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Description

"Weeping Willow"

Music: Meet Joe Black - Someone Else (Thomas Newman)

July 9th, 2016

The plastic chair, tossed aside, was lying dead in the tall grass, never to be used again.

A little way off, Anne and Andrew were sitting next to each other, their legs crossed and shoulders brushing slightly. The stud’s owner was a picture of misery. Dark streaks trailed down her cheeks, eyes were red and lids swollen - hoping to be unnoticed, Andrew glanced at her, comparing the person next to him to the woman he’d known for so many years.
He was confused. Anne had never seemed so… sad, so utterly bereft of all hope; usually, she was the first one to fight for something, and the last one to give up. Always a witty line on her lips, she’d stood up to anything that would get in her way. She’d been the heart of the stud, the very core, her fate so closely linked with its – and as she seemed to have given up all hope, the whole place followed suit and drowned in some deep slumber.
Andrew sighed. The wetness of the grass was slowly seeping into the seat of his pants, making him uncomfortable sitting on the cold ground.

Something was preying on his mind. The thought had been there for so long; but so far, he hadn’t known how to break the matter to her to minimize the damage caused by it. Anyway, there was no way around.

“Anne –,“ Andrew started, unsure where to start.
“Hm.” It was more a sound than a word that came from the woman, but Andrew, finding himself satisfied by the presence of a reaction, continued with newfound strength. “Things have to change,” he said.
Anne closed her eyes. “Things have changed enough, I think,” she murmured, dropping her head.
“No, I mean, we can’t continue like this. The horses are literally feeding on our money.”
Silence.
Anne seemed to gather her strength before replying “Can we discuss this later?”
“No, we can’t! We have to take action.” Andrew hesitated, but finally, the words bubbled out of him, “You know, I didn’t get the trainer’s license for nothing. Wouldn’t that be –“
“No.”
Andrew clenched his fists. “Come on, what’s so bad about the idea?”
“I don’t want another bunch of kids bouncing around. I don’t want the Waving Tree to be a riding school! It’s never been one!-“
“Of course it’s never been one, but things can change! Have to, even. Just think about it…”
Anne squeezed her eyes shut. Andrew drew back, afraid to have upset her again – but slowly, anger was building up inside him. How could she be so… stubborn? So entirely lost in her own ideas that she didn’t accept anything different from the fond memories she dwelled on?
“Think about it,” he repeated, but no further reaction was to expect from the woman. Anne was bent forward, sitting almost like a ball. Her face showed nothing but resignation and a certain forlornness – Andrew felt a sudden wave of compassion wash over him and he reached for her shoulder to squeeze it gently.

Again, silence. Andrew lowered his arm so his hand slipped of her shoulder, then he shoved it into his pocket. He shuddered as his fingers touched the rim of some paper that was stuck there - right, there was something he'd forgotten. Quickly, he pulled the object from his jacket and held it up in front of his face.

