in riding a horse, we borrow freedom
Jan. 15th, 2018 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intheruinsSerena hadn't ridden for some time after George was born, even longer than Darrow's doctor's recommended. Back home, she surely wouldn't have been so cautious, but back home, George likely wouldn't have survived his birth.
Because she'd been reckless, riding when she wasn't supposed to and risking everything. By some miracle, she'd wound up in Darrow and with Beth Greene's care and compassion, the two had been okay. Better than okay. They're thriving, now, George eight months old – a fact that Serena can hardly to believe. Each day he surprises her with something new, an expression or a movement or a sound. The thing that surprises her the most, though, is the way that her love grows. So much grief had weighed her down for so long that even with her marriage with Pemberton, she often wondered whether she knew how to love.
But with George, it seems as if her heart only makes more room for all of the little things and big that her son accomplishes, and it changes the way she views the world and in particular this strange place she's found herself living in.
Before George and before Pemberton, animals were Serena's main source of love. Horses in particular. So to cease riding them hadn't been easy and it's a habit she falls back into happily. Some days, she teaches and trains young riders but others she simply canters around the arena all on her own, feeling in the saddle as if she could be anywhere or anywhen – content.
Today she's riding Sashimi, a chestnut thoroughbred with a personality that matches her own. She loves to jump more than anything, and Serena loves to soar more than just about anything. They're a perfect match.
Though it's cold out, they work up a sweat and Serena's pushing the hair out of her eyes as she returns the horse to her stall. She'll have to return back home, soon, to the countryside where George is being cared for by a sitter, but for right now she's happy to simply stroke the filly's neck, murmuring words of gratitude for their successful ride.
Because she'd been reckless, riding when she wasn't supposed to and risking everything. By some miracle, she'd wound up in Darrow and with Beth Greene's care and compassion, the two had been okay. Better than okay. They're thriving, now, George eight months old – a fact that Serena can hardly to believe. Each day he surprises her with something new, an expression or a movement or a sound. The thing that surprises her the most, though, is the way that her love grows. So much grief had weighed her down for so long that even with her marriage with Pemberton, she often wondered whether she knew how to love.
But with George, it seems as if her heart only makes more room for all of the little things and big that her son accomplishes, and it changes the way she views the world and in particular this strange place she's found herself living in.
Before George and before Pemberton, animals were Serena's main source of love. Horses in particular. So to cease riding them hadn't been easy and it's a habit she falls back into happily. Some days, she teaches and trains young riders but others she simply canters around the arena all on her own, feeling in the saddle as if she could be anywhere or anywhen – content.
Today she's riding Sashimi, a chestnut thoroughbred with a personality that matches her own. She loves to jump more than anything, and Serena loves to soar more than just about anything. They're a perfect match.
Though it's cold out, they work up a sweat and Serena's pushing the hair out of her eyes as she returns the horse to her stall. She'll have to return back home, soon, to the countryside where George is being cared for by a sitter, but for right now she's happy to simply stroke the filly's neck, murmuring words of gratitude for their successful ride.
