Wayward Bound. |Miranda|

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda and he stopped at the truck stop and Colin had asked about the other three horses she had with her. She told him about them and why she was taking them back. For the most part, she didn’t have time to ride them. She was so busy now days with school, work, horses, Collin… it was crazy. "I think she just remembered him from the trail rides. Either that or she's sweet on him." He told her when Scuro whinnied rather loudly toward Sonny. Sonny’s ears perked up and he whinnied back, but his voice was a lot lower and less ear piercing. Miranda laughed a little. They seemed to know each other. Maybe from that trail ride, or from just seeing each others heads over the stall doors. Miranda didn’t know but they knew each other and remembered.

After getting the horses loaded up for the last time for a couple days hopefully, she got in the truck and looked in the mirror at her hair. It was a mess and she quickly leaned back in the back seat and grabbed her brush from her bag so she could brush her hair so at least it would look half way decent. Collin looked to her and said, "You still look pretty to me." He told her. She smiled to him and looked at him after finishing brushing her hair. She put her brush back in her bag. “Thanks...” She told him then he started to speak again. "...Although your hair did look like you spent the night in the trailer..." He told her. She looked at him and dropped her mouth. Collin moved over quickly as if she would hit him. She folded her arms and pouted, then looked at him. “I wouldn’t be talking.” she told him pointed to his hair.

After a long day of driving, she finally got to where they needed to be. They got out and parked. Then unloaded horses. The three horses going in pens outside the barn, and Streak and Sonny going in the barn, as well as Scuro and Arrow. She showed Collin where to put his and noticed Scuro was right at home. She smiled glad to see that. She couldn’t quite tell what Arrow was thinking and feeling right now. Streak and Sonny whinnied and greeted all their old barn buddies making sure every horse knew they were in there. Then they all quieted down and her parents came in. Miranda introduced her parents to Collin. Her mom introducing herself and Collin’s reply was, "Yes ma'am." Miranda smiled, glad he had manners. Her ex- fiancé had no manners whatsoever. She noticed that he was having a hard time trying to decide whether to use accent or not. She would rather him act like his normal self, that way they wouldn’t hear him slip on accident and think that he was a faker. “Good to meet you too, sir." He told her father. She smiled glad that everyone was getting along. “See you at dinner dad.” She said when he left. Her mom left and they kissed each others cheeks.

Soon they were back at the truck to grab their bags. She called for Beaver to come over and show Farrow around. Farrow had looked at Collin as if to ask permission first. Colin motioned him off and the dogs went running off together toward some pastures. "You'd never think he was almost 15 years old." She looked at Collin and grinned. “I wouldn’t have believed it.” She told him. They grabbed their bags and headed toward the house, past the kitchen, upstairs, and to her room. "...Your parents don't mind?" He asked her, as if he were worried they would get mad. She shook her head. “No, I’m twenty-one. They let me make my own decisions. And they wouldn’t care anyway...” She told him and smiled. Her parents weren’t the strictest, but not the nicest. But when you were serious with a guy or girl, they never minded if they were in the same room. And now that she was older and they really had no control over her, they wouldn’t get mad at her for it. "I love you too" He said quietly. She smiled.

Miranda picked her phone from her pocket to see who texted her. Collin gave her a pouty face and she giggled. , "I'm glad she was able to watch him." He told her when she said that Soncee had no problems with Cloud and the other horses. “Me too, or you wouldn’t be right here standing in front of me right now.” She said and smiled. She leaned up and kissed him again, but this time a little more passionate. He had kissed her back and then pulled away and rested his chin in her head. Her face was practically in his chest, enjoying the smell of him. "You should probably rest a bit now. You just drove a couple thousand miles in two days." He told her and let her go. She wrinkled her nose. ‘No, I will just sleep really well tonight. I want to show you around a little bit. Show you where I grew up.” She said. She took his hand and tugged him toward her bedroom door. She opened it and had him follow her down the hallway. She pointed out the bathroom where they would be showering, since her bedroom didn’t have a bathroom. She showed him her brothers rooms, and her parents room. Then a bunch of other rooms like the laundry room, office, game room. Then the kitchen, and living room.

“My house was pretty big. I was very spoiled.” She said and rolled her eyes. This actually was nothing compared to what her friends had when she was growing up. She then walked with him outside. ‘You know where the barn is of course. And these are the small pastures here behind the house. Then behind the barn are the two largest pastures. Then way back out are fields of alfalfa hay, and grain. And there is one huge pasture full of cows in the back of the fields. “ She said. “Want to go out and take a little ride with Scuro or something before dinner?” She asks him and smiled. They needed to get out a little bit. If he was going to see what Wyoming was all about, then they needed to go, because they weren’t going to stay forever... just a couple days then they were heading back. She looked at him and watched him, hoping he would say yes. She wanted to ride double on a horse. She didn’t care if it was Scuro, Arrow, or Sonny. Either horse worked for her.

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OOC: 1146 words.. good job. This one wasn’t as good.. blah lol

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

After loading the horses up at the truckstop before they started out on the last part of their journey, Miranda commented that she looked like a mess. As Collin got intot he truck he looked over at her and shook his head a bit. "You still look pretty to me." he had said. Miranda began to say thanks but stopped when he kept talking. At his next words she dropped her jaw to give her a shocked looking expression. He siddled away from her, figuring that she'd probably try to slap him. She crossed her arms and pouted for a second, then pointed to his hair. "I wouldn’t be talking.” she said. Collin just grinned at her, not bothering to check and see how bad his hair looked. "Yeah but I have a hat." he said- picking it up and setting it firmly on his head so that it was covering his hair. "See? You can't tell anymore."


Scuro's reaction when Collin first led the mare out of the trailer suprised Collin a bit. There was no doubt that she was highspirited from the moment she danced down the ramp. Her eyes were bright and her ears pricked alertly, her jet black coat gleaming as she glanced around. Collin halted the mare squarely at the end of the ramp, letting her take in her surroundings before he tried to move her. Ebony horse lifted her head to sniff the air, then taking sight of a familiar horse not far of she let out a high-pitched whinny. Collin covered one ear with his free hand and circled the mare. "Calm down lass." he laughed, before telling Miranda that he thought she recognized Sonny. At Scuro's greeting, Sonny answered with his own deeper pitched call, ears pricked. Collin patted the mare's neck, went over to untie Arrow- then led the two horses into the barn behind Miranda.

Miranda put her two horses into their stalls, then showed Collin where to put Scuro and Arrow. He first put up Arrow- watching the gelding for a moment. The gelding seemed to have a hard time adjusting to new places like some people did, and he began to wander aimlessly around the stall- sniffing it out to figure out what was where. Collin latched the stall door just as Miranda was tossing hay into the mangers, then led Scuro into the next stall. Quite opposite of Arrow, she had absolutely no problem with the new surroundings. Collin unhaltered her and she instantly strode over to the automatic waterer as if she had always been here and took in big gulps. Collin smiled slightly as he watched her, then after a moment he shut the door and latched it.

When he turned around he saw two people coming into the barn. Miranda ran over to them and hugged the woman so Collin instantly figured that they were her parents. He hung back a bit, letting them greet eachother before coming up. When he heard his name though, he ventured forwards. Miranda introduced him to her parents, then they both greeted him. Her mother hugged him and her father shook his hands, and Miranda seemed pleased enough that he had the sense to keep his manners, and after they were all introduced to eachother both Mr. and Mrs. Duggar left to do their seperate things. Miranda went out to grab her bag and Collin followed her, taking his own bag out of the truck. Miranda let Farrow out of the truck when they got there, and the dog bounded out thankfuly. He went to sit infront of Collin obediently with his tail wagging happily, and when a blue heeler dog came trotting up he looked up with mournful eyes at Collin- begging to go. Collin motioned the dog off and in a flurry of motion the elderly canine raced off with beaver. He commented that you'd never think Farrow to be almost 15 years old, and Miranda agreed. “I wouldn’t have believed it.”

They went into the house and to Miranda's room, and after Collin got in she closed the door. Collin thought it was strange that her parents didn't care that they would be sleeping in the same room, and said so. Miranda answered him with a sensible enough answer, although it still seemed a bit strange to him. “No, I’m twenty-one. They let me make my own decisions. And they wouldn’t care anyway...” she said. He nodded and smiled slightly. "Well I won't complain." he said, kissing Miranda back when she kissed him. A minute later her phone beeped to let her know she had a text, and Miranda pulled her phone out of her pocket to check it. Collin made a pouting face and she giggled- telling him that it was Soncee and she was just reporting that Cloud was behaving himself and things were going well. He told her that he was glad she had been able to watch the rambunctiouse colt so that he could come here. “Me too, or you wouldn’t be right here standing in front of me right now.”
Miranda kissed him again after that, this time more passionately. He kissed her back then rested his chin on her head a bit- telling her that she probably should rest a bit considering that she'd been driving so much in the past two days. Non-stop. ‘No, I will just sleep really well tonight. I want to show you around a little bit. Show you where I grew up.” she answered, wrinkling her nose at the thought of sleeping right now. He didn't argue, guessing that if she was awake enough to want to show him everything, she wasn't going to be able to sleep even if she tried to. With that she grabbed his hand and led him out of the room, showing him each room. When he saw where her brother's rooms were he looked over at her curiously. "Do they still live here or are they living on their own?" he remembered her telling him of atleast one or two brothers that were older than her.