There’s a letter,” he said, turning towards Anne again. “Came this morning. Guess you didn’t see it yet.”
For a split second, a shadow brushed over Anne’s face, like a dark cloud of sudden, suppressed anger, but then she nodded.
“Of course I saw it,” she snapped, as if to get across that she wasn’t in the mood to talk. “I told you not to –“
“I didn’t! There was no ad. They contacted us just like that.”
Anne didn’t answer. Hiding her face in her hands, she sighed and slouched her shoulders. Andrew pulled the letter out of the pocket of his jacket.
“Maybe you want to read it at least.”
Anne shook her head tiredly.
“Believe me, you do want to,” Andrew added.
Anne lifted her head. There was a twinkle in his eye, a certain pleasure that she could only be grossed out by, but eventually, she snatched the letter from his hand and slipped it out of the envelope.
And didn’t say anything for a long time.

~~~

The corridor was dim - where the willow tree was blocking the windows, barely any light fell into the timber-framed building, making the inside all gloomy and dull. Kain was in a hurry; he’d downed the rest of his coffee, slipped on a thin jacket, and was now pulling chaps over his shins. He was about to take Dido, the filly, for a little ride today, to make sure she wasn’t getting up to nonsense with all that energy she couldn’t handle. He actually looked forward to it – rainy days were a favourite of his, and the filly’s speed and high spirits always managed to cheer him up.
He was about to open the door, when he caught movement in the dark part of the corridor. Anne was standing there – making the dark-haired man stop dead in his tracks.

“Kain –,” Anne said, inhaling sharply.
The look on his face was expectant, almost surprised. He didn’t know why he was so wary and alert… somehow, it felt like a weird feeling had befallen the stud – it had been like that for some time now, but Kain couldn’t really explain it. Maybe it was colder. Not quite as welcoming as it used to be. It was still like a second home to him… maybe that was the reason for the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Seeing a place that meant so much to him grow cold and distant was hard to accept.
But things did always change, and nobody could stop them.

Motionless, Kain was standing in the hallway, looking at Anne, who was fiddling about with a small piece of paper. At second glance it turned out to be a letter; puzzled, Kain watched her walk towards him and handing it to him.
“What’s this?” he said as he took it reluctantly.
“Well, a… letter.”
Kain raised an eyebrow.
“A job application. We might expand our staff. I thought I’d ask for your opinion.”
“My opinion?”
Anne rolled her eyes. “Oh, just read it already,” she said, gesturing with the left hand.
Kain glanced at her with a mildly puzzled expression as he opened the envelope. Was that a curl he saw in the corner of her mouth…? It seemed like forever since the last time he’d seen her smile.

Shaking his head, he lifted the letter and started to read.

And while he was reading, his eyes were growing bigger and bigger; the paper in his hand was starting to tremble, and finally, he looked up and met her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Navigation

PREVIOUSLY | NEXT

Storyline folder: "HOME"
WTS Timeline | Character Index

Waving Tree Stud on Pinterest: The Location | Aesthetics
Waving Tree Stud Playlist on Spotify

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It continueeeesss! I've been doing a lot of planning in the last few days - all these new plotlines need to be fit in one universe and still make sense in the end. It's certainly a challenge for me, but a fun one - I love it ♥
Writing this was a little difficult - it feels like I just keep saying the same thing over and over... but it's really just different characters' view on how the stud has changed compared to everything they remember. Also there's a bit of a cliffhanger. Muahah. Friends of WTS might say "dude it's so obvious what's happening", but for new readers [if there are any] it might still be a bit of a mystery. And the flow is a bit weird, but I guess I'm just rusty.

By all means tell me what you think, so I can make this something we all can enjoy. Go go, critique anything you want. (please note that English is not my native tongue. but I'm trying. xD)

I guess I'll stick with digitally coloured pencil sketches... Like this, I can work on WTS pics at school or in the train (an open sketchbook is by far not as weird as a battalion of coloured pencils on the table) plus, they don't take super long so I can focus more on the writing. And one day, they might even look good. xD

Art, written art, Anne, Andrew and Kain (c) by me, no ref used
DIN A5 pencil sketch, coloured with PS

Description

"Weeping Willow"

Music: Meet Joe Black - Someone Else (Thomas Newman)

July 9th, 2016

The plastic chair, tossed aside, was lying dead in the tall grass, never to be used again.

A little way off, Anne and Andrew were sitting next to each other, their legs crossed and shoulders brushing slightly. The stud’s owner was a picture of misery. Dark streaks trailed down her cheeks, eyes were red and lids swollen - hoping to be unnoticed, Andrew glanced at her, comparing the person next to him to the woman he’d known for so many years.
He was confused. Anne had never seemed so… sad, so utterly bereft of all hope; usually, she was the first one to fight for something, and the last one to give up. Always a witty line on her lips, she’d stood up to anything that would get in her way. She’d been the heart of the stud, the very core, her fate so closely linked with its – and as she seemed to have given up all hope, the whole place followed suit and drowned in some deep slumber.
Andrew sighed. The wetness of the grass was slowly seeping into the seat of his pants, making him uncomfortable sitting on the cold ground.

Something was preying on his mind. The thought had been there for so long; but so far, he hadn’t known how to break the matter to her to minimize the damage caused by it. Anyway, there was no way around.

“Anne –,“ Andrew started, unsure where to start.
“Hm.” It was more a sound than a word that came from the woman, but Andrew, finding himself satisfied by the presence of a reaction, continued with newfound strength. “Things have to change,” he said.
Anne closed her eyes. “Things have changed enough, I think,” she murmured, dropping her head.
“No, I mean, we can’t continue like this. The horses are literally feeding on our money.”
Silence.
Anne seemed to gather her strength before replying “Can we discuss this later?”
“No, we can’t! We have to take action.” Andrew hesitated, but finally, the words bubbled out of him, “You know, I didn’t get the trainer’s license for nothing. Wouldn’t that be –“
“No.”
Andrew clenched his fists. “Come on, what’s so bad about the idea?”
“I don’t want another bunch of kids bouncing around. I don’t want the Waving Tree to be a riding school! It’s never been one!-“
“Of course it’s never been one, but things can change! Have to, even. Just think about it…”
Anne squeezed her eyes shut. Andrew drew back, afraid to have upset her again – but slowly, anger was building up inside him. How could she be so… stubborn? So entirely lost in her own ideas that she didn’t accept anything different from the fond memories she dwelled on?
“Think about it,” he repeated, but no further reaction was to expect from the woman. Anne was bent forward, sitting almost like a ball. Her face showed nothing but resignation and a certain forlornness – Andrew felt a sudden wave of compassion wash over him and he reached for her shoulder to squeeze it gently.

Again, silence. Andrew lowered his arm so his hand slipped of her shoulder, then he shoved it into his pocket. He shuddered as his fingers touched the rim of some paper that was stuck there - right, there was something he'd forgotten. Quickly, he pulled the object from his jacket and held it up in front of his face.

There’s a letter,” he said, turning towards Anne again. “Came this morning. Guess you didn’t see it yet.”
For a split second, a shadow brushed over Anne’s face, like a dark cloud of sudden, suppressed anger, but then she nodded.
“Of course I saw it,” she snapped, as if to get across that she wasn’t in the mood to talk. “I told you not to –“
“I didn’t! There was no ad. They contacted us just like that.”
Anne didn’t answer. Hiding her face in her hands, she sighed and slouched her shoulders. Andrew pulled the letter out of the pocket of his jacket.
“Maybe you want to read it at least.”
Anne shook her head tiredly.
“Believe me, you do want to,” Andrew added.
Anne lifted her head. There was a twinkle in his eye, a certain pleasure that she could only be grossed out by, but eventually, she snatched the letter from his hand and slipped it out of the envelope.
And didn’t say anything for a long time.

