Turned Out - Part 2

 

"... and just along the west fence there," says Anne, pointing. The man directs his attention accordingly, and in doing so takes notice of the little grey pony wandering up to his car.

 

"Who's your little friend, Anne?" he asks, gesturing to you.

 

Anne turns to pick you up. "Hi Jet, did you have a big sleep? Yes, I think you did didn't you. Did you want to say hi to Geordi?" She turns you to face the man and she waves your hoof with her hand. "Hello, I'm Jet," she says in a dopey little voice that you suppose is meant to sound like you.

 

Geordi reaches out the window and ruffles your mane. "He's adorable," he says before returning his hands to the wheel. "Okay, I'm gonna go park and say hi to your dad."

 

"Okay, see you in a bit," says Anne with a little wave. Anne carries you back to the verandah where her dad is carrying an esky down the steps. "Need a hand with that?"

 

"I've got it, can you help me with the tables? Gran can look after Jet."

 

Anne agrees and briskly takes you out the back of the house where a shiny steel BBQ and tacky deck chairs have been arranged about a flagstone patio. One of the chairs is occupied by an older woman in a pale blue sundress who happily reaches out with her age-spotted arms to take you from Anne.

 

"Hello little pony," says the lady in a slow, Asian accent, "who is this?"

 

"This is Jet," Anne explains, "he's my Christmas present, so please take care of him for me, I'm going to help Dad with the tables."

 

You don't really want to be left with Gran, she smells like old people, but Anne has already handed you over. You watch from Gran's lap as Anne heads back the way you came, leaving you with a grain of unfamiliar discomfort. Gran's petting, slow and gentle, wears away at your little grain of worry, and for the moment you suppose you can put it to bed. You rest your head on your forehooves and watch as Anne's family sets up the party.

 

A while later, all the guests had arrived and the BBQ had started wafting out the smell of dead animals on a fire. You're pretty sure this is a smell you used to enjoy, but now it just makes you anxious that you could be next. You decide to walk it off and hop down from grans lap. The leash isn't very long, but you have enough to wander into the shade of a table and lie down. On the other side of the table, Geordi and Anne's dad are sitting in deck chairs, sipping beer and catching up.

 

"The carburetor is shot. Found a replacement on eBay though, it'll be here in..." Geordi pauses and waves his hand, "a couple'a weeks."

 

"Good find, would be a bloody miracle seeing it fly again."

 

"Yeah, ever since Dad shuffled it away into the garage, it's always been my dream to dust it off and fly it like he did."

 

As the words leave Geordi's mouth, your horn starts to throb and images begin flowing into your mind.

 

"It's a beautiful dream, Geordi."

 

You're seeing it, the yellow crop duster, the blue sky, the towns below, the beautiful dream. Not just the image, but the feelings, Geordi's feelings, his excitement, his catharsis, his closure. Like being hit by a wave, the experience passes over you, and you try to process what just happened. It's a lot of complex thoughts and emotions, but your little horse brain seems to get the gist of it. A little warning next time might be nice. Having quite enough of that you return to Gran.

 

You look up at Gran, and she meets your gaze, "what is this look? Need for urinate?" You're not really sure what she's on about, but she leads you away from the party area and starts telling you to "go," whatever that means. You were there for so long, you figured you may as well take a leak. After that, Gran seemed to have got whatever she went there for, and you both returned to the party.

 

Before Gran can make herself comfortable in her deck chair again, Anne approaches holding the unreadable bag from this morning. She shakes it a little and smiles at you. You've got a good feeling about this.

 

"Hi Jet, have you been good while I was busy?" Anne shoots a look to Gran, expecting her to answer for you.

 

"He no problem, very good pony, sweet pony," says Gran as she reclines.

 

Anne squats down to your level, "come here, Jet" Anne says in an endearing voice. You trot up to her of course, she has food after all. "Good boy," she says pleased, and she presents her palm, flat and adorned with a small, oat-laden biscuit.

 

Anne takes the leash from Gran while you're preoccupied with your treat. It's crumbly and oaty on the outside with a sweet molasses inside, it's definitely the best thing you've tasted since you woke up in that box this morning.

