This is a story that I'm writing. It started as a gift for my sister, but now it is also an English project for school.

Mellie

By: Krystal Coville

Prologue

Would you risk your life for the one you loved? Would you search for hours for someone if you had no clue where they were? In a heartbeat, Mellie would. But then, that’s just the way he is. He had friends, and people who cared for him. Born a foal on his home ranch, he grew up knowing nothing but his surroundings. His parents died when he was still young, so he has faced difficulties alone. Now he tackles obstacles in his life with his best friend Gerahld. They depend on each other, and together they can overcome anything. At least, they think they can. But are they quite ready for their awaiting adventure..?

Chapter 1

It was an unusually hot day outside; the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Mellie and his friend, Garahld, were taking a drink in the Ol’ Swimming Hole, a serene pond with refreshing water for everyone.

Mellie was a fine palomino horse. He had strong sturdy legs, a broad chest and a diamond-shaped star with a strip down to the end of his muzzle. Garahld, on the other hand, was a small, black-and-white Shetland pony.

"Still like that mare Arcadia?" Garahld joked.

Arcadia was a gorgeous palomino with white socks on all four legs and a star on her forehead.

No later did the words leave his mouth than Kalonn trotted up beside them.

"Excuse me," he pushed, "this is my spot of the Ol’ Swimming Hole. Here you are my lady, Arcadia!" he smiled at Arcadia.

"Oh, Kalonn," Arcadia giggled, "you’re too much! Hi...um...Mellie, is it?"

"Yeah," Mellie sighed, "it’s Mellie. Hi" he glared over his shoulder at Gerahld, as if to say ‘See? She thinks I’m just a big joke.’ He turned back to Arcadia, this time with a mane clip that was his grandmother’s before.

"I... I’d l-like you to have it," Mellie forced out. He did not know why he gave it to her, but it somehow seemed right.

Arcadia blushed and took an extremely long sip of water. The ranch clock bonged twice, stating that it was 2 o’ clock. Suddenly, a big group of mares came galloping towards the four of them: Mellie, Gerahld, Arcadia and Kalonn.

"Arcadia! Arcadia!" they were all screaming. There were all sorts of mares in the group; Thoroughbreads and Shetlands, but also Apaloosas, Bays, Pintos, Chestnuts, Palaminos and many others.

"Arcadia," the group still screamed.

It was visiting time. For the next half-hour, all the mares on the ranch would shadow Arcadia, demanding if their manes were done right, which brands of horseshoes work best or whether or not their mane and tail accessories, saddles, blankets, and stirrups all matched one another. All of the mares would go on and ask questions like that.

"I guess I'll be going back, now." Mellie sighed heavily to Gerhald. "It's not like she'll even notice that I left, anyways."

"Oh, it's OK." Gerahld tried to cheer up his best friend. "Don't give up so quickly... she was having a conversation with you until visitor hour, when she just got... well, busy."

Mellie didn’t seem as enthusiastic as Gerahld. He left the thought slip and refocused on Arcadia. Letting out a big sigh, Mellie trudged over to the Ol’ Swimming Hole. After hearing an agonizingly long talk about some horse’s new saddle, Mellie decided that he should probably go into the ranch. It was dusky outside, Mellie was fairly tired, and he wanted to rest his hooves. When he went into his stall, he found Gerahld already standing in his own stall. Gerahld doesn’t like to be left alone too often, considering Mellie is his only friend. "I hope that he’s not too mad at me..." Mellie thought. They both stayed in their stalls, silent, until nighttime, when the other horses came into their stalls.

Chapter 2

Mellie’s eyes opened wide. It was very unusual for him to wake up in the middle of the night like that. With the moonlight, he could see very well. He looked to his left. Gerahld was still asleep. "There’s Kalonn in his stall..." he gazed around the room, "and there is Arcadia’s stall... wait! Where’s Arcadia?" Mellie neighed loudly, awakening all of the other horses.

"Arcadia! She’s missing. We have got to look for her now." Although Mellie was convinced, he wasn’t sure that the other horses were. They seemed to only give groans, complaints and excuses.

"It’s the middle of the night!"

"She’s smart... she’ll find her way back."

"Do we have to?"

"She’s probably just outside."