After Miranda had shown him the whole house they went outside. My house was pretty big. I was very spoiled.” she said. Collin turned to look at the house again as they walked away from it. "No kidding. This place is huge." he said. Acres and acres of land spread out even past the house and barns and he could only imagine how big it way. Compared to his small trailer and their tiny house in england- this place was a palace. And sadly, he knew that if he were ever to marry Miranda- he could never give her anything this nice.

‘You know where the barn is of course. And these are the small pastures here behind the house. Then behind the barn are the two largest pastures. Then way back out are fields of alfalfa hay, and grain. And there is one huge pasture full of cows in the back of the fields. “ She said. Collin whistled under his breath, wondering how they could keep up such a large place. But then again- they probably had enough money to hire workers if they had enough money to have this place in the first place. “Want to go out and take a little ride with Scuro or something before dinner?” Collin smiled at the idea and nodded enthusiasticly. he was excited to see the place. "Sure" he agreed, glancing toward the barns. "We could ride double on Scuro if you want, as long as we don't go faster than a trot." A bit of a workout to get rid of her extra energy would be good for Scuro- and would probably help her sleep better that night.

Lenth -- 1336
Comments -- no muse D:
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

The horses seemed to settle right down in their stalls. She was happy of that too. She didn’t want any horses being stressed out. Sonny and Scuro were the most comfortable so far.. But they also have traveled around more too. Streak was pretty comfortable since he had lived here before. But he was still a little worried about why he was here. She hoped Arrow would be ok. She was sure he would since Scuro was here with him. Horses usually traveled better with another horse.. Especially a barn buddy. She figured that out when she was younger.

Arrow seemed to move around a little bit. But that was usual for horses that hadn’t been in different places before. If they had to, she could put Arrow outside in a bigger pen, maybe with Scuro so he will calm down a little bit. But that was up to Collin. She didn’t suggest anything yet. Maybe a ride will help the gelding out.. Or something. She didn’t know for sure. But she was sure the gelding would be ok, he was a good horse. It would just take a few hours.

Collin had met her parents. So far so good. Her parents liked Collin because he was good to her. That’s all they wanted. For some guy to come along and just be good to her, to treat her like she was a princess. Of course not spoil her, but at least treat her like she was special. Treat her the right way. And Collin was the one to do that. Miranda needed a nice guy, she deserved one after all the men she had been threw. Her parents loved to see Collin come into her life and make her happy again.

"Well I won't complain." She smiled to him and laughed a little. “You shouldn’t. And I won’t. For one, I can’t sleep without you by me.” She told him and she had kissed him. They had a moment of just standing here, holding each other in each others arms. She loved this man, no doubt about it. He was her prince charming. "Do they still live here or are they living on their own?" He asked. She shook her head and laughed a little. She had shown him all the rooms in the house. “No, they live by themselves. My oldest brother is married and has a kid and one on the way. My second brother is dating a girl.” She told him and started to show him the rest of the place.

"No kidding. This place is huge." He said. Yes, she was kind of spoiled. But at least she was grateful that she had what she did. She hardly bragged, but showing Collin where she grew up was a thing she wanted to do. He seemed interested as well. Of course Collin wouldn’t be able to give her all of this. But she didn’t care. She didn’t want all this, she just wanted him with her.. And just to be happy. She knew he wasn’t rich, she wasn’t either. She had what she wanted. She wanted Collin, and he was here with her. She hoped he wouldn’t get discouraged about maybe marrying her later on down the road and think that he couldn’t make her happy just because he couldn’t afford a place like this.

Yes, her dad hired men to come out and help. When she was younger they had hired men here too. It just made things a lot easier if they had more people. It was crazy to have such a big place, but it was so fun when you just wanted to get away… It was peaceful at there by yourself. . "Sure" He said agreeing to going out for riding double on a horse out in the fields. It was fun to ride horses out there and see all the scenery. “We could ride double on Scuro if you want, as long as we don't go faster than a trot." She nodded and smiled. “Ok, let’s ride Scuro then. If you lope, you don’t get to take in all the good stuff around here. You have to be slow to really see everything.” She told him and kissed him and walked into the barn.

In the barn she walked over to Scuro’s stall. “Hey Scuro. How you doing girl?” She asks the mare and held out her hand toward the mare to sniff her. She didn’t want to scare her, since she was in a different place. Things could look different in a horses view. She let Collin grab the mare and bring her out. Once the mare was out an ready to go, she got on first. Letting Collin get on in the back. She held the reins in her hand and walked the mare down on a dirt road so they could go up toward the fields. She looked around, once they got into a few trees. “Collin, I know you won’t be able to give me all this… if we get married. I want you to know that I would still marry you even if you couldn’t give me this. What matters is that I’m with who I love and someone I’m happy with.” She told him and leaned back on him a little bit.

She didn’t think life could get much better then this. She was with the man of her dreams on a great horse in Wyoming over looking the scenery of the mountains. It was great. She loved every moment of it. She pointed out a few of the tall mountains and told them the names of them when they got up on a small hill. Then she showed him where the cows were and all the alfalfa fields. She grinned and looked back at him. ‘Have you ever seen draft horses cut hay? Like when they did in the old days?” She asks. Her dad had a few teams of draft horses and he took them out to cut hay when it was cutting season. He would cut at least one field of alfalfa with them, then the rest with tractors. It was fun to watch and even take time to drive them.

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OOC: 1054 tried.. Its was late. lol

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

The first time that Collin had ever laid eyes on Arrow was at his home-ranch about twenty miles east of Pinewood. He had met the gelding's owners at one of Scuro's competitions and had started talking with them when they came and started commenting on the way Scuro was so well balanced when she changed leads and went into circles. They somehow got onto the subject of a bulky quarterhorse gelding that they had bought for their daughter two months before; supposively bombproof and a great kids horse. They commented that although the gelding was bombproof, he wasn't a good kids horse for the fact that he was so clumsy. It was then that Collin had offered to look at the horse sometime to see if he would be able to fix the gelding's problems. Two weeks after that he traveled out to the farm.

Arrow was out in the pasture the first time Collin saw him, and had come right up to them when he saw them coming. The gelding had then been quite thick even for a quarterhorse, and his feet had been overgrown. They had let Collin ride the horse around the paddock just to get a feel of him- and after a little longer they asked if Collin would be intrested in trying to help the horse. He hadn't been completely sure that he could fix the horses problems, but because he was needing another horse to work with and the gelding obviously needed help- he went ahead and accepted Arrow as his new project. The bay gelding had come to him not eve two days later.

Collin remembered well enough how the horse had been fairly unsettled when he first got to pinewood, and he'd paced around alot. He'd also been off of his feed a bit so he wasn't too worried about the gelding. It took time for the horse to settle it and feel comfortable like most horses. It wasn't often that a horse would feel completely normal in different surroundings and he was just lucky that Scuro was that way. Arrow had come a long ways with his training anyways, so a little bit of uneasiness when he traveled wasn't a huge thing to be worried about. If he still wasn't settled by nightfall he'd give the horse a bit of herbs or something calm him. Chances were though, that he'd be fine.

Meeting Miranda's parents seemed to go fairly well so far. They had seemed to accept him and hadn't been hostile or anything like he had expected. Ofcourse- it was too soon to say anything final. Something could still go wrong but...for now things seemed to be going realy well. Hopefuly they'd stay that way.

When Miranda answered him about them both sleeping in the same room with pointing out the fact that she was twenty one and fully capable of making her own decisions- not being told what to do by her mom and dad, it made good enough sense. Tt was a bit different to him, but he definately was not going to complain about it, which he told Miranda. “You shouldn’t. And I won’t. For one, I can’t sleep without you by me.” She answered him, kissing him again. After that they just sort of stood there, Collin hugging Miranda to him and her standing there in his arms. After a little while though they went to see the rest of the house, and Miranda started to point out different rooms and who's they were. Collin asked if her brothers still lived here, and although he doubted they did since they were mostly older than her as he remembered, he wanted to know for sure. “No, they live by themselves. My oldest brother is married and has a kid and one on the way. My second brother is dating a girl.” Collin nodded before she led him outside towards the barn.

As they walked towards the barn, planning to go riding and 'sight seeing' at the same time, Collin couldn't help but wonder if it made a difference to Miranda whether he'd be able to give her this sort of thing or not. She had been raised in an obviously fairly well off family from the start, where he had started out from scratch. She lived in- even though she shared it- a pretty big house and owned atleast twenty head of horses, and he lived in a trailer with an old dog and three horses as companions. Would she care that if she were ever to marry him in the future that he would never be able to afford something even half as good? He couldn't support a whole lot right now while he wasn't even out of college yet and only training horses as a job. Later on if he suceeded as a vet he might be a little better off, but not a whole lot.

