The harsh cold wind blew against them but it only made them huddle closer. She was dependent on him and he was reliant on her. Wisps of his hair flew around like little airplanes. His warm breath was the only thing that kept her going in that moment. They both stared out into the ice storm in front of them showing no fear. She had raised him this way, nursing him and caring for him when he had needed her most, slowly gaining his trust until he would follow her through anything. His name was Raven and he was hers.

Stella gave Raven a pat on the neck. She had made sure that morning she had brushed every inch of him to make him shine. His coat was as golden as thesun and it reminded her of what he was to her. The sun, the moon, the stars,her everything! His pearly white mane shook as he lifted his delicate head. His finely shaped face was one of the things she adored about him the most. His nostrils flared his back arched, he looked every inch the stallion he was. The Arabian in him shone through with his intricately designed face and by the way he carried his tail.

The blizzard outside shook the barn and Stella sighed. The weather wasnÂ’t going to improve anytime soon and she really did not want Raven stuck in his stall for the next few days. At least he would have her for company if worst came to worst. She decided to walk him up and down the aisle to keep him limber. His muscles rippled as he walked. Raven always thought everything was a chance to show off. He danced in front of the empty stalls making sure the phantom horses would acknowledge his skill. Stella just frowned thinking of how silly he looked dancing around with nobody but her to see.

There was a loud crash outside. Raven jumped a little bit with fright but settled back down when he saw Stella was calm. She walked Raven towards where the crash was but couldnÂ’t see anything through the thick snow that was falling. They both stood there searching the wide expanse of white nothingness. Raven sniffed the air and gave a snort of disapproval at the blizzard.

Suddenly StellaÂ’s eyes focused on something in the distance.She could barely make it out but it was there. It looked like a car but she wasnÂ’t sure. She had to go see what it was. She looked at Raven and knew he would be upset if she left him behind but she also didnÂ’t want to risk him going out in the cold. She decided against bringing him it may be too dangerous. She slipped on her coat and emerged into the storm. She could only be out in this storm for at maximum 10 minutes. Stumbling around,Stella finally made her way towards the object. As she got closer she identified that it was definitely a car. It had crashed into her fence. She was very annoyed with the driver, who had been stupid enough to drive in this weather. She could barely see 2 meters in front of her let alone drive a car. She looked into the cabin of the vehicle and saw a young man groaning. He was barely conscious. From the looks of things he didnÂ’t seem too badly hurt but she didnÂ’t know for sure. It was most likely the impact that almost knocked him out. She was unsure of what to do. She couldnÂ’t carry him across to the barn. He would be at least 30kgs more than her. She didnÂ’t have much time to decide. If she left him there he would surely freeze. His windows were shattered so no warmth would be kept in the car. Stella knew only one way she could get him out and she didnÂ’t like it. She was going to need Raven.

Raven was unsure of the prospect of going outside. He gingerly stepped on the snow like it was going to bite him. Stella encouraged him further into the blizzard. She would have to wrap him up very snuggly tonight. He followed her cautiously trusting that she would guide him through what he couldnÂ’t see. They fought their way through the piecing coldness. She relied on him and him on her. They would get through this together. When the finally made it to the car, the young man hadnÂ’t moved an inch from when Stella had last seen him. She positioned Raven beside the car and used all the strength she could muster to wrench open the carÂ’s door. She only just managed to separate the crumpled door from the car it was glued to.She lifted the man out of the seat her hands numb from the cold. He was heavy and her arms shook a bit from the weight. She could see his left foot had been crushed and he had possibly broken a few bones. She laid him safely down on Ravens back and tried to secure him on with a rope she had brought. The rope slipped off and she would have to stay by him every inch of the journey back to make sure he wouldnÂ’t fall off.She signalled towards Raven to start moving and he gave a soft snort and started towards the barn. Stella could only barely make out the barn in the distance. She put her steadying hand on the man making sure he wouldnÂ’t fall.Raven walked slowly and steadily towards his destination. She knew his muscles would be getting stiff from the cold and she didnÂ’t want him to be out in the cold much longer. The cold blasted itself against them and made it hard to keep going.

Finally they arrived at the barn. Stella was relieved that they had all made it back to the barn safely. She lifted the man off Raven and put him down on the straw in an empty stall and wrapped him in a blanket. His foot looked worse now that she could see it properly. She was no nurse so she wouldnÂ’t be of much help. No ambulances would be able to get reach here with the blizzard still raging. She would have to take care of him as much as she could until it was clear enough to drive. Stella wiped down Raven and stroked his soft nose. He was such a champion and he always will be.

This is excellent! I'm a stickler for what I like, but this story is really attention-catching.

If you're having problems with the pesky "A" things when you copy/paste from Word to here, try copying the document from Word, pasting it into Notepad, and then copy/pasting it from Notepad to here. That always seems to fix the stuff for me.

Definite yes for a part 2!