New Beginnings

She pushed her hair out of her face and looked at the narrow road again. No indeed, she must of saw wrongly. Right in front of her, down the narrow lane, she saw a most magnificent horse. His eyes were so gentle and kind, his skin so shiny and smooth. It shined in the summer light. Surely this wasn’t the place? She looked back at the sign, which swung quietly in the cool breeze. Yes, it was the correct address: 34 Brookeland Road, Alfred, Maine. But certainly the address was wrong?

Madison was an orphan girl, going to live with her new “parents”. She had heard all about them, they had recently married and wanted a child fast. “Faster than anything!” Madison thought. She didn’t know whether to be excited or not. Not long ago she had been sent back to the orphan because her “old” parents couldn’t afford to keep her. Her heart hurt too much because she had loved that couple and often dreamed of staying and growing up in that place her whole entire life. Now, she felt rejected again.

If it hadn’t been for the little puppy in her arms, she would have turned around and go back to the orphan. Already she was so exhausted, her whole body numb with hunger. And her poor little darling, cuddled in her hands, needed to eat badly too. Blessing was the only joy in her life now. He had been given to her when she lived with her “old” parents. She loved him and cherished him, and was glad that her new parents allowed and loved dogs. Just a few more meters away and home would appear in sight…

Madison quickly put down Blessing and let him run ahead of her. She tidied up herself up and got ready to enter her new home. Inch by inch, the horse ahead of her came closer. She wasn’t scared of horses; she just never saw one before. She picked up Blessing again, afraid that he might be tramped over. “The first interesting experience in my new life,” she thought, “Meeting a horse!” The horse, on the other hand, was calmly eating his dinner of grass. “I’ll just slip by him and pretend I didn’t see him,” she decided.

Her new plan didn’t exactly work. Blessing started to bark and the horse looked up. He started make some sort of noise; Madison wasn’t sure what you called that noise. She froze in spot and then started to run. That wasn’t a very good idea, because she turned to look over her shoulder and feel straight into a puddle of mud! The horse, apparently undisturbed by his little interruption, continued to eat. However, as for her, she was a mess. Lucky for her, her small bag of luggage and her puppy were unharmed. Except her best dress? “A bit dirty,” she murmured to herself. She did her best to clean herself up, looking with pity at her new dress. “I hope the maid can clean it up,” she thought quietly. Picking up her belongings she slowly started to walk towards the log cabin a few yards away.