I kept thinking about how I wanted the second chapter to be, then today I threw aside all my ideas and wrote something completely different than I'd planned. Here it is...

Chapter Two

That Spring found me placidly sitting on the porch with an acceptance into a college; I was going to London to study voice. These were two exciting new points of my life at present.
It was the first day we’d had that was nice enough to go outside without bundling up excessively, and I was enjoying it, sitting on our porch with a cup of ginger peach tea clutched in my hands. I was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a grey sweatshirt, but despite the chilly bursts of wind, I was determined not to put on a coat. The lovely smell of Spring sent shivers of delight through me as well. I was the only one at home right then, so everything was quiet from inside, completing my feeling of serenity. Though I do sometimes enjoy the racket Mom and Kitty make.
As to the acceptance into college, I couldn’t be happier. It was a college I’d long been interested in, and visiting it had confirmed my approval. They had accepted me, and with my scholarship I had recently acquired, finances were working out splendidly. And imagine: London!
I finished my tea and set the mug down. Making a mental note not to forget it when I went inside, I hopped down from the porch and walked around to the front of the house. What I saw there, however, was, to say the least, slightly surprising. Directly in the middle of our front yard, munching away happily, was a brown horse. I was pretty sure that it must have come from our neighbors several houses down and across the road, but what was I to do with it? I didn’t know a thing about horses. I couldn’t call the owners, since I didn’t have a clue what their name was, and consequently wouldn’t be able to find them in the phone book. It seemed that my best options were either screaming frantically until someone in the vicinity came to help, or simply leading the horse back myself. I chose the less obnoxious of these two, and began cooing to the horse. How did one get horses to respond? Do they answer to their names? Either way, I didn’t know it’s name.
“Come one, dearie, come on, whatever you want to be called.” I murmured. The horse looked at me. I learned one thing about horses right then: they can definitely look quizzical.
I walked slowly toward it, reaching out for it’s halter. It made no objection, and I slid my hand gently under the strap of leather. I stroked the horse’s neck for a moment, making sure it was calm. It followed me complacently down toward it’s home until we reached the house right before it. Then it just stopped and started eating again, and wouldn’t budge.
“Oh, come on. You can eat later once your back inside your pasture. Oh...don’t ruin whoever’s house this is lawn.” I reprimanded desperately. I didn’t have a clue what to do. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to annoy it and get it moving, or make it more relaxed so it would follow me. It certainly didn’t seem disturbed by anything. I recalled my other initial option of screaming, and decided to go with a variation on it. I sang. The first song that came to my mind seemed uncannily appropriate considering what movie I’d learned it from.
“I can’t give you anything but love, baby. Love’s the only thing I’ve plenty of, baby...” This appeared to have absolutely no effect, though I couldn’t say I’d expected it to. Still, I was having a bit of fun, so I switched songs, and if this one didn’t work, nothing would.
“Poor wand’ring one, though thou has surely strayed...” I had played Mabel in Pirates of Penzance last fall, and I was able to sing almost the whole show still, this particular song being, by far, the most annoying. It was fun to feel the high notes in that song. However, it still didn’t have any effect on the horse. It did, however manage to bring a middle aged man out of the house we were in front of.
“Excuse me, could you–” I began.
“What are you doing?” he yelled and cursed at me. “Horse thief, maybe? You can’t get away with that, woman!”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head.
“I was merely trying to return this horse to...”
“Get outa here!” he shrieked politely.
“I’m trying.” I muttered, greatly annoyed at his contemptible rudeness.
“I don’t care how well you can sing, just get out! I don’t want that filthy horse on my property.” He shouted again.
I certainly hadn’t tried to use singing well as an excuse to stay, nor was it my idea to stop just here.
To my relief the man’s yelling had agitated the horse enough that it was perfectly willing to move, unfortunately more quickly than I could, and I skidded along in the mud, trying to keep up. My jeans and even my sweatshirt were splattered with dirt.
I saw the gate to the pasture swinging gently in the wind. Several other horses where still inside grazing. I led the errant horse through the gate and secured it. I then approached the door of the house and rang the bell. As I waited I tried to tug a piece of my hair away from my face, but I only succeeded in getting dirt on my face and in my hair. I sighed and let it fall back in front of my eyes.
A lady answered the door. She looked at me skeptically, but didn’t say anything.
“One of your horses got out, and wandered into our yard.” I said. She stopped looking skeptical and covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. “Your gate came undone somehow, and that brown one wandered off.” I pointed to the horse.
“Oh, thank you so much for bringing her back!” The lady exclaimed.
“You’re welcome.” I grinned, and walked back toward home. I took a detour right away to avoid the angry man. I reached the door of our house and pulled off my filthy shoes. I hopped up to the shower, trying not to disperse the mud that was on me.
I peeled off my mud soaked clothes and jumped in to the shower, turning the hot water tap on as high as I could stand. I sang hymns as I took my shower, and it calmed me. Singing is a queer thing; I do it when I’m upset, I do it when I’m happy, when I’m confused, when I’m determined, I sing to work on my singing, but I also sing for sheer enjoyment, I sing to relax, and to energize. I sing to coax horses. Singing is an amazing thing.
Just then I remembered: I’d forgotten my mug.