Runaway Hooves {Colonus/Joey} Blitz

Joey Fishbach

Sometimes life in District Ten was interesting, and today was no different. Joey spent most of his morning wandering the streets trying to find the perfect dessert from the bakery. It couldn't have been just any dessert since he wanted to take credit for baking it himself, yet he couldn't find one capable of passing as his. Joey wasn't the greatest chef in the world, but he loved trying. Besides the thought was what counted not the actual outcome of whatever he was creating.

But his shopping didn't bring him anything home except a broken heart.

He stopped in front of the different houses looking around. A lot of different people had farm animals. His friend owned a farm, and all he did was clean out the stables for a little bit of money. Perhaps one day, Joey would save enough to have his own farm.

Leaning against the fence, his eyes darted from one animal to another until a man came up asking for help. For a moment, he wanted to just simply retreat into the privacy of his own home, but Joey didn't move.

"Uh, sure." He stated as calm as possible. "What do you need?"

198 words

Joey Fishbach

A lost horse. It wasn't uncommon for people to lose horses. Sometimes all it took was leaving the gate open accidentally, or even something else. Joey didn't know because all he knew was taking care of the animals other people owned. Letting one of them get lose would cost him his job, and that was something he didn't need otherwise he would end up on the streets begging for food.

He took a step back away from the fence. It was rude to look away from a person when they were speaking, and he wanted to figure out who this man was. Joey didn't recall his face, but perhaps getting around and helping others would maybe bring in another job.

Joey shrugged his shoulders; "Nope, haven't seen any horses running around." For a moment, he remained silent unsure of what else to do or say. Truthfully, he didn't want to look for another man's horse. He sighed. "I can help ya look though."

163 words

Joey Fishbach

Sometimes it was nice just to help another man out, and maybe this way, Joey could get some more friends. It was hard living a rather lonely life sweeping stables all day long, but at the end of the day, he had people who meant the world to him.

The man introduced himself as Colonus Mica, and Joey was rather confused on how to properly pronounce the name. It wasn't one he had heard before, but at least he could call him something other than a random man.

Joey took the mans hand; "I'm Joey Fishbach. It's nice to meet ya." Releasing the hand, he turned facing every direction.

"Any idea which way your horse went?" Maybe a little idea would help rather than trying to search the entire district top to bottom. "We could be at this for a while."

141 words

Joey Fishbach

This wasn't exactly how Joey wanted to spend his day. Even on his off days, he spent a lot of time at the stables making sure they were clean. Sometimes going the weekend without cleaning them made Monday's miserable. The smell got worse and worse. But today, Joey would help Colonus out because maybe it would help get his name out in the district as someone willing to help.

Perhaps looking at the neighbor's farm would work the best since that's where the horse showed up last time, but he was right. Nobody never knew where a missing horse would turn up. Hopefully it didn't get too far.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good place to check again." Joey wasn't sure exactly where to look, so he would allow Colonus to lead the way, but he didn't feel like walking in silence. "What type of horse is she?"

148 words

Joey Fishbach

Talking wasn't his strongest point, and most of the time, Joey ended up making a fool of himself. Hopefully today was different. A Quarter horse. Joey wasn't sure what type of horse that was, but at least he was ready to try. Ready to find that horse. As someone who cleaned out stables for a living, he didn't really know much about the farming life yet he kept that to himself.

"Alright. I bet she's a beaut." A half smile spread across his face only to vanish as they reached the house. Colonus told them how his horse went missing, and Joey just stood there shifting his weight back and forth across his feet.

Joey nod his head keeping the name Susan in mind. "Alright, sounds good to me." Part of him wanted to ask what exactly she looked like while the other part wanted to ask every horse if their name was Susan.

Maybe it was best if he remained quiet and allowed this man to do all the talking.

172 words