Once they got to the barn, Collin offered for them to ride double on Scuro as long as they didn't go over a trot. He didn't want to risk injuring the mare only a week or two before her competition. “Ok, let’s ride Scuro then. If you lope, you don’t get to take in all the good stuff around here. You have to be slow to really see everything.” Miranda kissed him then dissapeared into the barn. Collin caught up with her a second later, standing by Scuro's stall. He grabbed the mare's lead rope, opened the stall, and clipped it to the mare's halter quickly. Scuro nuzzled his hair then whickered to him before he led her out and tied her up by the stall.

Scuro's red bandages were still on her legs, preventing her form moving well when he rode, so he quickly unwound them and threw them away. Next he went out to the trailer and pulled his tack box out. He set it down outside of Arrow's stall and unlocked it, rummaging around untill he found a brush. Quickly he just brushed off the excess dirt on her back and legs then grabbed a hackamoor for the mare. There was no reason to use a bit today since they weren't doing anything complicated. This was his 'vacation' in a way so it might as well be for her. The mare accepted the bridle quickly, even opening her mouth for a bit. Collin patted her forhead and smiled. "No bit today lass." After a moment she closed her mouth and they led the ebony mare outside.

Miranda climbed on first, then he got on behind her. Miranda had hold of the reins because she knew the directions of where to go, so Collin just put his hands at his side. Miranda sent Scuro off at an easy walk, and headed them off down a dirt road. A little while into the ride he felt Miranda lean against him a bit, and he took that as a que to wrap his arms around around her waist lightly. “Collin, I know you won’t be able to give me all this… if we get married. I want you to know that I would still marry you even if you couldn’t give me this. What matters is that I’m with who I love and someone I’m happy with.” It was almost... as if she'd read his mind earlier. Collin raised his head a bit in suprise, then smiled a bit- glad she had told him. Not realy knowing what else to say, he just hugged her tighter. "I love you."

A little while later Miranda asked him a question. ‘Have you ever seen draft horses cut hay? Like when they did in the old days?” she asked, looking back at him and grinning. Collin shook his head. "No" They'd been riding for a while now, going up and down slopes and grassy knolls. Miranda had pointed out several mountains and Collin could tell she was enjoying herself as much as he was. No rush, and the landscape was beautiful. The whole time Scuro had behaved perfectly, walking smoothly over the unfamiliar footing. Collin leaned back a bit and patted the horse's rump. "Atta girl Scuro." he complimented, looking up at the bright blue sky. "This place is beautiful."

Lenth -- 1431
Comments --
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda had shown him around the house. There was a total of like five bedrooms- Four bedrooms for the family, one for each brother, one for Miranda, and one for her parents. Then there was a spare bedroom. The spare was for people that came by to visit, which was mostly family. All the rooms were plenty big and roomy. But she remembered when she was little; the house was a hunk of junk. It needed work, and lot of it So the family pitched in and helped remodel the house. The fences needed work and that was the next thing on the list to do. After the fencing was back to good, they built the barn they had now. It was a lot of hard work. Miranda remembered having to help a lot even though she was like two years old. She always learned to work for what you want and need. And the family needed a home and place to start over because their old place was taken away from them. With a little help with banks and loans, they got the ranch they had now up and going and they paid off their debt. Now of course they were rather wealthy.

Her oldest brother Brendan was a bronc rider and a roper during high school. Now he just mostly ropes because he has a wife and kids to take care of and doesn’t want to injure himself and put them in debt with bronc riding if he ever got hurt. So he didn’t do it at all, just roped on the weekends, worked during the weeks, and spent time with his family in the evenings. Brendan was Miranda’s favorite. He was the loving and caring one most of the years. Jake her second oldest brother, he was more wild. He was a good kid and everything but he got into trouble quite a bit. He was a bull rider, and most bull riders (not all of them) are... well lady’s men. They get what they want when they want. And that was exactly what he did. Al the girls he had gone to bed with her just thrown away. He started drinking and smoking at a early age too. Then one day, he found out that while he was drunk he got a girl pregnant. That was the last of his drinking days. He quit drinking and helped pay for his child, and still did to this day. He paid child support everything month. He got to see his kid every other week. He still smokes, but it’s better than drinking. Now he is dating a really nice girl that is trying to help him quit smoking and make him a better person.

Miranda had never got into the deep conversation about her past and her family’s past with Collin. She never told him that they had lost their small farm before and had to start fresh in a different state. She was little and really didn’t remember it much where she had lived before. Now, they were getting Scuro brushed and Collin put a hackamore on her. “No bit today lass." He told the mare when she opened her mouth willingly for a bit. Miranda chuckled and patted the mare’s rump. Miranda got on first, and then let Collin on. Miranda knew the basics of how to control the mare after her lesson with Collin. They had been riding for a little while now, maybe an hour or so. She got to a beautiful spot and was telling Collin about all the mountains and what not. She was enjoying this. She leaned back a bit and he put his arms around her waist lightly. She smiled and then told him that she didn’t care if he couldn’t give her all of this. She would love him no matter what; poor or rich. He seemed to not know what to say…there was really nothing to say. “I love you." He told her. She smiled and looked back him briefly. ‘I love you too.” She told him.

"No" was his reply to her question about if he had seen draft horses actually work. She looked back at him and blinked. “Never? I was for sure that in England you had seen it. I guess not. Hmm, to bad we can’t stay longer or you could see my dad and some workers come out and cut the hay field over there with the draft horses.” She says and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe another time.” She says. She was sure there would be another time, at least once or twice a year they could come over and visit. Miranda did anyway. “Atta girl Scuro." Collin told Scuro. She smiled and patted the horses neck, starting to head home, knowing dinner would be ready soon. "This place is beautiful." He told her. She smiled and nodded. “Yep, sometimes I wish I still lived here.” She says and ran her fingers through her hair. But sadly enough, she didn’t think she could ever stay here for long periods of time. There were just to many people she knew and those people were what had been holding her back before she left to get a new life.

After another hour they arrived back at the barn. She stepped down from Scuro and rubbed between her ears. ‘Good girl.” She told her and smiled. She grabbed Collin’s brush and brushed her down so Collin could put her away. “I think dinner is about ready now. “You hungry?” She asks him. But whether he was hungry or not, he was going to eat. Now Collin could see where Miranda ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Her family was big on eating and having healthy meals. But with all the hard work they did while she was growing up, they needed those meals to stay healthy. No doubt about it, they hadn’t had the food they did, they wouldn’t be healthy now. None of the kids or her parents had any really serious health issues.

Her thoughts wondered to dinner time, when they all sat down together. What would happen? She looked at Collin watching him with his horse. She had this itchy feeling inside that he just might ask them something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she had a feeling it was going to be something about taking their daughter into his care of some sort; as in marriage. Wow, she couldn’t believe she had thought about that. She couldn’t see Collin asking her parents. Not in a million years. But she could be wrong. You never knew until it happened. But all the better, it just made her want dinner to come faster to see how it goes.

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OOC: 1137 words. Sorry it took forever to reply. Got busy this weekend.

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

Like Miranda's house- The place that Collin had called home for the past 20 or so years of his life had not been the nicest looking place ever. They had origionaly bought it as a fixer-upper, but that plan had failed when Collin's father had lost his job and they didn't have the money to work on it. The wooden floors were warped and the roof slightly leaky. Most of the shutters had either broken or fallen off and when they had first moved in the grass had been a mile high. Infact the only reason realy that they had bought the place at first was because it sat away from all of the other houses. Out in the country and on a plot of land four acres large. For a short amount of time they had owned cattle- trying to make money. Ofcourse that didn't work out well so they ended up getting stuck with a broken down cottage and land they didn't use. Collin would of kept Scuro on that land but as she got more valuable and crime rates started to go up- he figured it best to leave her in safer teritory. Anyways, he didn't have a trailer and he had to rely on his trainer to help them out in that area.

And even if he had wanted to keep Scuro on their land, his father would of never agreed to that. He thought of horses as money and food eaters that did absolutely nothing for socioty. Collin was lucky to even get away with keeping his mare at the barn; let alone right by the house where his father would see her every single day. And Jake had always been good to them. In some ways- Collin had thought of the wise middle-aged trainer as more of a father than his biological one. The man was always kind to him and most of all... he understood Collin's love for horses. That man was the one that had finaly gotten Collin to take a flying leap- and go to America. Jake was one of the few living people that Collin missed in england.

Also like Miranda, Collin had two siblings. One- Des, had already been mentioned. Sadly she was no longer alive because she had died at age 7 from one of the rarely found diseases in the world. Polio. It had been so long since the doctors in their area had seen this disease, that no one realy knew how to treat it. They tried in vain but nothing seemed to work. It got worse and worse untill Des began to get severe muscle pains and had to be drugged on pain medication most of the time. Later the polio lead to becoming paralysed, and they had to take more drastic measures. Des was sent to America for treatment from some of the bests doctors in the world, and it seemed as if she was getting better. But just when things were looking better- she suddenly died. The day that Collin had heard this had been horrible, and he'd never forget it. Because of Des though; in a way, he was here. She hadn't been sent just anywhere in America. She had been sent to Pinewood Virginia. The reason that Collin had come to that certain place was to see her one last time- and to tell her that they missed her. He was the only one of the family who had been able to see her grave- and he had thanked her because without her; he wouldn't be here now with Miranda.

