that silly movement felt awkward. Even more now, the girl had said for me to stay and now I just stood there looking at her.

I watched Fawn as she offered me a small smile. Her hands met and she began to fiddle with her fingers and I cocked my head at her again. Right then I caught myself and straightened myself up. My parents always told me I was more like a horse than a human. My expressions came off that way, cocking my head, lifting my eyes, even my ears twitched. Now I stood tall, almost intimidatingly so. Crap, that was horse-like to. Shrugging, I leaned on the fence. Another silly movement that seemed awkward to me.

"So what are you doing here today?" Fawn was asking me a lot of questions. I'm not sure how I felt about that. On one end I didn't mind, I was on her turf anyways. But on the other, it bothered me quite a bit. Why did this stranger want to know anything about me? Why didn't she just shrug me off and tell me to leave? That doesn't matter though. I am on her turf and it would be rude not to answer her. "I was at the market, getting stuff for the horses," I managed to say it without much hesitation this time. "What about you?" I questioned, then realized how stupid that was. She had already told me of her work here, hadn't she? Ah, well.

“I was just here spending time with the animals, it’s really the only thing I do. Do you work on a farm; they are very fun to work on if you know what you doing,” Fawn had replied to me. A load of different emotions flowed through me, completely unwarranted.

Recognition. She spends a lot of time with animals, just like I do. That may be important, then again it may not. Nearly everyone spent time with animals in District 10. At the same time, nearly everyone spent their time with more important things. If I could trust this girl, which I assumed I could, then she definitely bought herself a few points in my book.

Resignation filled me too. She kept asking questions and I really started to warm up to answering them. I barely had to hesitate when I told her about my horses. "Sort of. My family just owns horses. I spend most of my time with them, training them and such."

I noticed something at the end of Fawns question too. If you know what you're doing. She had said that, or something of the like. Was she insinuating I didn't know what I was doing? Why would she? Or could that have been what she would consider a harmless comment? Anger had peaked in me a bit, but I held it back. I didn't understand Fawn's intent anymore than I understood my reaction to these questions.

I listened to the little girl, Fawn, go on about her horse. Aurora was it? Interesting name. Did I have a horse of my own? Though it seemed like a simple question, it required a much more complicated answer. My whole family owned the horses, namely my dad and me. I couldn't tell her that I owned all of them though. If I thought I only owned one horse, who would it be?

I combed through my memories, not for very long though. I remembered the first horse Dad ever let me train. Ayto, my strong stallion. Nowadays he fathered a foal or two and didn't do much riding, but I still think of him as my own. So it was him I chose when I told Fawn my little story.

"Yea, his name is Ayto. He's a pretty good stallion for my dad. I've had him ever since he was born. I thought it was funny that when he was born his coat was dark and then turned into a bright bay."

I even smiled as Fawn talked about how much she loved her horse. Truly, I started to like this girl. This girl who I was so unsure of at first that I hid my face from her. She was starting to win me over, yet some hesitation still lingered. My eyes wandered to a cow that took it upon itself to moo in my direction and I smiled a bit more.

"So do you ride Ayto often?" I sighed as she asked me this question. Sure, I could ride him whenever I wanted but there were some things that kept me from doing it. "I don't. He's a tough ride and, since it's spring, all the yearlings from last year are turning two. That means time to train, and that takes a lot of time. I guess my visit to the market was a break."

"Well I think I have asked you many questions, do you have any for me?" I looked at her rather befuddled. I shrugged, "I don't really ask questions." Then something else came to me, she said she wanted to work with horses. Well, I had plenty of horses she could work with and my father would be fine. So I figured, why not offer? "If you wanted to work with my horses some time you can... I suppose, if you get time off working here."

[[occ : I hit a freaking brick wall Dx]]