~~~

The corridor was dim - where the willow tree was blocking the windows, barely any light fell into the timber-framed building, making the inside all gloomy and dull. Kain was in a hurry; he’d downed the rest of his coffee, slipped on a thin jacket, and was now pulling chaps over his shins. He was about to take Dido, the filly, for a little ride today, to make sure she wasn’t getting up to nonsense with all that energy she couldn’t handle. He actually looked forward to it – rainy days were a favourite of his, and the filly’s speed and high spirits always managed to cheer him up.
He was about to open the door, when he caught movement in the dark part of the corridor. Anne was standing there – making the dark-haired man stop dead in his tracks.

“Kain –,” Anne said, inhaling sharply.
The look on his face was expectant, almost surprised. He didn’t know why he was so wary and alert… somehow, it felt like a weird feeling had befallen the stud – it had been like that for some time now, but Kain couldn’t really explain it. Maybe it was colder. Not quite as welcoming as it used to be. It was still like a second home to him… maybe that was the reason for the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Seeing a place that meant so much to him grow cold and distant was hard to accept.
But things did always change, and nobody could stop them.

Motionless, Kain was standing in the hallway, looking at Anne, who was fiddling about with a small piece of paper. At second glance it turned out to be a letter; puzzled, Kain watched her walk towards him and handing it to him.
“What’s this?” he said as he took it reluctantly.
“Well, a… letter.”
Kain raised an eyebrow.
“A job application. We might expand our staff. I thought I’d ask for your opinion.”
“My opinion?”
Anne rolled her eyes. “Oh, just read it already,” she said, gesturing with the left hand.
Kain glanced at her with a mildly puzzled expression as he opened the envelope. Was that a curl he saw in the corner of her mouth…? It seemed like forever since the last time he’d seen her smile.

Shaking his head, he lifted the letter and started to read.

And while he was reading, his eyes were growing bigger and bigger; the paper in his hand was starting to tremble, and finally, he looked up and met her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Navigation

PREVIOUSLY | NEXT

Storyline folder: "HOME"
WTS Timeline | Character Index

Waving Tree Stud on Pinterest: The Location | Aesthetics
Waving Tree Stud Playlist on Spotify

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It continueeeesss! I've been doing a lot of planning in the last few days - all these new plotlines need to be fit in one universe and still make sense in the end. It's certainly a challenge for me, but a fun one - I love it ♥
Writing this was a little difficult - it feels like I just keep saying the same thing over and over... but it's really just different characters' view on how the stud has changed compared to everything they remember. Also there's a bit of a cliffhanger. Muahah. Friends of WTS might say "dude it's so obvious what's happening", but for new readers [if there are any] it might still be a bit of a mystery. And the flow is a bit weird, but I guess I'm just rusty.

By all means tell me what you think, so I can make this something we all can enjoy. Go go, critique anything you want. (please note that English is not my native tongue. but I'm trying. xD)

I guess I'll stick with digitally coloured pencil sketches... Like this, I can work on WTS pics at school or in the train (an open sketchbook is by far not as weird as a battalion of coloured pencils on the table) plus, they don't take super long so I can focus more on the writing. And one day, they might even look good. xD

Art, written art, Anne, Andrew and Kain (c) by me, no ref used
DIN A5 pencil sketch, coloured with PS