William, or Will, was Collin's twin brother. However, you'd never know that unless they told you. While Collin's hair was dark brown- William's was dirty blonde. Collin was quiet and polite, and Will was as reckless and inconsiderate as he could be. For whatever reason, he had been their father's favorite of the two. Probably because instead of listening to their kind-hearted mother like Collin had, Will had followed more in his father's footsteps. He was harsh and the kind of 'take what you can' person that Collin didn't want to be. Last Collin had heard, his brother had been in jail for being in a bar fight- seriously injuring someone. He had no idea if Will was out of jail or not because they hadn't spoken since Collin left England.

As Miranda and Collin rode bareback over the dirt road on Scuro, Collin looked around at the beautiful landscape. Mountains loomed like giants looking over the land and trees grew freely. He leaned back, patting Scuro. The mare was doing great considering that she had just been on a two hour trailer ride. She was relaxed and listening well to Miranda dispite not wearing a bit. Miranda spoke to him after a little over an hour of riding, answering something that had been worrying him just a bit as if she had known what he was thinking. He blinked in surpise for a moment, then wrapping his arms around her waist and smiled softly. He didn't realy have anything to say but 'I love you.' "I love you too" sure they seemed to say those three words alot, but a million times wouldn't be enough to Collin.

While Collin had seen draft horses quite often coming in and out of stables, he had never seen any working in a field. Most of the land where he had lived in England hadn't been very good for growing things, so there had been no need. Mostly there were sheep, cattle and other livestock. “Never? I was for sure that in England you had seen it. I guess not. Hmm, to bad we can’t stay longer or you could see my dad and some workers come out and cut the hay field over there with the draft horses.” She said, and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe another time.” Collin nodded slightly. "Where I lived the ground was hard year round, and not very rich. No one realy grew anything around there except maybe a few small, personal gardens." Too bad they couldn't stay here longer, but that was not possible. He had to prepare Scuro for her competition and get back to care for Cloud and Game soon.

When he commented on how beautiful Wyoming was, Miranda agreed with him. Yep, sometimes I wish I still lived here.” she said, running her hands through her long blond hair. "Well I'm glad you don't. I would of never met you that way." He answered truthfuly, leaning over to kiss Miranda's cheek somewhat akwards without falling off of Scuro. He 'd learned already not to kiss Miranda's neck- as she had told him on their last trail ride. After another hour or so they headed back to Miranda's house, and once they got there Miranda slid off of Scuro and quickly began to brush the mare down. Collin patted the mare's neck and grabbed a hoof pick, digging out the dirt and tiny pebbles that had lodged themselves in her feet. Once Miranda finished brushing the mare, Collin unbridled the mare and led her into her stall. Scuro nickered as he closed and latched the door, then went to eat her hay. “I think dinner is about ready now. “You hungry?” Miranda asked. Collin looked over at her and shrugged a bit, knowing that even if he said he wasn't- she'd make sure he ate anyways. "I guess so." He said, walking up to her and kissing her lightly. "Thankyou for letting me come here with you."

Lenth -- 1305
Comments -- Kinda crappy wording, but I dun feel good.
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda had never seen where and what Collin lived in. But she had figured since he wasn’t well off they lived in a beaten down little house. And they most likely had nothing that Miranda had. She was sure they had no cattle, no horses.. Maybe no land. She wasn’t sure but she was thinking that someday she just might get to see what his past was all about. She would even pay for the trip to England to see the other half of Collin. She always thought that England was for rich people. But I guess not. Collin purposively wasn’t rich. Miranda was always taught that England was wealthy from school because all they learned about was the queens and what not.

Miranda knew that Collin had a little sister that had died. She really didn’t know details. For one reason, she knew it was a hard subject for Collin to talk about so she never asked for details. She knew how losing loved ones was, but she could tell losing a sister was harder than losing a friend. His brother, she didn’t know much about except that they were twins and that the brother was total opposite of Collin. That was normal though for brothers and sisters. Miranda was more like her older brother. The one that was a somewhat trouble maker, but most of the time it was just little things. But her second oldest brother was more of the kind to break the law. Miranda had never done anything to get caught by breaking the law.

They had been riding quite a while, now on the way home. Miranda had figured that Collin was probably thinking that he could never give her all of this. But truthfully, she didn’t care if she got this or not. Just as long as she had a few horses, and a nice man; she was perfectly happy. And when she told Collin, he seemed surprised like she had read his mind. He wrapped his arms around her waist lightly. All he had to say was a simple ‘I love you’. She told him she loved him too. And that was that. Yes, they told each other they loved each other a lot, but you could never say those words enough.

. "Where I lived the ground was hard year round, and not very rich. No one really grew anything around there except maybe a few small, personal gardens." He told her. She smiled a little. That made sense, she kind of remembered that small detail of them not having good farming. “That sucks. Draft horses are incredible creatures. They are so big, but probably the most gentle I have seen.” She told him and smiled. She wished they could stay longer, but they couldn’t. He had to get Scuro ready, and get Cloud going. And he also had Game and Arrow still. So he was plenty busy. Not mentioning he had a couple horses going home to train as well. And Miranda had school, work, and horses to tend to as well.

“Well I'm glad you don't. I would of never met you that way." He told her. She went a little red and smiled. She felt him lean over to kiss her cheek. She turned her head so it was easier for him to do so. She smiled. “I’m glad too. I don’t know where I would be if you wouldn’t have been there for him the last like.. Two or three times I got hurt. Heck, without you I probably would be dead.” She told him and laughed a little. It was totally true, but she could be still very much injured and in the hospital. She looked around the area and saw the barn ahead. They got to the barn and got off and took care of Scuro. Then put her away. She asked Collin if he was hungry. "I guess so." was his reply. He probably knew now that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He walked to her and kissed her lightly. She smiled and kids him back. "Thank you for letting me come here with you." He told her. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you came.” She told him and kissed him again. Then took his hand to lead him back to the house. They needed to shower before dinner, they still looked like they had been driving for two days.

She walked into the house with him and took him upstairs and showed him where the bathroom was once again. “You can take a shower in there, I will take the bathroom downstairs. I will meet you in my room.” She told him and smiled. She grabbed herself some clean clothes and walked downstairs to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, just enough to get her hair clean. Then got dressed and walked back to her room and she brushed through her hair. She put mouse in it to make it curly. She put lotion on her arms since she was wearing jeans, and a low cut shirt. She walked to her bed and put socks on her feet so her feet wouldn’t get cold. She looked to Collin, waiting for him.

When he was ready she walked with him downstairs to the dining room where her mom had the table already set and the food there. Her dad walked in and washed his hands and sat down ready to eat. Miranda sat down motioning for Collin to sit down. “Hope you guys are hungry.” Michelle said. Dave smiled and nodded and waited for Miranda and Michelle to dish up first. Ladies were always first. Miranda dishes up with her mom then Dave started to dish up and Miranda looked at Collin and smiled.

“So Collin, after dinner I will show you those two year olds and see what ones you want to bring with you. Dave told Collin. Miranda just smiled, glad everyone was getting along. Michelle was quiet, just letting everybody else talk. It was normal for her mom to be quiet at the dinner table. Miranda ate quietly, actually very hungry. She dug in for seconds. After dinner Miranda and Michelle cleaned up the table and put the left overs in the fridge. Dave took Collin outside to the small paddock where the two year olds were at. “Here they are. Personally I think I want you to take this dapple grey filly there, and the palomino colt in the far corner.” He told him. Those ones were the calmest ones, the ones that were more willing to work, so Collin would have an easier time with them. Miranda talked to her mom while she was in the kitchen with her, then she walked out when the dishes were done to meet Collin and her dad.

________________________________________

OOC: 1153. Blah.. Kind of a lame post.

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

Collin wasn't sure what it was that made most siblings so different from eachother. But whether it was by choice or genetics- he was glad in a way that he wasn't like Will. Having his father hit him because he could, yell at everyone all of the time, and just plain be rather harsh had made him not want to be that way- but it had worked differently for Will. Instead of not wanting to be like his father, he began to act more and more like him with his own flairs. When they were both young, Will had been a hard studying, nice enough little boy. Sure he'd had his off days, but he was nothing like he was now. It wasn't untill he turned twelve that he suddenly became rough and violent. He was best known for gang fights and joy riding, but he'd also gotten into trouble for stealing. Collin just hoped that someday his brother would have a reality check and calm down a bit. Figure out what realy mattered and stop acting like some sort of fool.

Ofcourse, on the opposite end of that, alot of times Collin wished that he had been more like Des. Des had been one of those people that saw everything with the glass half full. She was constantly making everyone smile even when sometimes it was quite obviouse that she herself didn't feel like smiling. She had been cheerful when she was least expected, and giving. In a way she had been a perfect sillouet of their caring mother. Reflecting her in so many ways. Collin often wondered which of his parents he resembled enough. He tried hard not to be like his father but it was hard to judge yourself. All he realy knew was that if he could of done things differently he would of tried to help his mom more, talk to Will, and spend time with Des. maybe things would of turned out differently.