It wasn’t that the other horses didn’t want to look for Arcadia, but that most of them were too scared to. They all grew up on the ranch, and have never dared to leave. Even Kalonn wouldn’t go into the frightful forest beside the ranch. The terrible forest– the only way out of the ranch– was something every horse on the ranch feared. There had been many rumors and horror stories about it, and nobody knew the truth. None of them had gone through it before. Even though there was a trail marked, nobody even bothered going near. None of the horses could see into it, either. The thick leaves of the tall branches blocked off the sunlight of the trail. It was completely dark, all day long.

"Gerahld," Mellie whined, "you have to come with me."

"What? After you desert me and ditch me for Arcadia, leaving me alone? If you think that I’ll go with you after all of that, you are out of your mind. You must be absolutely crazy!" Gerahld was mad at Mellie.

"Please, Gerahld?" Mellie pleaded, "I’m really, really sorry for leaving you. I was wrong. Would you please come with me?"

"Well... if it means that much to you, I guess I can come..." Gerahld answered slowly.

"Oh, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you SO much!!" Mellie cried.

Chapter 3

The bright-green leaves glistened in the moonlight, brushing against Mellie’s face. It was pretty bright outside, considering the early hour that it was. Gerahld managed to open his stall lock, then open Mellie’s.

"Look," Mellie whispered, nodding towards the trail that intertwined throughout the depths of the forest, "man and horse prints... and they are still pretty fresh. I bet that they are Arcadia’s!"

"Cool, but we must be sure not to follow another set of tracks, though..." They travelled far and endlessly. Gerahld’s hooves were aching when they suddenly came to a fork in the path. There were foot and hoof prints in both directions, so the two horses became confused. Which way would they have gone? Never being in the forest at all, Mellie and Gerahld had no clue which way to go. They were hopeless, and about to give up, when something shiny caught hold of Gerahld’s sight. Further down the trail on one side of the fork, an object was in the ground.

"What’s this?" asked Gerahld, trotting closer to it.

"I know," Mellie shrugged, "it’s the main clip that I gave to Arcadia before she disappeared. It was passed down from my grandmother."

Even though there were tracks that implanted it into the muddy trail, the clip still shimmered. It was in the shape of a leaf, but the colouring was white like snow. It was made of stained glass, with a golden rim outlining each section, including the stem and smooth edges. Taking away the mud, the main clip was still in perfect condition. It even had a light, airy, heavenly feel about it.

Mellie imagined Arcadia wearing the clip. After looking at it buried into the ground, Mellie became even more determined to find Arcadia. The duo cantered off with the clip, following the trail that fled down their current trail, through the forest.

Two days had passed since Mellie and Gerahld started their quest. They were aching. They were tired. And they were very hungry and desperate for water.

"Remind me, again, please... why did I agree to come with you?" Gerahld wondered

"Because... you are my friend?" replied Mellie.

"Right..." Gerahld sighed. The two horses walked through the night. At about one in the morning, it started to rain. For a few hours, the two horses continued, but then it began coming down hard.

"Mellie," Gerahld began, "I think that we need to find some shelter."

"Good idea, Gerahld!.. Look, over there. To the right! Is this really happening?" On the right of the trail was a big abandoned ranch. A sign reading "ABANDONED" and another reading "CONDEMNED" were hanging from the door. "Yes, we’re saved! We can dry off, maybe get some sleep, and then perhaps find some food and-"

"Gerahld... don’t get carried away!" The two horses headed into the old, deserted ranch. Just as they were entering, a dangerous, terrifying voice snapped "And just what do you think you’re doing?" The two horses turned around and saw into a pair of two big, gleaming eyes.

Chapter 4

Mellie was scared. Many thoughts rushed through his head. Was this place owned by someone? Who (or what) said that? Had Arcadia stopped by here? Lastly, were Mellie and Gerahld in danger?

"Uh... well it’s... we... it’s raining and..." Mellie stumbled. A burst of laughter fled through the musty ranch.

Mellie backed away and whispered to Gerahld, "Do you think we missed something? We’re scared half to death, and here there are people laughing!"

A big horse came into the light from the shadows. "My name is Willow... I live here. Well, sort of. I’m more of a slave; I was kidnapped. Horse-napped, to be precise. So what brings you two here, besides a shelter? No offense, but this isn’t the typical road we find a lot of people or horses travelling on."

"We are looking for somebody. A horse from our ranch disappeared... when it started raining we came in here." Mellie answered. That’s not the only thing that Mellie wanted to say. He wanted to know about Willow’s horse-napping, and see if it could lead to Arcadia’s location. However, he thought it might be considered rude to ask. Despite that, he still found out.

