Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks as a startling whinny drew her attention to a lone black stallion. Sure-footed, he trotted through Davis’s yard and stopped nearly parallel to where she stood. A sleek and beautiful giant, he reared up on his powerful back legs, nickering as if he was trying to attract her attention. She moved one freezing, bare foot to cover the other, trying to spark some heat between the two as she watched the stallion settle his front hooves back down. He clopped forward as if he might bolt in the direction of the others but turned in a circle a couple of times until he was facing her again. Wagging his head, he blew through his nose before nickering again.
Holy shit…I really am trapped in a magical snow globe. Is Black Beauty over there trying to get my attention? Her hot breath swirling before her, she breached the threshold, exiting to the porch. As if he’d been given an invitation, the stallion trotted toward her, stopping about midway. Forcing her knocking knees to cooperate, she pressed forward, shuffling to the edge of the porch and standing right in front of the steps as she slowly extended her arm and lifted her fingers toward the sky. Her body trembled as her core temperature dropped but she didn’t budge. She waited with bated breath to see if he would bolt. He didn’t. Emboldened, she placed her icy cold foot down on the plank of the first step, pausing to see if her movement unnerved her enchanting visitor before placing her other foot down beside it. Oh, that did it…he wagged his head while lifting his upper legs from the ground. He was going to run.
Playfully, he jumped to the side, as if he was going to take off, before shifting his weight to land back in place. Scarlett giggled and in response he whinnied. She froze in place as he trotted closer. He came to a stop before her, his nose just inches from her extended hand. He stretched his neck as if asking for a little rub and she happily obliged, using two fingers to stroke the soft tissue between his nostrils. Her hand slid up his muzzle toward his forehead, caressing his silky coat before softly patting. She laughed as he nudged at her, demanding more attention.
“Sorry, boy, I don’t have any apples or carrots on me.” She laughed, bringing her free hand to his chin. His warmth provided her pitiful hands some relief as she continued to stroke his hair. She was so cold before but in that minute she could have stood there forever.
Startled by a loud neigh a few feet away, the horse’s body stiffened and he lifted his massive head, turning it in the direction of the noise. Three smaller horses, likely juveniles, stood nearby, prancing about and wagging their heads as they nickered, likely demanding he re-join the herd. Her gentle giant jumped back, swinging his neck over to look at Scarlett before looking back to the others. She couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. If she didn’t know better, she would swear he was embarrassed—as if he had been caught misbehaving. He reared up once more before turning and bolting toward the others. The younger horses parted, making a hole for him to gallop through as he built up to full speed and kept going. Quickly, they gave chase and just like that, her snow globe moment was over. Oh well, I need to get my icy-cold ass back inside anyway.
She made haste, hurrying through the door she had left wide open. The sudden temperature change back inside took her breath away with the discomfort of hundreds of pinpricks on her exposed skin. She rubbed her hands together, blowing on them as she hopped from foot to foot toward the fireplace and tossed on another log. She was grateful to whoever had stocked the wood rack before she got there. She scurried to her room, retrieving a pair of fuzzy, red-and-white-striped socks and getting them onto the two ice blocks that had once been her feet as quickly as she could. She ran toward the den, her socks making her slide across the hardwood floor. She nearly lost her balance, stumbling but quickly compensating by lunging toward the sofa and steadying herself with the arm. Grabbing the blanket she had draped over the back, she wrapped it around her shoulders like an oversized shawl. Even as her body temperature regulated, her hands remained so painfully cold, her fingers might as well have been icicles. There was only one God-given cure for such a predicament—hot coffee! She was already too wired to worry about the fragrant, ground beans keeping her up anyway.
She padded to the kitchen, opened the cabinet and retrieved the orange bag filled with natural, energy-enhancing ambrosia, opened it and held it up to her nose to breathe in the enticing scent of hazelnut-flavored deliciousness. Oh, Dunkin Donuts, how I love