He wasn't sure where everyone got the idea that England was a rich and powerful country. Maybe it was just because no one had ever taken the time to care. England- while not being anywhere near a third-world country, was not rich atall. Sure there were certain individuals with large amount of money, but that didn't comare to how much money people in america had. And the more people that were rich in England, the poorer everyone else got. The rich didn't get that way by being famouse, they got it by cheating. Or atleast thats how Collin saw it. His family hadn't even been the poorest where they had lived and still they had seen plenty of nights where they had to go to bed hungry. Even alot of hardworking men couldn't make ends meet there; and had to live in dumpy places. And the worst part was that no one wanted to help them. Yes, they did have a queen, but that didn't mean the country was any better off than anyone else. It didn't mean anything anymore.

While they were still riding, Miranda asked Collin if he'd ever seen a draft horse team wiroking in a field like when they did a long time ago. He'd seen it on movies and in books, but not in real life. Where he had lived the soil was hard and mainly made up of ground up rock. Nothing to plant hay or corn in. Mostly people had raised pigs, chickens, cows and other livestock for a living. “That sucks. Draft horses are incredible creatures. They are so big, but probably the most gentle I have seen.” Miranda said, when he told her he'd never seen draft horses working in a field. He nodded in agreement. "They're beautiful animals. Thats why I picked a horse with some draft blood in it as my horse." He answered, patting Scuro a bit. The mare was a fresianXthoroughbred, and she had gotten the best of both sides if you asked him. She was lean and had incredible endurance, but she was also gentle and powerful. Her legs had some feathering over them if Collin let it grow out, and her tail a bit crinkly. The two breeds mixed had made Scuro absolutely gorgeouse.

When Miranda commented that sometimes she wished she still lived here, he smiled a bit and told her he was glad she didn't, and that he'd never of met her otherwise. Her face turned red lightly and when he leaned over to kis her cheek she turned her head a bit so he didn't have to lean so far and risk falling off. “I’m glad too. I don’t know where I would be if you wouldn’t have been there for him the last like.. Two or three times I got hurt. Heck, without you I probably would be dead.” Collin laughed and shook his head a bit, almost making his hat fall off. "Nah. You're tough." he answered, smiling still.

They rode back to the barn a little while later and dismounted. Miranda went to get a brush then began to brush Scuro off, and Collin picked the dirt and pebbles out of her hooves. The mare stood still, content now that she'd gotten her nervouse energy out. Collin unbridled her once they were done then led her by just a fist-full of mane into her stall. He shut the door as Scuro whickered to him, then turned to snatch some of the hay that had been left for her earlier out of the net. Collin then walked over to the stall Arrow was in and peeking through the slats. The gelding was standing at the side of his stall with his chin resting on the waterer; seemingly taking a nap. He looked alot calmer than earlier and his ears were relaxed as well as the rest of his body. His back leg was tilted and his lower-lip drooped, sleeping peacefuly. Collin chuckled a bit and backed up. "Well he doesn't looking like prince charming right now but he's calmed down atleast." He said, walking over to Miranda and kissing her before she took his head and they went up to the house.

Collin took his hat off as he entered the house and held it in one hand, holding the door open for Miranda. She got in and he shut the door. “You can take a shower in there, I will take the bathroom downstairs. I will meet you in my room.” she said, pointing which way he should go. He nodded and went to get a different set of clothes, then took a quick shower. After combing his hair down and putting on a pair of black jeans with a blue shirt, he went over to Miranda's room where she was waiting. A few seconds later they went down to the kitchen where everything was already set up. “Hope you guys are hungry.” Mrs. Duggar said as they entered the room. Miranda's father washed his hands then sat down. Both Miranda and her mom dished out their food, then her father did. Collin- ofcourse wasn't very hungry, but just to advoid being chided about not eating he put some food on his plate. For a little while everyone was silent, then Mr. Duggar spoke.

“So Collin, after dinner I will show you those two year olds and see what ones you want to bring with you. Collin looked over at Mr. Duggar and nodded quickly. "Yes sir." he said, finishing eating. Miranda's dad began to walk out of the door as Miranda and her Mom cleared up dinner and put leftover food in the fridge. Collin wasn't sure whether he should just follow or help clean up, but after a second he decided on just cleaning his own dished, casting a smile and Miranda then following after her dad quickly to catch up. When they got to the two year old paddock, Mr. Duggar quickly singled out two of the yearlings. Here they are. Personally I think I want you to take this dapple grey filly there, and the palomino colt in the far corner.” Judging by the looks of them, they were the two calmer horses of the bunch. Collin nodded in agreement. "I'll take your judgement on that, sir. You're around them the most." He looked at the colt and filly with a slight smile. They had good coloring and would probably make good mounts with the right training.

Just then he noticed Miranda starting to walk out of the house towards them, and glanced over at where Mr. Duggar stood still, debating on whether to ask the question he'd been hoping to ask for a while or wait for another time. Looking at the ground and scuffing the toe of his boot on the ground a bit he tried to decide. "Sir?" he began, not realy sure of what to say. "...May I ask a question...concerning Miranda before she gets over here?" She wasn't very close to them yet, probably out of earshot. He still had some time.

Lenth -- 1567 haha. weird number
Comments --
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda’s brother Jake, was a good kid until he got into high school. Then all hell broke lose. He started hanging out with the bad rodeo kids. He started to drink and smoke. Then he got into drugs as well. Soon enough, he got caught but it didn’t seem to really bother him until one day he got caught and wasn’t released from jail. I guess three strikes and you’re out. He got out after a year then decided to straighten up a little bit. He smokes still, but only drinks on occasion. He finally got a good girlfriend to help him keep on the straight path. Miranda was happy he decided to quit most of that and try and get a life.

Miranda though was probably the good kid of the family. Yes, she did get into trouble. She had her wild years. But she learned from her mistakes and now look at her.. She was probably the best friend a person could get. She was funny, she tried to smile all the time, she tried to be optimistic too. She had her bad days of course, but she hardly ever stayed depressed. Collin seemed to be a lot the same way. He was a lot more quieter than Miranda though. But there was nothing wrong with that.

Still on the subject of draft horses, Collin responded. "They're beautiful animals. That’s why I picked a horse with some draft blood in it as my horse." She smiled. She knew Scuro was part draft. She was big and had a disposition of a draft horse. She smiled and patted Scuro’s neck gently. She wished she lived way back in the day when they had no cars and people used horses. I mean, how cool would that be? Miranda wouldn’t complain. That would be cool to do farm work and use horses to get from place to place. She was sure Collin probably kind of felt the same way.

Miranda wished she still lived in this beautiful area, but then again she was glad she didn’t. If she had lived here all this time, there was no way her and Collin would have meant. And Collin had just told her about the same thing. Which told her that he loved her, and was glad they had met. "Nah. You're tough." He told her and smiled when she said she might be dead without him. ‘I don’t know about that. It seems I’m pretty fragile.” She told him and smiled.

"Well he doesn't looking like prince charming right now but he's calmed down at least." She peeked in Arrow’s stall and saw him and chuckled. “Yes.. That’s good he is calm. You might want to ride him a little later so he will be ready for the rodeo tomorrow evening.” She says and rubbed Collin’s back a little bit and smiled. She took Collin’s hand and walked with him to the house. At the house, he took his hat off and opened the door for her like a gentleman. She couldn’t remember any of her past boyfriend ever doing that for her. Not even her ex-fiancé.

"Yes sir." Collin told Dave politely when he offered to go see the two year olds with him. She was still happy that Collin had manners. Her ex-fiancé was really rude when it came to eating with her parents and what not. She hated it, she always felt embarrassed. After dinner Miranda and Michelle cleaned up the table and Collin brought in his dishes and gave Miranda a smile. Miranda smiled back at him, glad he was smiling. She hoped her dad was going out to talk about horses.. And not give him a lecture on how to treat his daughter.

"I'll take your judgment on that, sir. You're around them the most." Collin told Dave when he told him which two were probably the best ones. “To me they seem more willing to do things than the others. More friendly, and less spooky. I expect you to do good with them. Don’t let me down. “ He told him and smiled, knowing Collin wouldn’t. He seen Scuro and Arrow come out of the trailer and they had manners. Dave could tell they were well trained. The horses stuck out from all the bays, sorrels, and buckskins in the pen. Miranda had told Dave that Collin only wanted to take two so he did some thinking on what ones he wanted Collin to take with him.

Dave was standing watching the young horses start to frolic around. "Sir…May I ask a question...concerning Miranda before she gets over here?" Collin said. Dave looked at him and smiled a little. Kind of figuring where he was getting to. Collin seemed a bit nervous and Dave knew how being nervous was…and knew that asking permission was nerve-racking. “Sure. Ask away.” He told him and leaned on the fence a little bit. Miranda looked over and saw that it seemed that they were having a deep conversation so she took a turn toward a pasture where she sat on the fence and whistled like she use to all the time. The a few horses came trotting up to her and she petted them and called them by their names. She ran her fingers through their manes. ‘Hey guys. I sure do miss all of this. But it’s ok, I will come visit.” She said. The horses were mares, and they must have been pregnant since they were bigger than normal.

