Post by Snowflake on Dec 4, 2007 23:47:59 GMT -5
Marissa and Fury galloped together down the deserted beach, enjoying the sense of freedom in the air, and not noticing the storm brewing behind.
Rising Fury was well behaved for once. Alert, happy, speedy and responsive; she was the perfect mount for a good long gallop down the beach.
Marissa took a deep breath, realising she wasn't completely relaxed. Something nagged her, something bad could happen. She dwelled on the feeling no longer, however. The young woman needed to clear her mind of all thought and emotion.
15 minutes later, they had slowed down to trot steadily and once more, the stormy sense came back to her. She realised Fury had become fidgety, nervous and hard to control. The bay filly snorted suspiciously at the growing waves. Marissa knew now they had doubled in size since they had started their beach ride.
She grew uneasy herself, which only made the flighty thoroughbred more upset. She looked up at the sky and realised with a curious sensation in her stomach that she was right in the midst of a servere electrical storm. They were miles from home now; and there was no suitable shelter.
It all happened in the space of a nanosecond;; lightning zigzagged down in slow motion before them and the sky was suddenly so blindingly bright. Marissa felt herself falling as Fury shied and then reared in terror. She hit the ground and passed out, still holding onto the reins.
She came to seconds later, and discovered she was in immediate danger of the horse's flailing hooves. she rolled out of the way just in time, and leaped to her feet, feeling naucious and dizzy. She struggled to mount the panic stricken horse, who seemed unable to move as another lightning strike occured on their left, setting the tree on fire. Rising Fury was frozen in fear for a few seconds, but turned and galloped like never before in the direction from which they had come.
Marissa could not control the filly any longer, but she knew she just had to hold on to the saddle with all her might, and keep as still as possible while still following the motion, and they should get home safely.
For about ten minutes, Fury continued to bolt along the beach as lighting struck all around them. Marissa prayed feverishly with her eyes closed, praying she and the horse could come out of this safely.
She felt the horse tiring dramaticly, then felt her jump over an enormous fallen tree. considering Fury had only jumped during steeplechases with a rider in control before, this was an amazing thing to have happened. The tree truck must have been a good 6 feet high when lying on the ground. They veered suddenly to the right, exiting the beach and heading down the forest trail that lead to the back paddocks of Green Horse Stables.
Fury plunged on valiantly, and they reached the end of forest trail with no problems. The well bred thoroughbred seemed to fly over the fence into the pasture dividing stretch. She continued her strong gallop all the way up to the stables, where she raced into the open filly barn. She finally shuddered to a halt, trembling all over. Marissa sat still on her back, totally stunned. She slowly slid off the thoroughbred to a crumpled heap on the floor, and moments later awoke to find herself sweating and tangled on the floor of her bedroom in her sweat sodden bedsheets.
She heaved a deep sigh, totally breathless and got to her feet, slowly, untangling herself. She looked outside. It was a peaceful night, not a sound of thunder and not a flash of lightning. There was no sign a storm had even been here. And why should there have been? It was winter, and summer was storm season. What a dream..