"How did it happen– the horse-napping, I mean?" Gerahld spoke up.

Willow sighed. "Well, I lived on a ranch down that road," Willow spoke softly, as she nodded towards a trail in the forest. It didn’t lead to the ranch Mellie and Gerahld lived on, but Mellie was sure that he had heard of another ranch in the forest. "About two years back, I was a great race horse. It was night-time, and my owner wanted me to rest up for a really big race the next day. So I went to my stall and started to fall asleep. But then... then... I heard this creaking coming from outside the stalls, but I ignored it. Then I saw a shadow of a man run across the windows and then disappear."

Willow’s eyes weren’t facing Mellie and Gerahld, anymore. Her deep, dark eyes stared off to the window and down the trail that she had earlier pointed to. They narrowed, as the rain started coming down harder and harder. Mellie and Gerahld shared a puzzled glance, when Mellie was sure that he saw a small teardrop make a pathway down Willows face.

"Oh dear," came an old voice, "she’s done it again. Sorry, boys. Sometimes, Willow gets tired of life here. Can’t blame her: this isn’t the most glamourous lifestyle, especially if you used to have what she had."

Mellie looked over at Gerahld, as they backed up a few steps. Mellie tried very intensely to try to understand what the old voice had told them. "What does that all mean?" But that wasn’t the only thought of his. The most troubling thought in Mellie’s mind was "What exactly is the lifestyle that the horses on this ranch have?"

Ignoring his thought, Mellie asked, "Are we going to be able to sleep here for a short while? The rain is not showing any sign of letting up soon."

"We haven’t slept, eaten or had anything to drink for about three days!" Gerahld brought up. "And we are so exhausted."

The horse owning the old voice turned a corner, so that Mellie and Gerahld could see him. "Are you good at hide-and-seek?" The old horse asked.

"What an odd question," Mellie remarked to Gerahld. "I guess I’m not bad."

"And you, Shetland?" the horse asked Gerahld.

"My name is Gerahld, actually. I’d say I’m pretty good. I have a size advantage." Gerahld snickered.

"My name is Rusty," the old man began, limping towards the two young horses. "I’m a jumping horse. At least, I was. I hit the jump about two months ago. Haven’t competed since. Now I can’t do anything involving physical activity, so I stay inside all day. When we have the time, I’ll explain my story in deeper words, but for now we better get you two into my stall. Come along, now."

Gerahld trailed Rusty, but Mellie stayed behind a bit.

"Willow," he began, "I- I’m sorry. Do you think that later, you would be able to finish your story?" Mellie was trembling. Willow’s past could lead to Arcadia’s present or future location.

Willow stared blankly at Mellie, unsure of what to say. Her motionless glare was at Mellie. "Rusty has a stall for you. Mr. Greenly, the ranch owner, hasn’t been here for three days, now. He’s due back soon, and you cannot afford to let him catch you here." Willow’s voice was heartless and monotone. The words came out, but not the meaning. And yet, somehow, that eased Mellie’s mind.

Mellie then turned his head and went over to Rusty and Gerahld. When he reached Rusty’s stall, he found out that the three of them would be sharing one stall. Luckily, Rusty’s stall was pretty big.

"Mr. Greenly doesn’t look into my stall. He doesn’t bother opening it, because I cannot do anything but stand. He even built the door extra high, so that I don’t ever get excited if i see people, and somehow hurt my leg even more. One day each week or two, I am taken out to try to run. I am fed by Mr. Greenly putting food through that hole and onto that shelf, and water in that bucket" Rusty explained, nodding towards on wall of the stall. There was an empty water bucket and the food shelf was a piece of wood built in, with a mouse hole-sized opening over top of it for Mr. Greenly’s hand to drop the food onto the ledge.

"You two can stand, because the door is so high that you don’t have any chance of being seen. Just remember than you can’t make any sound, or else we’ll all be in big trouble. But for now, we had better get to sleep. It’s quite early in the morning, and I’m still tired."

Mellie and Gerahld both agreed that they too were tired, and that they wanted to get some sleep as well. They were excited about the morning; they could perhaps eat some of Rusty’s food, perhaps drink some water, but they were definitely going to get a good night’s rest. As Mellie thought of all of the events that had happened since he and Gerahld had started their journey, his eyelids became heavy, and he found himself sleeping in no time.

---

Tour the website: Main Page, Songs And Poems, Mellie, Dolls, Graphics, Photos, Contact me.