________________________________________

OOC: 1170.. Im excited on the outcome of their visit to wyoming :] lol

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

While in many ways Collin had been much better behaved that his brother, he had still been human; going through the same things any other person did in his teenaged years. There were multiple times that he would refuse to do something his mother asked him to do out of pure defiance, and times that he was lazy. He probably would of been more so if he hadn't been afraid of the lashed his father threatened often though. Looking back even now at age Twenty one- there were many things that he wished that he could change, or go back and do differently. Now that he had more experience and had learned what happened when you disobeyed.

Probably the most outstanding thing that Collin realy wished that he would of done when he was younger, was pay more attention to Des. She had often asked him to do something simple with her, things that didn't even take long like reading a book or playing toys. Sometimes she had wanted to go adventuring with him and Farrow- and yet because he'd had no idea what was going to happen less that two years later- he usualy refused and said he was too busy. I guess thats one of those things that you take for granted...untill you don't have it anymore. Collin just hoped that someday he would be able to go back to england to see his parents- and try to make things right with his dad as well as be kinder to his mother. Because even if sometimes his father treated him horribly; they were still family. Family shouldn't hate eachother. Collin had seen that through being away; here in America.

While they were still talking about draft horses, Collin commented that because of their amazing temperment and beauty he had picked Scuro, since she was indeed half draft horse. Miranda smiled and nodded. Collin had never known a time when he couldn't count on Scuro when he realy needed her to pull through. She could be nervouse and scared about something, but she never refused to atleast try. To him- she was about the best horse you could get, and he wasn't just saying that because he was her owner. The mare was one in a million. You could tell just from her looks that she was draft too; by her slightly thick neck and large comformation. You didn't often see a mare over 16 hands, and she was a very sturdy 16.2. Collin figured that once she was done competing, he might try her out as a mother. She was gentle and seemed to have enough patience for two or three horses. He definately didn't want to have her as a broodmare though; because it was rough on mares to be bred and have foals every year or two. Just one or two Scuro foals would be a very nice thing though. Someday.

‘I don’t know about that. It seems I’m pretty fragile.” Miranda answered when he said that she was tough. Collin had to disagree a little there though. While she was very accident prone, she rarely ever complained when she got hurt. She had every right to be limping around pouting whenever she hurt herself, but instead she stayed optomistic as always. Collin wasn't so sure that he'd be able to do the same thing in her place. That counted as tough to him. "Not mentaly; you aren't" He answered quietly; realy as an afterthought than an actual answer. With that Miranda turned Scuro back for her home, and they rode back to the barns.

After they cared for Scuro and put her up for the night, Collin went over to check on Arrow since he'd been pretty nervouse after getting here. When he looked in though, the gelding was asleep his his chin resting on his trough, perfectly at ease so it seemed. Collin smiled as he watched the gelding, then backed up and turned to report that he thought the horse had settled it alright. “Yes.. That’s good he is calm. You might want to ride him a little later so he will be ready for the rodeo tomorrow evening.” Collin nodded in full agreement. The gelding needed to get the stiffness out of his legs, and get atleast a tiny bit of practice in before the competition. He had improved alot in the past few weeks though, and Collin hoped he'd do well.

After dinner, Collin collected his dishes, bringing them over to Miranda and her mom, flashing a smile at Miranda. She smiled back at him before he left the house to catch up with her Father- who was going to go show him the different two-year-olds. Once they got there, Mr. Duggar pointed out two nice looking yearlings- one palomino colt and a pretty little dappled grey filly. Collin looked at them from the fence, then answered Mr. Duggar with aknowledging that he knew more about the horses and that he'd take the older man's advice over his own choosing. “To me they seem more willing to do things than the others. More friendly, and less spooky. I expect you to do good with them. Don’t let me down. “ Collin nodded quickly, "I'll try not to Sir." He said with a crooked grin. And he sure did hope that was true. Anyways, he'd saddle trained plenty of young horses. This should be easy.

A few moments of silence passed, and Collin shifted his gaze to the dirt, wondering if this was an alright time to ask the question that had been bugging him- and making him nervouse- for the past few days. Finaly, he decided to just shoot... before he lost the last bit of confidence he had. When he asked permission, to ask his question- Mr. Duggar smiled just slightly, as if he knew already what was about to be asked. Collin hoped that was a good sign.“Sure. Ask away.” He said, leaning a bit against the fence. Collin glanced up from the ground to see that Miranda had made a detoure towards a pasture with lots of mares in it, glad for the moment. He then focused, not realy sure what to say, not wanting to sound completely cheesy. "I... I know that I only met Miranda a month or two ago, but already I know for certain that - I love her more than anything. She's helped me alot when though I had no friends here for a while. And even though we haven't known eachother that long I know I want to spend my life with her..." He took a deep breath, finaly daring to look up at Miranda's father. "Sir, I want to ask your permission, and your wife's, to ask Miranda to marry me."

Lenth -- 1167
Comments -- Sorry not to write anything about your last para, I just want to have Miranda's dad's answer before I rped anymore- so I can decide what to do next.
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

Doesn‘t matter what is on the other side..

What matters is the climb.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda had started to think a little bit about going to England to see Collin’s family and where he grew up. That way she could understand where he was coming from in his actions and thoughts. So she decided to save up money from every pay check until she had enough to take them both there on airplane. Stay a couple days and come back. Of course she would try and get that arranged in the fall, or winter so they weren’t busy with horse shows. She wondered if Collin would be surprised if she did something like that. Would he refuse to go? Or would he be happy and go with her? She wasn’t sure but she was going to try and save up and get tickets to go. Not only for her, but she felt like Collin needed to go back and see his family that was still left; just like she was doing now with her own.


Scuro to Collin was Sonny to Miranda. Sonny was the horse she could count on most of the time, all through high school. He was her main man all through the high school rodeos and all those horse shows. He was talented at everything. He tried his heart to do everything perfect. She loved him for that too. And when her horse would go lame when she had to go to an important rodeo, she got Sonny out and rode him instead. He was so reliable that way. He was still reliable at his age and the wear and tear that he has been through. It seemed that Scuro was Collin’s best friend. He adored her and he treated her like she was his wife. She loved that about Collin; he took care of his horse like they were his own family…his own children. She always wished for a man like that in her life.

Talking about how she might just would have died without Collin there the last couple months; she told him she was very fragile. "Not mentally; you aren't" was his reply. She smiled to him. “Ok, I’m not arguing with you.” She said smiling still. She didn’t think she was strong, mentally or physically. But really she was pretty darn tough for a girl. Through the rape thing, the horse throwing her off and stomping on her, and the whole truck totaling incident; she never hardly complained about any pain. She just winced and got over it. She wasn’t the kind to really complain. She hated to complain and hated when people complained.

Miranda suggested Collin ride him tonight a little later. They had an indoor arena with lights, so they could ride in the dark if they needed to. Then they would probably practice a little bit in the morning before the rodeo that evening. She was planning on working Streak a little bit. Then during the afternoon, she was going to take Collin up in the mountains for a trail ride, to really see how beautiful it was here. But other than that, she thought Arrow was going to do great. He was already calm and sleeping in his stall so he was relaxed, that was all that really mattered.

"I'll try not to Sir." Collin told Dave. Dave smiled to him, knowing Collin would try his hardest, and do a good job of it as well. To Dave, Collin seemed to be nervous about something. And soon enough, Collin started to talk. He asked if he could ask a question concerning Miranda. Dave just nodded and pretty much told him to go for it. "I... I know that I only met Miranda a month or two ago, but already I know for certain that - I love her more than anything. She's helped me a lot when though I had no friends here for a while. And even though we haven't known each other that long I know I want to spend my life with her..." He said to Dave after making sure Miranda had detoured away from them. In which she had to the pasture of mares. "Sir, I want to ask your permission, and your wife's, to ask Miranda to marry me." Dave smiled to Collin and nodded. “I want to tell you a story. I had only dated Miranda’s mother about…maybe five times and I asked her to marry me. She said yes. So don’t worry about how long you guys have been going out. It’s when you feel that love for someone that you make your decision off of. So if you love Miranda like you say…well I know you do because you treat her like she is a princess. You have my permission to marry her. And you have my wife’s too. “ He told him and smiled. He stood up straighter and patted Collin’s shoulder. But soon enough, Miranda came flying out of the barn excited about the mare going to have a baby.

She looked back to where Collin and her dad were. She would just let them talk, knowing her dad got a little angry sometimes when people interrupted conversations. So to avoid that…she decided not to go over until they seemed like they were both done talking about whatever they were talking about. She got off the fence and ran her hands over one of the mares back then looked underneath of her. Her milk sack was large and was waxing.. That meant she was going to have a baby really soon. She squealed a little then jumped the fence and ran to the barn to grab a halter. She ran back out and caught the mare and took her out of the pasture and put her in the birthing stall. She let her go and smiled watching the mare. Usually when the mares waxed it meant they would have the baby within a few days. But usually their horses were within 6 hours.. And also she could have been waxing a couple days ago too and they never knew. Soon the mare started to get restless and pacing. Miranda knew she was going to have the baby now. Miranda came running out of the barn to Collin and her dad. “Chick is going to have a baby!” She said excitedly, hoping their conversation now was over.. She was sure it was though

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OOC: 1060 ish.. lol. It sucked but I deleted the last paragraph from last post and put it on this one lol

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

The reason for Collin taking care of his horses as well as- or in some cases better than he would his own family, was because in more than one way they were his family. He was the one that supplied their food, water, exercise and companionship. The one that spent multiple hours just talking to them or brushing them. The main thing in a family was to take care of eachother. And thats how it was for he and his horses. He supplied basic neccesities for his equine companions and in return they were always there for him when he needed listening ears that wouldn't judge him, a strong shoulder or simply someone who loved him unconditionaly- even if he messed up from time to time. Sometimes he was better able to relate family topics with the three horses better than he could with those that were realy related to him. His real family.

