Start A Flame

Grass was becoming a bland, and boring taste. Sometimes hay was thrown in, an apple or carrot if he was lucky. Listening to the sound of hooves against the partially mowed grass, the stallion raised his head to study Drifter for a brief moment. He wasn't interested at the moment, and quite frankly didn't care. Today was a lazing day, he'd be able to relax his legs from whatever young child wanted to ride him and not have to stalk around a mare in heat for an unbearable amount of time. Instead, his ear flicked as he kept grazing.

The high-strung horse looked around. She needed an outlet. Badly. It had been much too long since she'd been properly exercised and it was getting to her. She was used to strenuous work almost everyday, and suddenly there was no work. Drifter knew she could easily sail over the four foot fence, in fact, it would be a lot of fun, but eventually the humans would catch her and put back in that miserable stall. With a huff she resigned herself to simply grazing for the moment.

Sorrel was quite use to watching some of the mares act rather... unusual, or normal. He never had the time to talk to each one of them individually. Sorrel wasn't sure they cared about him, the docile male usually kept to himself unless it came to breeding from the humans. He snorted, ears twitching as he quietly watched Drifter up about the paddock with the other mares, only to lower his head once she had stopped. Mumbling something to himself.

Drifter grazed on the increasingly diminishing grass, trying to tame her abundant store of energy. Suddenly she heard a distant booming noise, raising her head and pricking her ears, the mare saw a wall of dark clouds on the horizon. With a snort she looked around for the humans, they usually brought all the horses in if the weather got bad, but she could see no one but the horses in the surrounding paddocks.
Another boom of thunder sounded, but closer this time. A few seconds later, a bolt of lightning singed the earth a few miles away from the farm. All the other mares had lifted their heads and were nickering nervously when a strong wind began blowing, casting their manes and tails about like banners.
Drifter snorted and stamped her hoof, excited by the storm rolling in. This might be her chance to jump the fence and disappear while everyone was distracted by the weather.

He was about to lazily find himself a safe, reasonable place for him to rest. Sorrel's eyes studied the sky, his stomach growing a bit nervous. Something didn't feel right, and he tried to brush it off and slowly graze his way to somewhere to lay down. But as some of the mares began to panic, the young stallion rose his head. He cursed quietly, studying around. Where were the humans?

The roan mare beside Drifter let out a panicked whinny as more thunder boomed, this time much louder. There was barely a pause between the deafening noise and the lightning bolts. One of the bright flashes struck all too near the paddock, while another hit the barn. A burst of sparks shot up from the area where the lightning hit the roof, and then it was blazing. All the other mares were galloping around now, churning the soil on which they stood. The rain started, hammering down on the horses, turning everything to mud. The wind had grown only stronger, making gates creak and trees sway like toothpicks.
With a snort Drifter looked at the inferno that had become the barn, and then at the open ground just beyond the fence. "This way!" she screamed, and cantered towards the fence, jumping it easily. She turned only to check that the others were following before taking off across the field and towards freedom.