Promise Me (S I O N)

[• Echo]

“We don’t have to go, Mom, really.” Grayce Majam folded her arms tightly across her chest, frowning at her mother as she stood at the counter. Leah was busy getting together her daughters’ breakfasts, her left arm held firmly to her stomach by a grey sling, and her shoulder wrapped from the recent surgery she had needed after being knocked into the side of the barn when a horse had charged at her. She leaned against the counter, trying to reach up into the cupboard for a glass, but her hurt arm got in the way. Without a word, Grayce’s twin, Brielle, stepped forward to pull it down for her mother, who took it humbly.

“Of course you do. You two have been going on this ride for the past six years, and just because I can’t go this year, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Besides, you’ve both been out riding plenty of times before alone, so why not this time?” She pulled out a pan and set it on the stove, before turning to open the fridge and browse through it. When she turned back around, her 17-year old daughter was still frowning, her long blonde hair falling loosely around her face, her brown eyes intense.

“But it won’t be the same without you,” she continued to protest. Leah turned to her other daughter, glad that Brielle’s hair was always pulled back into a braid so she could identify them easier, as they were identical.

“Brielle, you want to go, don’t you?” Brielle bit her lip slightly, as though she were debating which side to pick.

“Of course,” she said slowly, then shook her head. “But it would be strange going without you. Maybe if we just rode in the arena..?” Leah sighed exasperatedly. Her daughters always had to be stubborn…

“Neither of your horses like arena work, and you both know it. With you two doing sports year round, you hardly get any time at all to go out on the trails, and you shouldn’t waste the little time you get worrying about me. Just take the horses out today, I’ll be fine. And when you get home, we can do all the normal things together,” Leah insisted. Brielle looked like she thought it was fair, but Grayce was still undecided.

“Okay…”

“Good, now that that’s settled, help me make breakfast? It’s a little more difficult with one arm.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The air was frigid, but both girls wore heavy-weather leggings on under their pants and warm jackets, and their horses had grown thick winter coats to withstand the cold. Grayce still wasn’t too happy about leaving her mother behind for the first time in 6 years on the annual family ride, but she pushed the thoughts aside to better focus on having a good time. The snow was a sparkling white blanket laid out before them, with animal tracks creating intricate patterns across its surface, and trees and bushes created a rough yet enchanting texture and depth. Tall pine trees rose up on either side of them as the horses and riders moved further into the forest, talking and laughing happily. Neither of the two girls were aware of how quiet the rest of the animals had gotten, nor did they pay much attention to how nervous their horses were getting. Instead, they just brushed it off as the horses being high strung after not being out in so long, and kept going. Had their mother been there, then what came soon after may have never happened.

The hill was covered in snow drifts, a normal occurrence during the winter, but the snow was twice as deep this year as most years, and it had rained before snowing, giving the ground beneath a much more icy and slippery surface. The horses hesitated, but were encouraged up by the riders, and started up the steep slope.

Halfway up, the black hunter-jumper mare, Whisper, that Brielle was astride lost her footing and began to slip. Throwing her head forward, she struggled to pull herself back forward, but the snow gave way beneath her, and she slid down several feet, into the chestnut Warmblood gelding, Royal, that Grace rode. The geldings’s legs slid out from beneath him and he buckled down onto his knees. Whisper, who had been leaning against him, lost her balance once more, teetering backwards. Leaping forward, she tried to correct herself and climb the hill again, but kept slipping farther down, her flailing legs scattering the snow and further worsening her situation.

Both horses slid quickly down the hill, their riders clinging to their backs as they fell. Whisper rolled, settling onto her side as she went, letting out a distressed whinny. Brielle went limp against her back, her feet caught in the stirrups.

After what felt like an eternity, the horses and riders came to a stop on an old back road that wound through the forest, the horses struggling to their feet. Their snorts and neighs barely registered through Grayce’s clouded mind, as though she were hearing it all from far away. Whisper fell back onto her knees, and Brielle slid out of the saddle, landing on the ground with a thud. One leg was caught in the stirrup.

Royal’s knees and hocks were bloody and scraped, and it hurt to stand for him. Sitting up straighter in the saddle, Grayce looked around, her head throbbing from hitting the ground so hard when the chestnut gelding had first fallen.

“Brielle?” Her eyes caught on her twin’s prone form. The black mare was shy, stepping uneasily on the ground, nearly stepping on his fallen rider. As she moved, the girl was dragged along the frozen ground with her. Leaning forward, Grayce slowly tried to collect the horse’s reins without spooking her, but was too far away. She tried pressing her heels against her own gelding’s sides, but he refused to limp more than a few feet to the side. Grayce’s fingers were only a few inches away from the reins.

