surprise, surprise (promise)

[sawyer]

Aaron was insanely glad that he had chosen this place to move to. It was a quiet town, and Alaska seemed to like it, which was always good. He had gotten an apartment in near town and was on the hunt for a job, since he’d need one desperately when they got settled. He was taking Alaska and Rain for a trail ride in a meadow. He had heard there was a nice one a little ways from town and was taking Alaska there for a surprise. The little girl loved horses, especially Rain. The buckskin mare had been around for all of Alaska’s life, so she was comfortable around the mare. The girl was asleep in the backseat of the truck, her head leaned back against the headrest. Chuckling softly to himself he drove on, searching for any sign of the meadow. When he pulled into the meadow, it was exactly as he imagined it to be. The grass was bright green with a clear blue sky with flowers dotted everywhere.

Turning to look into the backseat he saw that Alaska was still asleep. Smiling, he climbed out of the truck and opened the door. “Wake up, Aly. We’re at your surprise.” The little girl stretched and looked around, seeing the meadow and the gorgeousness of it a smile lit her face and she said, “What are we doing here, Daddy? Are we going to ride Rain?!” Chuckling, Aaron scooped her up and said, “Yes, we are, baby. Wanna help me get her out?” The girl nodded vigorously and when Aaron set her down, ran around to the back door of the trailer and stretched to reach the latch. “Hold your horses, Aly. Let me get Rain’s halter.” Grabbing them he went to the door and undid it. “Now stay out of the way of her legs, Aly. You know what happens if you get too close to a horse’s legs.” He tied the mare to the side of trailer and grabbed the tack.

When the horse was tacked and ready to go Aaron lifted Alaska into the saddle, where she squealed and smiled widely. “Remember to hold the reins; we don’t want to fall off, do we?” She shook her head, blond hair twirling in a circle. Grinning, he led the mare around the meadow. He was careful to watch for holes, he didn’t need the mare tripping for whatever reason. Alaska seemed to be enjoying the day, her blond hair being bleached lighter by the sun every minute. Aaron ran a hand through his own black hair, it was nothing like Alaska’s, whose hair was more like her mother’s. He ran a hand up and down the mare’s face as he led her around, primarily ignoring Alaska’s demands to go faster, only obliging when he could clearly see the ground, and then only slightly faster, but enough to appease the girl. Sighing slightly he glanced toward the entrance to the meadow, where he noticed what seemed to be an oncoming vehicle.

[promise]

Having taken her older half-brother's truck for the day, the mexican x italian girl drove down the road towards the meadow. Finding a parking spot was pretty easy today compared to other days, since there seemed to be only one other person here. As she pulled to a stop, she turned the engine off in the ebony truck before unbuckling her seat belt and climbing out. Reaching back inside the truck, she grabbed her bag and Marcedes' halter. A soft sigh escaped through her slightly parted lips before she moved away from the truck and closed it.

Slowly, she moved to the trailer hooked to the back of the truck. Inside was a chestnut Arabian stallion of champion bred lineage. Within a few moments, she had the stallion out of the trailer and hooked to the side of it, where she tacked him up. As she did, he just stood there happy to be out on the trails again. But, this time it would be less challenging and more for fun. Sabrial had hoped to come out to the beautiful meadow in order to have a picnic. Of course, no one really ever has a picnic alone, but she currently didn't have many friends in the town.

Though, she hoped to make more soon. She had only met one other person in the town; Ashleigh. But, their friendship was slowly growing. The chocolate-stained gaze of the girl glanced around the meadow as she unhooked the stallion from the trailer and led him away from it a bit. After moving him away from the trailer, she mounted up onto his back and nudged his sides gently. Marcedes started walking towards the green grass of the meadow before being nudged into a faster gait. The stallion's moves were almost dance-like and fluid as he made his way around the meadow.

[sawyer]

Shrugging slightly, Aaron turned from the truck and led Alaska one more lap around the meadow, her giggling the whole while. Pulling Rain to a stop he turned to look at his daughter, and said, “Ready to make her run?” The girl’s eyes grew wide and she nodded quickly. Laughing, Aaron swung into the saddle behind her and took the reins from the girl, circling his arms around her as best he could and nudged the mare into a canter. She laughed and grasped at the mare’s mane, grabbing handfuls of it. Slowing Rain to a slow trot, he handed the reins to Alaska, her eyes widened and looked at him questionably. Nodding, he said, “Use the reins like I showed you, just pull them to the right and she’ll turn for you.” She nodded and pulled the reins sharply to the right, making the mare jump, but turn obediently. “Did I do right, Daddy?!” she said as she squealed with eyes bright. Chuckling, he said, “Yea, but you don’t need to jerk her around like that, or she’ll get mad.” Eyes wide, she asked, “What happens if Rain gets mad?” Wiggling his fingers at her in a teasing manner, he said, “Bad things, Aly.” Shuddering slightly, Alaska turned back towards the front.

It took Aaron awhile to notice that his stomach seemed to be growling like a dog, and Alaska’s seemed to be as well. “Are you hungry, Aly? Cause I sure am.” She agreed so he turned the horse around towards the truck, and noticed a girl across the meadow, she had a thing of food, like she was planning a picnic, not seeing anyone around, he decided that if no one showed and he had no food that he would ask to join. Pulling up next to the truck he swung down from the horse and started searching through the backseats of the truck, and found only old sandwiches which were no longer fit to eat. Sighing slightly through parted lips, he turned back to his daughter and said, “Well, it looks like we don’t have anything, but maybe we could join that girl on her picnic…” Swinging back onto the mare he grabbed the reins and nudged the mare on. He came parallel to them and called out, “Mind if we join you for that food? You seem to have a good bit."

[promise]

'Mind if we join you for that food? You seem to have a good bit.' At the sound of someone calling out to her, Sabrial pulled Marcedes to a stop and turned to look towards Aaron, Aly, and Rain. "Sure, I don't see why not. You're right, I did bring a lot of food," she responded with a laugh. The chestnut stallion seemed impatient beneath her as he stomped his hoof on the ground. Glancing around, she looked towards an area with a small lake. "I was thinking about having a picnic over by the lake. If that is okay," she added, carefully. Her gaze moved towards the little girl that was seated infront of the man, and she offered a soft smile. Her gaze moved back towards the man as she waited for a response from him. Slowly, she nudged Marcedes into a walk; not letting him go any faster, yet. The Arabian conceded, and started to move in a slow walk towards the lake.

[sawyer]

Aaron smiled and said, “Thanks. I’m Aaron and this is my daughter Alaska.” Aly giggled and said, “Uh-huh, that’s me. Your horse is really pretty, almost as pretty as Rain.” Aaron laughed quietly and nudged their mare after Sabrial and Mercedes. He followed her gaze to the lake and nodded, “That’s fine with me, as long as we get to eat.” He grinned brushed his dark out of his eyes and tucked Aly’s blond hair behind her ear. His hair was practically jet-black and hers was the color of a wheat field, all yellows and golds. Aly leaned forward and stroked the mare’s mane, tangling her fingers in the chestnut and white hairs.

The wind ruffled both their hair’s and Rain’s mane. The sun beat down on Aaron’s back as they went, and with no trees in the meadow, shade was incredibly sparse. Aly noticed Sabrial’s smile and she grinned back, blue eyes sparkling. The girl leaned back into Aaron and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. He shook his head and chuckled as he ran a hand through her hand through her hair. He glanced at Sabrial and said, “So what’s your name? Have you been in town long?”