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Charlotte made her way back to Kylie, trying to avoid her bucks and kicks. She got kicked in the leg, which stung badly. She calmed her horse down, but couldn't mount. Her leg was too sore. Charlotte tied Kylie up to a tree and laid down in a pile of dried leaves, falling asleep gently as Kylie laid down near her and fell asleep too. They were't that far from the tiny village, but weren't that close either. She tipped her hat over her face, and fall asleep alongside Kylie. Once she woke, she could get back on Kylie and ride home. She needed rest for a minute.
the sky started to fade into a salmon pink, giving the clouds a faint hue to them. It was a beautiful sunset. Charlotte woke up a couple minutes just in time to catch it at the prettiest before falling asleep. |
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Jaden watched as the sun set, feeling quite lonely even with Murphy. He stood and beckoned the dog inside, heading to go make a quick dinner before retreating back to his room. Slipping under the covers, the man drifted off fairly quickly, dreaming of the race just hours before. |
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Charlotte got back, got Kylie back, and got all cleaned up and went inside to watch Seceritariat. She settled in on the couch, turning on the TV and watching the movie. She popped some popcorn and then fell asleep accidentially half-way through. She woke at the very end to Seceritariat winning the Derby by 34 lengths. A Facebook alert lit up her phone. Someone had followed her a bit ago. She went and checked who it was. The username was Jaden's profile. Oh wow, she thought. How did he find me? She clicked on it and scrolled through his posts of victory and his dog. She laughed at the goofy photos of the dog, Murphy. She then followed him back and shut off her phone as she fell asleep on the couch, the moon shining faintly through the curtains by the sliding door. |
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Jaden was up at 5 am the next morning, panic clawing at his chest even so early. He hadn't told anybody about his anxiety, or his fears, or really...anything. The fear of losing and dissapointing everybody, the fear of losing Loki, the fear of losing everything he had, the fear that he'd take one wrong step and his career would be cut short. He splashed water on his face, staring into the mirror before taking a deep breath and convincing himself everything was fine. The man drove over to the track, seeing his colt was already tacked and ready before mounting up and heading to go exercise, the panic still heavy even then. What had happened? Racing had always been his escape, his release, and now... Now it didn't even feel his anymore. |
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Charlotte woke up early to her phone vibrating in her pocket. Her alarm had gone off earlier. She poured a thermos of coffee and got changed into a cozy teal sweatshirt and Wrangler jeans, and slipped on her favorite boots. Charlotte hopped in her truck and drove to meet her friend for a meeting at the Derby gates. Her friend was invested in the jockey life, being a stable hand. Charlotte was getting an offer to work there, except as a moving stable hand. She would be assigned a jockey horse to care for and a specific jockey and move around with them from show to show, derby to derby. She was ecstatic the entire ride there, whistling her favorite Joe Diffe song the entire way there.
Charlotte turned off her truck and took a breath as she met with her friend. She instsantly got offered the job and took it. However, she looked at the jockey she would be assigned to. It would send out an email to a jockey and then reply back to her. Charlotte waited nervously all day for the email to arrive. Finally, it did. When she opened it, it read: Congrats! You have been assigned a jockey, number (Jaden's number). This is Jaden Ortiz and RF Frozen Gaurd, or Loki. Good luck! -Sarah Hall, Secretary
Charlotte gasped. She leaned back in her chair thinking. Wondering when she would see him next. It was like the universe was trying to tell her something.
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(My bad for the long post, I'm bored :] ) |
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It had rained the previous track, leaving the track muddy and swampy. Jaden worked Loki, eventually letting him run. He tightened his goggles slightly, making sure the mud from horses in front of him didn't fly into his eyes. He slowed the colt down, the 17.3 bay manchado beast trotting into the barn before Jaden slowed him to a walk. He hopped down, handing him off to his stable hand, pulling his goggles off and taking his helmet off as well. The man's trainer arrived, the two walking down the hall chatting when he noticed her go by with Loki. It was her. The girl he'd bumped into after the Tulsa derby. "But I was thinking maybe the..." He trailed off, attention turning to the slowly fading figure in the foreground. Jaden turned back to his trainer, remembering where he was. "the Flordia derby, and definitely the Jeff Ruby Steaks." Jaden mused softly, continuing back to earlier conversation. |
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Charlotte took the horse from him, staying silent. She would see how long it would take him to notice it was her. She slowly walked out and lead Loki to his stall as she calmed him down, fed him, brushed him, and cooled him down. She had taken care of the horse in a very fast time, even though everything was done to perfection. She wiped the remnants of some dirt on her jeans and threw on her vest over her sweatshirt and walked out ok Loki's stall, running face to face into the jockey. Charlotte said hi real quick and waited for Jaden's response. She could already feel her face turning slightly red. |
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Charlotte stared into his eyes, waiting for his response to say something. She suddenly had a bit of a flashback to another boy. She shook her head as her haie whapped her in the face as she took some hair strands out of her mouth, still thinking. (Sry it's short this time i don't have much to write on rn thanks) |
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"Hi.." He murmured, chuckling awkwardly before ducking into the light rain and heading back to his car. |
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Sunny