The sound of a car’s engine, going far faster than it should be on the frozen road, could be heard from a distance. Glancing up, Grayce urged her gelding forward another step, her fingers brushing along the reins of the black mare. But Whisper skittered away again, tossing her head up and flaring her nostrils so Grayce could see the fine red inner lining. Her eyes rolled back, revealing the whites, which stood out in stark contrast with her black, sweat-streaked body. The car was coming closer at an alarming pace, and Grayce tried to get her gelding forward more, but he was in too much pain. Her eyes had just focused on the small frozen blackbird’s body laying on the side of the road, when the black Dodge truck came around the final bend with a squeal of tires.

Grayce’s head flung up, the yellow headlights filling her face. Royal reared, letting out a shriek of fear, and Whisper spooked and took off, but fell to her knees again, her shoed hooves not connecting with the icy ground. Brielle was laid down directly across the road, her eyes closed. The tires of the vehicle locked as the driver braked, and loud swearing could be heard from inside the truck as it began to slide. It collided with both horses, knocking them straight down and backwards with a sickening thud, continuing to roll. Grayce flew from the saddle, crumpling to the ground as black consumed her.

When her eyes opened, she could hear shouts, and a horse screaming in pain. The sounds were muffled, and for a second she wondered if a blanket was covering her ears. She barely registered her sister’s panicked voice, speaking quickly, but to who? Hooves clattered past her head, and she barely registered the chestnut horse as it flew past her. Seconds felt like hours, her entire body freezing and aching, but she barely felt it. Her eyes focused on the baby blue of the sky, the white and brown branches of the trees protruding into the edges of her visions. She wasn’t aware of anything when the red and blue lights of the ambulance washed over her, and never noticed the paramedics lifting her onto a stretcher, then into a van. Her mind was stuck on the small blackbird that had been laying on the side of the road beside the horses when the car had hit them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White. Why were hospital colors always white? If someone were dying, wouldn’t they want to see some sort of color before?

These were Grayce’s first thoughts when she woke up. Why white? It reminded her of snow. But it was warm in the room, and the covers surrounding her were thick.

Beep, beep, beep… What was that? It kept droning on in the same never-ending pattern of rhythm. Turning her head slightly to the side, wincing at the pain in her temples, Grayce’s eyes focused on the heart monitor. A line spiked up and down in even beats, but as she watched, the spikes became irregular and choppy, the spaces in between getting shorter and shorter, the annoying beeps increasing in tempo. Her eyes rolled back and she fell back against the pillows again as it flat lined, nurses and doctors hurrying into her room as her small body convulsed and spasmed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t until nearly three weeks later when Grayce was released from the hospital, her left leg in a cast, her left arm and shoulder completely bandaged, along with her ribs.

’There goes sports,’ she thought to herself without humor.

Her twin was dead. Dead. And no one was blamed for it. The Dodge truck had been gone when the ambulance had arrived, leaving one seriously injured and in-shock girl, one body, and two mutilated horses barely hanging on to life, one spooking and managing to gallop off when the paramedics had showed up. That had been Grayce’s horse. Brielle’s horse had ended up dying, as well, the wreck having broken her ribs, which had ultimately punctured her heart. Brielle’s lungs had been ripped, and she had suffered serious blunt force head trauma before she had gone. The doctors said the only reason Grayce and Royal had survived was because he had reared, and hadn’t been fully run over by the truck like Brielle and Whisper had been. They said it had been a miracle. As for Grayce, she wished she had died.

[°∞ßlûē•ßãbÿ•Døll∞°]

Hmmm, what should I write?? Grr, sorry its taking me so long to post, I can't think at the moment...

[• Echo]

That's fine; I really didn't mean for it to be so long, most of this is just background. You could maybe do his take on the accident..? Or I can make another post, starting in school or something.

[°∞ßlûē•ßãbÿ•Døll∞°]

Oh... He was supposed to be in the accident to? Opps, I did not know :O dang!

[• Echo]

O.o in the post with the plot, it was that be was in the car..? We can change it, though, I guess...

[°∞ßlûē•ßãbÿ•Døll∞°]

O.o up to you... Its your topic.. I mean I can think of something, just give me a few. I can start when the accitdent had happened.

[• Echo]

Well, I'd prefer to stick with him at least being part of the group of highschoolers, just because it'd make it more interesting in my opinion, but it's your charrie, and you're part of the post, so you do have a say Lol

[°∞ßlûē•ßãbÿ•Døll∞°]

Lol GAMIT! I had a VERY amazing post about him being in the accident and stuff, but it didn't post it! I'm sooo pissed >.< But I can start off when he's at school, after the acciedent(:

[• Echo]

Ah, yeah, I hate that :3 take your time xD

[Sponsored content]