Collin thought himself to be very lucky. Miranda was one of the few people that were still like him in that she took very good care of her horses. Sure she didn't always get to exercise them as much as she'd like to due to the fact that she had so many equine friends to care for- but she obviously tried her harded to take care of them and not one of them that he'd seen was neglected or abused in any way or form. They were all happy and healthy. Not everyone could find another person that they got along almost perfectly with- and especialy not twice in their lifetimes. Sure He and Miranda didn't always get along, they'd already had a few disagreements and things that had to be worked through, but so did everyone. They'd been able to work through all of the things rather quickly and if anything, their relationship was just a bit stronger every time.

When Miranda once again thanked him simply for being around and helping her when she got hurt, Collin told her she would of been fine without him. He didn't realy feel all that specialy- he'd just been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time was all. And ofcourse when he saw her hurt he wasn't going to just leave her. It wasn't like him to do that sort of thing. He was grateful though that he had been there- or things may of not turned out quite the same. Still. “Ok, I’m not arguing with you.” She replied, when he told her that even if she wasn't physicaly strong she seemed to be quite mentaly strong. He smiled softly at her then, glad to hear it. He knew that even if she didn't think she was strong- she was. She'd been through so much in the past few months or so that he'd known her. Rape, truck accidents, injuries, you name it. It had happened. And yet through all of it Collin rarely ever heard her complain.

Miranda soon suggested that Collin work with Arrow just a bit before the night was over just to get the kinks out of him. Also working in the new territory would probably do him some good and help him get used to everything. Collin agreed fully. Since the rodeo event was the next evening- they also had plenty of time for the gelding to maybe get in a bit of barrel practice and still have good energy for the race later on. Ofcourse, since the bay was already middle aged Collin figured he'd just test him once around the barrels to get him in tune again then give him a rest. He didn't want the Quarterhorse to get too run down and not be able to perform. It was hard on him to travel so far and they had to be careful.

Later on after dinner- Collin followed Miranda's father out of the house to the pasture where all of the yearlings were kept. They were planning on having him take back two or so to saddle break and he needed to choose. When they got to the pasture the man quickly singled out two yearlings, a pretty dappled grey and a palomino. He explained that the pair were the calmed and most willing to learn- and that they might be a good chose. Collin agreed, knowing fully well that Mr. Duggar was more experienced with the yearlings than he was, and that he probably new best as to which horses would be the best. When the man told Collin not to let him down though, Collin answered with the best answer he could think of and that was 'I'll try not to.' He highly doubted that he would have any trouble with the two youngsters, but he didn't want sound haughty or anything. Anyways, it was better to be safe than sorry when concerning horses.

After a little while Collin decided on asking a question that had been on the back of his mind since they left Pinewood a few days earlier. Not realy sure how to start though- he started stuttering a bit at the beginning. Miranda had been walking towards them moments ago but at last minute she had detoured and headed towards the pasture opposite of where they were. Mr. Duggar listened to Collin quietly- and when he was finished the man smiled and nodded a bit which reassured Collin. “I want to tell you a story. I had only dated Miranda’s mother about…maybe five times and I asked her to marry me. She said yes. So don’t worry about how long you guys have been going out. It’s when you feel that love for someone that you make your decision off of. So if you love Miranda like you say…well I know you do because you treat her like she is a princess. You have my permission to marry her. And you have my wife’s too. “ Collin's eyes stayed meekly shifted to the ground as he spoke but when the last sentance or two finaly registered he looked up and grinned- his eyes brighter than they had been in a while. "Thankyou sir." he said finaly.

Miranda's father stood up a bit straighter then patted Collin's shoulder as if a little bit reassuringly, just as Miranda came flying towards them with her face bright in excitement. “Chick is going to have a baby!” She announced, stopping infront of them. Collin grinned, glad for her. She seemed to fit in to the ranch lifestyle so perfectly even after only half a day of being back. And now a horse was going to be having her foal today of all days. He hugged her quickly then glanced over at the barn where she'd raced out of. "That barn?" he inquired- pointing at it.

Lenth -- 1170
Comments -- Cruddy, but Im sick and haven't rped in weeks xD I'll get back into swing soon.
[/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

If you want someone who will be your friend. I'm your woman.

If you want two arms to get wrapped up in, I'm your woman.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda treated her horses like they were her very own kids. They were very well cared for. They had discipline but were never abused. They were always petted and rubbed on if they weren’t ridden. But Miranda was going to get rid of the majority of them now. She had realized they weren’t being used like they should and they were all very nice horses that had great talent. They didn’t deserve to sit around, they deserved to be used. She wanted to downsize to maybe five horses; Streak, Sonny, and three other ones. Her horses have been there through thick and thin. They were her friends and family to her. Even though she had a great family, horses didn’t talk back. This was nice on a bad day.

Miranda and Collin were probably the very few that treated their horses like their own kids. They were always well taken care of. They were always clean and played with. She thought that everybody that had a horse needed to treat their horses like that. She still wanted so bad to be able to work with all her horses, but she couldn’t. She felt bad too, but soon they would be sold to good homes where hopefully they will be worked and rode. Collin loved and took great care of his horses. He was around them practically all day long and Miranda thought that was amazing that he could do that. She loved him and that was one of the reasons why.

Still, Miranda didn’t think she was really that strong mentally or physically. But then again she was really stubborn that way and you couldn’t tell her anything; for the most part anyway. Sometimes she did listen, just not very often. She had been through a lot the last couple months and Collin had been there for her all through it. She was happy that he was too or she might not even be here and alive. Well, in her opinion that was how she felt. Collin thought she would have made it anyway. She told him she wasn’t going to argue with him about it, because she didn’t want it to end up a fight. So she kept quiet and just smiled back to him and kissed his lips gently. She was glad that his man in front of her loved her for what she was. And it was surprising that he hadn’t got scared and ran away because of how accident prone she was.


Miranda planned on working with Streak for the rodeo later on before the rodeo this evening; to get his wiggles out and all his friskiness. The horse tended to get frisky after long drives. But what horse didn’t really? Collin said that would be a good idea as well for Arrow. She didn’t think that Arrow would be terrible though. But it was better to be safer than sorry, right? That was what Miranda thought. She wouldn’t want Collin or Arrow hurt; or herself and Streak. Either way it would be bad if they got hurt. It was a long drive back home if you were hurt.

Collin and Miranda’s father talked about what horses should be taken back with Collin. He had told him to take the palomino and the dapple grey horse since they seemed to have better personalities then all the others. They were a lot more willing to work. Collin agreed and told her dad that he would try his hardest to get them trained nicely. Her dad thought he would do a great job anyway. And he trusted the boy to take the horses and do his best with them. That was all her dad asked of Collin. It really wasn’t that hard.

Collin asked permission to take Miranda and marry her. Her father told him a story about him and his wife. That they had only dated a couple times and they both knew they were meant for each other. Miranda’s dad knew that Collin would take great care of Miranda. He knew he treated her like she was his everything. So he told him he would let him let him marry her. “Thank you sir." Collin said with his eyes bright and his smile big. Miranda’s father smiled back and nodded. ‘You are welcome. Take great care of her.” He said and looked over to see Miranda start to run over, very excited.

Miranda came flying over very excited. One of her favorite childhood horses was going to have a baby. The mare had all the signs of having the baby very soon. Probably within the next couple hours she would be having this baby. Miranda was a ranch girl through and through. She knew the place like the back of her hand. She would never forget the ranch and the ranch way of life. Collin hugged her and she hugged him back bouncing up and down excitedly. ‘That barn?” He asked and pointed. She looked at where he was pointing and she nodded. “That’s the one.” She told him and took his hand and drug him to the barn and to where the mare was in her stall. The mare was laying down now and grunting. She looked in and saw the mare. “Let’s see if she will be ok without our help before we go in. “ She told him. This mare didn’t have complications when having foals, so hopefully it wouldn’t go wrong. But so far so good. The mare was doing just fine pushing by herself.

She looked at Collin, and could tell he was happier then usual. His eyes were still bright. She looked at him curiously. “What were you and my father talking about out there?” She asked noticing her dad had left again. Her dad was very busy running the ranch and all. And he knew that Miranda knew how to help a mare and a foal. She had done it all her childhood. She looked at him, wondering what he would say. She was clueless of what they would have talked about besides the horses he would take with them to train.

