'Tale with a Twist'

 By Sara Maydew

 Cindy stood alone in the field by the shade of the big oak tree and watched the three children playing on their climbing frame. The bright sunlight that came through the leaves illuminated her amazing white blonde hair, and showed off her dark lashes. It was an incredibly hot day, and Cindy wished she could go and stand in the water trough that stood in the corner of the field. The children seemed oblivious to the heat and happily played, shouting and laughing, not seeming to notice Cindy at all. Cindy sighed sadly and looked down at the ground. Why had she had to leave? She'd been happy with her mother, spent the entire first half of her life their with her. 

And then one day, she was just taken away. she could still remember her mother's desperate cries as she watched her daughter be taken out of sight; the fear, the confusion. Why? Cindy had asked herself this time and time again. Why? Life was not fair, it seemed to her. The family she had been sent to live with were pleasant enough, but the children already had friends of their own and more often then not were more absorbed in their play then they were with Cindy. Cindy had no friends. Sometimes, the parents would try and talk to her, but she ignored them, rapped up in her thoughts. She had had friends. until the terrible cruelty had ripped her up and taken her so far away. 

Would she ever see her mother again? Cindy doubted it. She felt she was too young to be uprooted like this; too young to be alone. She sighed again and resigned herself to her thoughts for the rest of the day. * It was early evening, still quite light, and Cindy had remained under that oak tree for the whole day. The children had called to her and tried to have her join in with their games, but, as before, she ignored them and in the end they had given up. They had come back out again now and where engaging in some kind of hide and seek. 

Just then, the dad came towards the field - and he was leading a brown mare. Cindy looked up immediately, suddenly interested. The mare was old, and moved quietly and calmly. She looked up when she noticed Cindy and her ears pricked. "Cool!" one of the children exclaimed. "Where did you get her from?" "She belongs to Mrs. Henderson; she's lent her too us." "What for? Can we ride her?" "No, she's too old to be ridden. She's for Cindy." "Cindy?" Cindy took a few hesitant steps forward at the mention of her name. They glanced at her for a moment. "She's lonely; aren't you, Cindy?" the dad called. Cindy stopped. The father smiled and lead the old mare into the field, turning her too face the gate before taking off her headcollar. The horse turned away and ambled towards Cindy. Cindy watched with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. "It's alright, she won't hurt you!" Cindy walked forward again. She stopped, then gingerly stretched out to touch the mare. The brown horse blew at her and Cindy squealed and jumped backwards. The family laughed. Cindy looked at them, and back at the mare, and all of a sudden she felt much happier. She touched the mare again and squealed again, but this time in joy. Anyway, I should get along with them, Cindy thought - she was meant to do their bidding; she was only a horse after all.

 Please e-mail me at sara.maydew@tesco.net and tell me what u think!

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