Spirit Of The Wild

• Chloe Bailey, Grade 5, Solway Primary School
• Short Story
• 2000

Finalist in the 'Story Writing Comp 2000' competition

My heart was beating hard in my chest and I was exhausted. I knew I must keep going or else…

My mane and tail were flying and foam flew from my mouth but at last I got there, to the rocky down hill path that led home. Home to my beautiful valley and my five, pretty, fun loving mares and fillies. I was never going to be those cruel men’s slaves. I was going to stay a wild brumby in the beautiful snowy mountains forever.

Ah, here I was at last. My leading mare Snowflake, who was a rare Albino colour like me, whinnied her greeting. I could hear men talking in their own strange language above. “*#$$%! Lost the colt and he was such a good one could’ve gotten heaps for him”.
“Come off it Bill he ain’t won yet. We can always come back and get him later”
“Yeah, suppose you’re right’. Then they were gone.

About a week later when I was out looking for more mares and fillies that I might add to my herd, I thought I heard a noise. A split second later two men on horseback plus three dogs came charging at me from behind and started heading me north. Just when I thought I’d lost them another two men came from behind. It went on and on until I was eventually penned.

I paced and paced around all the boundaries looking for a weak spot but I found none. The fence was too high for me to jump. Soon to me life didn’t matter any more and I stopped eating. Then one day a man came to look at me. “We’ll have to shoot him tomorrow, no one will buy him now’. Then he left.

The next morning a girl came to look at me. She looked into my eyes and seemed to understand. “I want this horse Mum”, she said pointing to me and that was it.
“Oh I’m sorry dear”.
“OH well” the girl said, “I suppose these things happen”.
But there was a slight gleam in her eye as she turned to look out the window that faced the Snowy Mountains.