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OOC: l029 or something like that. I am rusty since I havetn posted a long post in like.. two weeks lol

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]

[Collin Sivlin]

Collin

[/b]
Like a painted wild mustang
Flyin' out across the open range[/center]
[/font]

To Collin, it had never realy been a question of whether or not he was going to take care of his horses that day. He'd never once paused as he was heading out the door even when freezing cold rain was pouring down from the heavens to think 'jee, I realy don't want to today.' It had never been a choice. He never realy conciously thought about the fact that he took care of his horses, he just did. Thats what you did in a family. From one day to the next you didn't just randomely decide you weren't going to feed them, or care for all of their needs. it was something you just did solely for the fact that you loved them enough to put their needs before your own comfort. Its what linked two and two togather to make more than just friends. It was the bond.

So whenever Collin thought of wanting to someday in the future to marry Miranda, he in someways related that to the one thing that he knew backwards and forwards. The one thing that he could be 100% sure about no matter what. His horses. He knew that in order to ask her to become his wife- he'd have to be able to take care of her. And no matter how much he wanted to be able to do that easily he knew that realisticaly he didn't make enough money to support two people right now. Even if Miranda did have a job. Even if she supported them the rest of the way- he wanted that assurance that he could care for her. That was part of the responsibility to him. And it was also why he hadn't yet purposed. He would though. Someday.

If someone were ever to ask Collin what made him love Miranda though, he'd have a hard time telling them. So far almost everything about her he liked in some way or another. She was outspoken, not shy, seemingly smart, kind, encouraging... the list could roll on for hours before he could end. Her only downside was that she was extremely accident prone. Always getting hurt no matter what she did. He realy did love her though, and he never stopped thinknig that he was the luckiest person on erth to by some random act of chance meet her that day in the riding ring as he was practicing with Arrow. He thanked the gelding though, for that. Because without the chance to work western with him- he may of never met her.

Collin was still a bit nervouse about the next days event merely because it was Arrow's first time, and only his fourth in the show ring at a western event. The gelding was bound to be rather nervouse, and that was always a downfall even when you didn't have a horse who tended to be a bit clumsy. no, he didn't think anything would go seriously wrong such as an injury or anything, but he knew that alot depended on Arrow doing well in this event for both of them. Especialy for the horse. If he didn't prove to had gotten better over the past few months, there was a chance that his family wouldnt think him to be safe enough for their childred to barrel race on. That would result in him being sold- and who knows were an unsafe bay gelding would end up.

When Collin finaly got up the nerve to ask Miranda's father the question that had nagged him for the past while, wanting to be sure that he had the 'Ok' of her parents before ever asking her to marry him- he was overjoyed when after telling him a bit about his own experience with Mrs. Duggar, Mr. Duggar answered with the best answer he'd heard in forever. You have my permission... he Didn't realy hear much after those four words, he'd have to admit. Grinning, he thanked the man- fully meaning it. ‘You are welcome. Take great care of her.” Collin nodded vigorously, his smile still in place and his eyes glowing as if a smile wasn't enough. No, he hadn't yet asked Miranda- the most important person, and deep down he was already afraid of what her answer would be later on- but for now he atleast knew he had two people alright with it. And that counted for a heck of a lot to him. There were plenty of young men in this world who would marry someone without asking their parents, but as he had grown up it just wasn't that way. Asking this question had been a bit more than just a 'blessing' as most would put it. If they had answered him with a no- he for sure would of never asked Miranda.

As if they had been timed- barely moments later Miranda's figure came flying out of one of the nearby barns at top speed towards them. Collin noticed her just as she neared them, slightly worried. When he saw her excited expresssion though, he immediately relaxed and smiled at her. Quickly her excitement was explained when she told them in a rush that 'Chic', who Collin guessed was a horse, was about to have her foal. Collin quickly hugged her- glad that she had something to do that had distracted her for a little while. When he turned towards the barn she'd come out of it and asked if that was the barn the horse was in, she nodded. “That’s the one.” she confirmed, grabbing his hand. Collin laughed and allowed her to pull him along into the barn. “Let’s see if she will be ok without our help before we go in. “ Miranda said once they got to the stall that the mare was in. From where he was standing, Collin could see that she was laying down already- and it wouldn't be long untill the foal was born. He nodded to let Miranda know he heard her, then stood behind her and linked his arms around her waist to wait.

Miranda looked over at him after a moment curiously, though Collin wasn't sure why. “What were you and my father talking about out there?” she asked. He looked down at her, not realy sure of what to say without lying. 'Not much' wasn't exactly the truth. Finaly he shrugged a little bit, smiling lightly at her. "The horses mostly. He wants me to take the dappled grey and palomino I think." He said, giving a little detail so that hopeful she wouldn't ask what else. He wasn't yet ready to ask her. He glanced over to where the mare was still laying down, then kissed Miranda quickly- still quite happy. "I love you."

Lenth -- 1164
Comments -- [/blockquote][/size][/font]

[`Miranda Dugger]

If you want someone who will be your friend. I'm your woman.

If you want two arms to get wrapped up in, I'm your woman.[/color][/b][/center][/font]

Miranda was a lot the same way. She always got up and got horses taken care of. At least fed anyway. She might not get time to go and ride all of them but she sure tried her hardest to ride them once a week. Now Miranda did have those days when she just didn’t feel like getting up and getting horses taken care of. She would admit that she sometimes just didn’t feel like riding, which on those days she usually was sick to her stomach or something and just didn’t feel good. But other than that she was out and about doing stuff. She seemed to always have to be busy.

Miranda came from a rich family so money wasn’t a issue in her case. But she did see that Collin was one of those people that worried about if he could financially care for his horses, let alone a wife. It was a big thing to take on. Once you were married you had to buy twice as much food, you used twice as much electricity in the house, and other bills got twice as big. So she could see that Collin was worried about that because he grew up in a town where the men had to pretty much support the family in every way. Miranda though worked; if she didn’t work she would go crazy. And her family was rich and they could support her as well. But she really didn’t like that idea unless it had to happen. And she didn’t know how long it would until he got enough money to support her. If he was going to vet school that could take a long time before he was financially ready to take on a wife.

Miranda too could say so much about Collin. She had nothing to complain about with him. He was nice, caring, and he was perfect in her opinion. There were many words to describe him as well. Some days she wished he talked more but that was about it. She just plain flat out loved him. Back to the subject of financial support, he might have to pay for her medical bills because she was so accident prone. And that wouldn’t be good because sometimes they got pretty big. But lucky for her she had health and life insurance. So they usually paid the majority of the bills. She remembered when they first met in the arena. She liked the idea of a guy training a barrel horse. If it wasn’t for Streak and getting him practiced up again, she would have never met Collin. Dang, she loved her horses for that reason.

There was nothing more Miranda wanted then to be married to Collin. She had dreamed of the day. But she was willing to wait as long as he needed. She could wait. She was still young. Yes she wanted children, but that would have to wait too. She would just take it slow with Collin. She didn’t want him to rush into anything and back out because he is scared. That’s not what she wanted. She wanted him to feel relaxed and sure about his decisions he was making and the only way to have him feel that is to let him think it over through his head himself. But if Collin ever did ask her to marry him, she would say yes. No doubt about it. She wouldn’t have to hesitate. She loved Collin, plain and simple as that.

She ran out from the foaling barn to go get Collin. She wasn’t sure if he had ever seen a horse give birth but she was excited because Chick was one of her favorite horses from her childhood. She practically drug Collin into the barn to the stall. She peeked in seeing the mare was lying down and grunting. She was trying to push and that was good. She looked back at Collin and smiled. He was so good to her. He would do just about anything for her. She knew that for a fact. She asked him what her father and he were talking about. But she had no idea that they talked anything more than about the horses. He smiled lightly and said, "The horses mostly. He wants me to take the dappled grey and palomino I think." He told her. She smiled and watched his eyes. She couldn’t see anything that he was holding back. So she didn’t ask anything more. “Ya, those colts came from some great well bred mares.” She told him and smiled. She glanced in the stall and saw a head of the foal coming out. But before she could say anything Collin kissed her quickly. She was a little shocked because it was so quick. She wondered why it was such a quick kiss. She kissed him back and smiled when he said, ”I love you.” She leaned up and kissed him this time. ”I love you too.” She told him. She looked to the mare and smiled. ”She’s doing just fine. After this, we need to go ride out in the arena and practice a little.”She told him and rubbed his shoulders gently.

She could clearly see Collin was happy. And to see him happy made her happy. She hoped that while they were here nothing bad would happen and her get hurt like always. But it seemed that she had her month’s injuries. But who knew with her, she was accident prone. After another 15 minutes the foal was born and the mother got up and starting licking her foal. ”Let’s leave them alone now.” She told him and took his hand and walked him out of the barn and to the barn where their horses were. She walked to Streak’s stall and took him out and tied him up outside his stall and grabbed a brush from the nearby tack room and started to brush him. She saddled him up afterwards then looked to Collin to see how he was doing, and how Arrow was doing. She put some splint boots on Streak’s front and back legs.

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OOC: l025 or something like tha. tsorry it took so long. Got busy.. and im not use to postin so long now

[/size][/blockquote]
Miranda Dugger
I need you. Like a needle needs a vein. [/color][/font][/center][/b]