I bit into the apple’s core one last time before tossing it out the window. It was just before sunrise and I was the only car traveling down the misty road at this early hour in the morning.
5:47 and I hadn’t had my first cup of coffee. I was still invigorated, restless at best. Sleep had run miles from me this past eve and all I could do was act in response to it’s disappearance.
I made my way through the curves and foothills, pulled forward by the sweet smell of a fresh rain. After all, it was the first dawn that the sun grew his color, climbing the source of the sky.
My tires rumbled along the gravel as I slowed to a still. I was greeted by lyrical birds: red bellied, brown, and blue. The soft grass felt damp under my toes, but it was cooling, comforting.
I could smell the sweet hay which was so skillfully being churned to mulch by anxious, hunger stricken horses. Whinnies bellowed in rhythm from the depths of the stable.
I tightened the saddle around her silk coated barrel and latched the supple leather to her muzzle. She was hypnotized too, I could sense it. That early morning fresh leapt forward, exerting her muscles into a gallop.
We ran as one contingent soul stamped with the power of a strong spirit. The subtle breeze that tickled my nose, now fiercely pulled at my attire, blowing breathes of chilled mist down my skin.
My eyes watered as I filled the space between us with joy and bounteous laughter. Those few seconds—we slowed down. They become moments of eternity. We were both free. Her breathes came in strokes, fogging our trail.
We raced against time to meet the sun. Hurling through the trees we exhausted all innocence. Leisurely breaking from the strenuous expenditure of energy we waded through the clear creek. It soothed.
Greeted by the harmonious rays which shined through the tree tops, we un-mounted. My legs unsure at the stillness of the ground. I sat on a tree stump, she grazed.
Our eyes became fixated on the reflection the water mirrored back at us. Her eyes pierced the depths of the pond’s surface and so did mine, and meeting us in the middle was the sun, filling the gap between our faces.