Is It Okay To Dream? -Sequel

Trouble

Chris laughs and copies my words, "'amazin' what a little food and water will do.' You ready to work?"

I nod and look at my granddad. He nods at me and clears his throat.

"Well, Reed, I'll call ya when we're done. Sorry to rush ya off, but a lot of explainin' to do."

My granddad nods, then shakes his hand, "thanks. I'll see ya in a little while."

~

"Alright, I'm Chris. And, you're..Liberty?"

I shake my head, "try again." I roll my eyes, "the older one."

"Oh! I'm sorry, Rydley."

I roll my eyes and we walk into a stable. It obviously smells like horse droppings and hay. There's horses in the stalls looking at us and causing commotion.

"This is what you'll do every day unless I tell you otherwise," he points to the stack of hay, "you will feed my horses, you will clean their stalls, clean them, give them water, and let them go out in the pastures. I do not care how long it'll take you to do something, just do it and do it right."

"You're going to teach me, right?"

He nods, then spits on the floor, "I already got a horse that needs cleanin'." He starts walking farther along the stable and points at a stall, "the horses names are on the doors. They're friendly and love new people."

I look at the horses and they're doing their own thing. I follow Chris and his boots clack against the wood flooring.

"This is Alaska, okay?" He hands me a brush and a hose. "Brush her, then wash her."

I look at the brush and start brushing Alaska. She's the type of horse you would see in a movie; the classic Cinderella movie. Beautiful white horse with a handsome man on top. I wish Colton would come riding on a white horse for me.

"Good job! Finish her up and I'll show you how to wash her."

I nod and keep brushing Alaska.

"Oh, my friend might stop by every now and then to say hey and help out." Chris sticks a toothpick in his mouth and watches me brush Alaska. "Go on the other side now."

I nod and step over the hose to brush the other side. Chris walks away, then comes back with a bucket and sponges.

"You're doing a good job so far," he hands me a sponge and I accidentally drop the brush. "It's okay. I need you to wet the sponge, then wash the face."

I nervously put the sponge up to Alaska's face. I wipe down the face and I see my reflection in her big eyes. She moves her head towards me and I jump back a little.

"It's okay. She ain't gonna hurt you." He takes my sponge and hands me a different one. "Clean the dock. Under the tail."

"Uh, I'm not sure about this." I shake my head and hand back the sponge.

"Why?"

"Something that big kicking me isn't on my to-do list."

"Okay, I'll do that part if you're too scared."

I nod and frown, thanks. I watch him wash Alaska's dock and udder and teats. He throws the sponges down and hands me the bucket.

Chris points to the hose, "fill it up and wash the tail like you're washing your hair."

"Okay," I spray water in the bucket, then dip Alaska's tail in the bucket. I look at Chris and he nods, then pours horse shampoo on the sponge. I lather up her tail and start scrubbing around.

"Now use the hose to rinse it out, then brush the knots out."

I awkwardly put the bucket down and rinse her tail. The bubbles fall and I move to the other side to do the same thing. I throw the hose down, then brush out the knots in her tail. I look at Chris when I'm done.

"I'll clean the hooves after you're done. Rinse off her body, then wash it and you'll be done."

I nod and spray the hose on her, then I use the sponge to wash her off. I get both sides and I look at Chris. He points to her neck and I scrub over there.

"Alright, rinse her."

I rinse off the soap and bubbles and they all fall to the ground. After a minute of rinsing, I think I get everywhere and I look at Chris to make sure. He nods then motions for the hose. I hand it to him and he wraps it up then places it on a hook.

He unties Alaska from the post and leads her to her stall, "look in here and memorize it." I srunch up my brows, then look in the stall. I nod, then look at Chris. "Got it? Good." He closes the door and opens the door to the next one. "Make this one just like the other one."

I take a deep breath, "what do I do?"

"You'll take a shovel and a wheelbarrow and clean out all the shit. Then you'll skatter more hay around. Do that up to..eh..Amazing Grace down there. She's the brown one."

I count the stalls up to Amazing Grace, then groan, "fifteen stalls?"

He nods, "you can do the rest tomorrow. After you're finished, give them fresh water and feed and you'll be done for today." He smiles, "the horse droppings go outside behind the barn. Don't tip the wheelbarrow or you'll have horse shit all over ya."

I roll my eyes, then walk over to the shovels and the wheelbarrow. I put the shovel in and move the wheelbarrow over to the stalls. I open the door and the horse walks up to me, "no, no. Go back over there." I hug the wall to get around the horse and I feel my boot sink into something soft.

I left my foot up and I stepped in shit, "damnit!" I look at the horse and it's doing a nodding gesture. I roll my eyes, then start shoveling the horse manure out of the stall. I finish up, then I hear a dropping noise. I look at the horse and it's shitting, "I really don't like you." I shovel the fresh manure out and close the door.

I walk over to the hay and stack it into another wheelbarrow, then roll it over to the shit horse. I look at the name plate, Trouble. I smirk, then lie out fresh hay. One down, fourteen to go.

~

"How'd it go?"

I groan and shake my head.

My granddad chuckles, "that bad?"

I nod and close my eyes.

"It'll get better. Are you staying at Mona's again?"

I nod.

"Your grandmother is sorry. She wanted me to tell you."

I shake my head, "I want to hear that from her."

He sighs and pulls up to the bar, "I'll pick you up again around the same time. Be ready."

I groan, then slowly hop out of the truck.

"Liberty is back at our place, by the way. I didn't want to scare you. But, sleep well and I love you."

I throw my hand up and walk towards the door. I untie my boots and hit them together to get the mud and shit off, then I walk inside.

"Nice look. I love the whole I-got-beat-up-by-horse-shit look," Alec smiles at me.

I flip him off and stumble to the bathroom. I strip out of my clothes and hop into the shower. The hot water splashing on me feels wonderful. I lean against the wall while I wash my hair and body. I rinse off as fast as I can, then I get out. I wrap the towel around me and I walk into Mona's room.

I change into pajamas, then I fall on the bed. I yank the covers around me and I close my eyes, then I quickly drift into a deep sleep.

Awesome. Sorry if the chapter is bad. I wrote almost all of it at 2 in the morning and I was tired, so..yeah. Tell me your favorite animal in the comments! Mine is a whale, if you were wondering ;P #Savethewhales