Meadow

I DON'T WORRY, WORRYING DON'T AGREE
THINGS THAT BOTHER YOU, NEVER BOTHER ME!

The nervousness which wound her body tight slipped away the more the mare spoke. Her smile encouraged one on Talya’s lips, though it was a little more shy, apt to disappear in a heartbeat if one wrong move was made. Immediately, then and there, Talya decided she liked Nobody. She would be able to eat, to drink, and Mamapapa would never find out. A twinge of fear, like a black shadow waiting in the wings, threatened to spill over what joy was beginning to find her.

Mamapapa always knows…

No! Nobody said! I won’t lie when I tell him I talked to nobody!

The insistent rumbling and pinching in her stomach won over the fear and Talya dropped her pink lips to the grass, ripping at it with fervor. The bittersweet in her mouth as she ground the stems was welcome, and she found herself happier and happier and more content the more she could relax.

Nobody spoke, and Talya’s ears twitched. She swallowed down the grass she’d chewed, and a little worry flickered across her expression. There were many horses she wasn’t supposed to talk to, because Mamapapa made a lot of horses mad… No… Talya had done stupid things that made him have to do bad things that made them mad at him.

“Ummm…” she couldn’t say those things, because then she’d have to think of those things. “Mamapapa just doesn’t really trust strangers.” She said carefully, avoiding looking at Nobody, because she felt like Nobody was smart enough to know she was lying.

“Mamapapa had to leave for a little bit,” she explained between biting and chewing and swallowing, “and Mamapapa doesn’t like to leave me alone because…” she trailed off, pushing the last little bit down her throat. She glanced down at the ground. “I do bad things and he has to do a lot of work to fix them."