Fresh beginnings

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

"Stay here girl," Daniel said to his filly. "I'll be back, I promise." He stroked her nose lovingly. She whinnied gently, and nuzzled his chest. He laughed, and then with a smile, he wrapped his arms around her neck. "Hopefully this will be your new home, Tag," he told her with his face buried in her mane. "So don't cause any trouble while I'm inside." He stepped back, and tugged her ear playfully. He turned and took a couple steps toward the office building, when she nudged him in the back. "Stay, Tag," he ordered more firmly. She tossed her head, but stayed put. He sighed, and continued on towards the door.
Daniel wearily walked into the office. He was tired, and hungry. He didn't really know anything about horses, but he knew that Tag deserved something better than what he'd been able to give her. They'd been looking for a home together for two years. At last, Daniel thought he'd finally found a place that would hopefully give Tag the life she deserved. Seeing the lady at the desk, he gulped. She looked like the type of person you didn't want to mess with. He hastily wiped his palms on his jeans, and stepped forward. "Um, hi," he began. "I was wondering if there was a spare stable somewhere for me to keep my horse. She's never had a proper home, and I just wanted to find somewhere that she could rest up for a few weeks, y'know? Eat some proper horsey food and meet some other horses..." he trailed off. What did he know about horsey food?! "I wouldn't be a bother, I could stay with Tag in her stall...And I don't have any bags or anything, so I wouldn't take up any room!" Daniel stopped, looking down at his feet. He was getting desperate, he hadn't even given the lady a chance to speak. But he had to finish, or else he'd risk being turned away. "And, I don't actually...Um.." He shook his head, and tried again. "Well, you see...I have no money. I have nothing except my horse, and I don't even know how to properly care for her. I'd work for her stay, I'll do whatever needs doing! I'll feed myself and everything," Somehow...He thought. "But Tag really needs a proper home and, and...And I can't really give it to her." He finished, finally glancing up with a pleading look in his eye. He crossed all of his fingers, and hoped that his luck had finally changed.

[Super <3]

The woman looked crossely for a moment before pulling a phone to her ear, "Hello Gena. We need your help in the office?... Thanks." Hanging up, she spoke, "The owner will be right in." After a minute, Gena popped in.

GENA

Gena stepped into the office and smiled at the boy. "I was told to come here?" Looking over at the teen boy, she smiled, "What's the problem?" Her voice was sweet and happy, like honey.

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

Daniel almost walked right back out when he saw the office lady glare at him. She called someone, and told him the owner would be in. In the minute or so while he waited, Daniel fidgeted nervously. It had taken almost all of his courage just to say it once, he wasn't sure if he could ask again. When the owner of the barn came in and spoke to him, he felt slightly better. She was a lot happier than the office lady. Daniel took a deep breath, and began his story again, aiming for a slightly shorter version, and one that didn't sound so whiny.
"Hi, my name's Daniel Crile," he started. He looked out the window and saw Tag grazing peacefully, and he felt encouraged to go on. "I have this horse that I found a couple of years back. I haven't been able to properly look after her since I know absolutely nothing about horses. We both have no home, and I was wondering if there was somewhere here that she could stay. Thing is, I've got pretty attached to her and I don't wanna be separated from her...But I have no way of paying for her stay." Daniel ground his fists together, until his fingernails bit into the palm of his hands. He hated feeling like a charity case. He'd spent the last three years trying to avoid charity. He looked up from his shoes, and tried to look the lady in the eyes. "I just want Tag to be happy and healthy, and she needs proper care. I figured she could get some of that here...And I'd be willing to do anything you needed, if she could just stay here for a while and learn how to properly be a horse? Please, I've run out of other options." This time Daniel managed to maintain eye contact. He thought crossing his fingers might jinx it, so he just hoped and hoped that this lady would be kind enough to give them a home.

[Super <3]

Gena looked thoughtfully at the boy, "Anyone who goes to such lengths for a horse, deserves a home. You may live in an apartment here. We will care for your filly too." She had seen the filly when she had come in. "Here is the thing. I will train you to work at a barn and you will have a job here. That way you can work staying here. It won't have to be in exact payment but when you are told to do something you will need to do it. The barn will have to come first and I mean it." Looking the wboy over, she nodded, "I will get you clothes untill you can pay for them yourself. Any extra money you earn with extra work, you keep. Sound good?" Shining him a smile, she waited to see how he felt.

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

Daniel stood dumbfounded for a minute. She said yes? he thought. He nodded, and looked at Gena thankfully. "Thank you! That sounds amazing!" He couldn't believe that after all this time, he and Tag finally had a home. He'd figured that Tag would probably be accepted, but for him to be given an apartment so readily was almost more than he could believe. "I'll do anything you ask me to!" he said quickly. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, as he looked out of the window again at Tag and thought of her eating properly, sleeping in a proper stable, he almost teared up. "Thank you," he said again to Gena, with as much sincerity as he could muster. "It really means a lot. And I don't know much about horses - actually, nothing - but I'll try my hardest to learn quickly!" Daniel shut up before he made himself seem like a babbling idiot, and looked at Gena to see what she would ask of him first.

[Super <3]

Gena laughed, he semmed very nice. "Okay, good!" Grabbing a key she gave it to the boy. "This is for your apartment. If you lose it, come and ask for another. Room #3 on the bottom level. Settle in and 5 or 6 pairs of clothes should be waiting for you. I will take the filly into the boarder barn. What's her name?" She glanced out at the foal again.

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

Daniel took the key with a small smile. "Thank you," he said. He looked down at his clothes, and thought of how nice it would be to have some new ones for once. He'd been wearing these clothes for a couple months now; when you have no home it's hard to come by new things without stealing them. And Daniel wouldn't resort to stealing. He'd been tempted a few times, but in the end he'd stuck it out in his torn and battered jeans. "Her name's Tag," he said to Gena. "I never really thought of a proper name for her...She was sorta just a Tagalong, so that's what I called her." He smiled, remembering when he first saw Tag, as a day old filly. "I've had her for about two years, and that's about how old she is," he told Gena. "She's never really had much contact with people before." He stopped, remembering that he was in a place that dealt with horses all the time. Of course Tag would be fine, Gena knew a lot more about horses than he did.

[Super <3]

Nodding, she waved to him, "Go wash up. Your room has a shower. When you are done, Tag will be waited for you in the boarder barn and you can visit her to make sure she doesn't freak out." Walking to the exit, she smiled, "She will be fine." Going through the door, she closed it behind her and grabbed Tag moving her into the boarder barn in a fresh, unclaimed stall.