Chapter One
"Brandon?" Chloe knocked directly on the large 'Keep Out!' sign.
"Yeah?"
"Can I use your modem? Mom's got the basement computer."
"Sure." Chloe entered the room to find her little brother sprawled on his bed reading a paperback.
"Don't you read enough at school?" She teased.
"Unlike certain barbarians, some of us read for fun."
Chloe examined the cover of the book while she waited for the 56k to get started. It featured a white horse and the title "Sword of Ice." Chloe thought that a sword made out of ice would be kind of useless.
It only took a few minutes for her to delete the spam and bang out a few replies to friends. Just before she logged off, Malaika IMed her. They agreed to meet at The Bean Farm, the sole coffee shop in a hundred mile radius. Chloe had checked. The coffee was indifferent but the muffins were to die for.
"Mom! I'm going to the Farm with Mali. Be back for dinner." The heat hit her like a solid wall as Chloe stepped out of the A/C. Chloe reminded herself that this was mild weather for Nowheresville, Texas.
Chloe really truly loved her truck. Brandon and Dad were both gear heads, and had bought the battered blue Ford from a fellow cattle rancher. In the end, nearly everything but the chassis had to be replaced, but she was a good truck. Chloe was of the opinion that a truck should look like it had done everything you see those trucks in the commercials do.
The door squeaked rustily as she got in, and the engine roared to life. The truck was too old to accommodate a new A/C unit, so Chloe manually rolled down both windows. T.A.T.U. on the radio, the wind in her hair, and an afternoon with her cohorts; life didn't get much better than this.
The speed limit on the main road into town was 35 mph, though nearly everyone considered that merely the suggested speed. There was a stop light a mile outside of town where the State Patrol had been laying ambushes, so Chloe tried to slow down. Tried being the key word.
The truck continued to coast down the road, oblivious to Chloe pounding on the brake.
"If you ever have brake problems use the emergency brake." Driver's ed echoed back to her. Chloe grabbed the emergency brake and yanked it as hard as she could. It made a horrible screeching sound, and Chloe winced in sympathy for her poor tires, but at least she was slowing down. Ironically, she couldn't slow down fast enough.
The steering wheel locked and the truck slowly veered off the road. There was nothing left to be done. Chloe watched in helpless horror as the telephone pole rushed towards her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Birdsong filtered through the air. Sunlight wove through the leafy trees. The ground… wait a second. Trees? There weren't any trees in Texas, much less leafy ones. Chloe blinked rapidly to bring things into focus, examining things from her new perspective of the ground.
She decided that she must be dreaming. Either that or she had somehow been transported to New England. Everything was very green and verdant. It was warm, but not oppressively so, and there was a hint of moisture in the air. Even the ground smelled good. A horse wandered by, and seemed exceedingly surprised to see her there.
Chloe scrambled awkwardly to her feet. Her body felt strange, as if she'd grown six inches overnight and wasn't quite sure how everything was hooked up yet. She stumbled twice before gaining a firm hold on the ground. She looked at the ground, unsure why it had decided to not like her all of a sudden, and noticed a set of hooves. She tried to move out of the way of the horse, but the hooves followed her. Her hooves. Chloe tossed her mane and reared in place, panicked.
"Oh my god!" She screamed, despite the fact that horses could not scream. She looked around wildly hoping that there would be someone standing there who could answer her questions. There were only two more of those horses. The forest was full of them, all staring at her with a mixture of shock and surprise. They were all white, just like her.
They seemed to be holding a silent conference. Chloe marveled at the intelligence in their eyes. She had never seen horses act like this; then again she had never seen horses with blue eyes either.
One of them stepped forward and regarded her with a solemn blue eye.
:: Who are you? ::
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.
"Brandon?" Chloe knocked directly on the large 'Keep Out!' sign.
"Yeah?"
"Can I use your modem? Mom's got the basement computer."
"Sure." Chloe entered the room to find her little brother sprawled on his bed reading a paperback.
"Don't you read enough at school?" She teased.
"Unlike certain barbarians, some of us read for fun."
Chloe examined the cover of the book while she waited for the 56k to get started. It featured a white horse and the title "Sword of Ice." Chloe thought that a sword made out of ice would be kind of useless.
It only took a few minutes for her to delete the spam and bang out a few replies to friends. Just before she logged off, Malaika IMed her. They agreed to meet at The Bean Farm, the sole coffee shop in a hundred mile radius. Chloe had checked. The coffee was indifferent but the muffins were to die for.
"Mom! I'm going to the Farm with Mali. Be back for dinner." The heat hit her like a solid wall as Chloe stepped out of the A/C. Chloe reminded herself that this was mild weather for Nowheresville, Texas.
Chloe really truly loved her truck. Brandon and Dad were both gear heads, and had bought the battered blue Ford from a fellow cattle rancher. In the end, nearly everything but the chassis had to be replaced, but she was a good truck. Chloe was of the opinion that a truck should look like it had done everything you see those trucks in the commercials do.
The door squeaked rustily as she got in, and the engine roared to life. The truck was too old to accommodate a new A/C unit, so Chloe manually rolled down both windows. T.A.T.U. on the radio, the wind in her hair, and an afternoon with her cohorts; life didn't get much better than this.
The speed limit on the main road into town was 35 mph, though nearly everyone considered that merely the suggested speed. There was a stop light a mile outside of town where the State Patrol had been laying ambushes, so Chloe tried to slow down. Tried being the key word.
The truck continued to coast down the road, oblivious to Chloe pounding on the brake.
"If you ever have brake problems use the emergency brake." Driver's ed echoed back to her. Chloe grabbed the emergency brake and yanked it as hard as she could. It made a horrible screeching sound, and Chloe winced in sympathy for her poor tires, but at least she was slowing down. Ironically, she couldn't slow down fast enough.
The steering wheel locked and the truck slowly veered off the road. There was nothing left to be done. Chloe watched in helpless horror as the telephone pole rushed towards her.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Birdsong filtered through the air. Sunlight wove through the leafy trees. The ground… wait a second. Trees? There weren't any trees in Texas, much less leafy ones. Chloe blinked rapidly to bring things into focus, examining things from her new perspective of the ground.
She decided that she must be dreaming. Either that or she had somehow been transported to New England. Everything was very green and verdant. It was warm, but not oppressively so, and there was a hint of moisture in the air. Even the ground smelled good. A horse wandered by, and seemed exceedingly surprised to see her there.
Chloe scrambled awkwardly to her feet. Her body felt strange, as if she'd grown six inches overnight and wasn't quite sure how everything was hooked up yet. She stumbled twice before gaining a firm hold on the ground. She looked at the ground, unsure why it had decided to not like her all of a sudden, and noticed a set of hooves. She tried to move out of the way of the horse, but the hooves followed her. Her hooves. Chloe tossed her mane and reared in place, panicked.
"Oh my god!" She screamed, despite the fact that horses could not scream. She looked around wildly hoping that there would be someone standing there who could answer her questions. There were only two more of those horses. The forest was full of them, all staring at her with a mixture of shock and surprise. They were all white, just like her.
They seemed to be holding a silent conference. Chloe marveled at the intelligence in their eyes. She had never seen horses act like this; then again she had never seen horses with blue eyes either.
One of them stepped forward and regarded her with a solemn blue eye.
:: Who are you? ::
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Make your voice heard.
.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.