 

Anne takes another treat from the bag, which certainly wasn't escaping your attention. "Let's try-" she trails off for a moment before moving her hand over your head and commanding, "sit." With the treat above you, you quickly turn your head to the sky, and in an effort to soften the angle of your neck, you sit down on your haunches. "Good boy, Jet! Good boy!" she delights, lowering the treat to your muzzle where it disappears in an instant. She seems very pleased with you, petting your ears and mane excitedly; you're not sure what you did, but you can't argue with the results. You're really beginning to like this girl.

 

There was plenty of slack on your leash for the rest of the day, which you spent with Anne in the outfield of the family game of backyard cricket. Her participation was mostly half-hearted, but occasionally she'd humour her dad and Geordi, and she'd make a break for the ball, your little legs only keeping up by merit of being horse legs. The rest of the time though, she spent chatting with this Ruby girl, she had a thick kiwi accent, and you got the feeling they didn't get to see each other as much as they used to. When the sun started to set and everyone started heading home, of all the hugs Anne gave, the one she gave to Ruby was the biggest.

 

Geordi stuck around for dinner, you suppose he must be a good friend of the family. Anne and Geordi played some kind of card game at the kitchen table, with Anne's mum quizzing Geordi about his year as she cooked dinner. The vegetables Anne's mum took from the fridge had caught your interest, and you tried your hardest to remember how to use human words to ask for them, but every time you try to remember how to say 'me want carrot' all that comes to mind is 'neigh whicker snort.' Your attention didn't go unnoticed however, and when Anne's mum made eye contact, you made the best 'pretty please' face you could muster. She ponders your request for a moment before turning to the cutting board, selecting a long slice of carrot, and lowering it down to you. Your tail swishes happily as you grasp the cutting in your mouth and prance away with it.

 

You make sure to show your prize off to Anne, stealing her attention away from her cards. "What have you got Jet? Have you got a treat? Such a happy boy!" Anne lifts you into her lap where you munch on your carrot piece while she continues her game. The flavour was sweet and tangy, more vivid than what a human might imagine of a simple vegetable. With your treat finished, you lay down in Anne's soft, warm lap and rest until dinner.

 

You were a bit grumpy to have been moved back down to the floor from your comfy place, but your mood turned around fast at the sight of a silver bowl filled with hay. Hay, you discovered was much like the grass you had grazed in the morning, only dried and cut from the ground, which brought out its savoury undertones, and made it easier to eat more of at once. Each mouthful scattered strands of hay about your hooves; you don't mean to make a mess with your munching, but honestly it's not even on your radar.

 

"Sorry about the mess," Anne apologises on your behalf.

 

"Don't worry about it love, it's not like I expected him to eat with a knife and fork," assured Anne's mum.

 

The humans take a lot longer to finish their food, perhaps if they talked less they'd get more food in their mouths. You sit by Mum's legs hoping for another treat, but she's too engrossed in the table discussion to notice you.

 

After dinner Geordi puts a movie on that only he and Anne's dad take interest in. You nestle yourself between the two disinterested humans on the couch that gave you treats today, with Anne on your left scrolling her phone and her mum on your right, looking about as sleepy as you feel. You doze in and out as the movie plays, there's a car chase, a gunfight, an explosion, you don't really pay attention. Occasionally, Anne's unphoned hand will search for your little fluffy ears and give them a gentle scratch, releasing the tension in the muscles that had been pointing your little radars every which-way for the past day. A little scratching goes a long way; you're just a puddle of relaxed pony by the end of the movie, you don't even get up when everyone goes to see Geordi off.

 

The house is suddenly peaceful, only the sound of distant voices outside breach the silence. You swivel your ears and listen closely for Anne's voice, somewhat anxious that it might vanish. Your fear never comes to pass, and the family returns sans Geordi. The rest of the night is pretty uneventful, Anne's parents went to bed after taking care of the dishes, while Anne resumed her petting and scrolling.

 

"Let's go to bed Jet," says Anne, tossing her phone on a nearby pillow. She scoops you up with your muzzle over her shoulder and shuffles up the stairs to the bedroom. The shelves in here are pretty dusty, but the bed's floral-patterned sheets look slept in. Anne sets you on the bed while she changes out of her dirty day clothes. You find a comfy spot to curl up, and Anne tucks herself in shortly after.

 

"Ni-ni, Jet."

 

Goodnight, Anne.