A girl with long, wavy brunette hair and blue-white eyes slipped into the stables, carrying a duffle on one shoulder, a guitar on the other, and in one hand: a grocery sack full of the biggest red apples she could find.
April wasn't very different than most other teenage girls in her love of horses.
However, these animals were the only friends she was making here at the Institute.
Teachers had grown used to seeing her chair empty by now, and there had been less and less sightings of the music-loving Texan girl over the past few weeks.
"I'll miss you guys.. I don't think I'll find any more horses as nice as you in New York City."
April confessed as she gently brushed in wide strokes over the winter coat of one thoroughbred. The horse's long ears swiveled to catch her words, but the animal gave no reply.
"Those cop horses are all stuck-ups!"
April continued to make her last circut around the stables, giving each 'friend' a little attention and a juicy apple to remember her by.
With a smile, the brunette took a seat on a bale of hay and played a slow sad song to her silent audience. The horses wouldn't care about the story of a girl's broken heart, but they seemed to enjoy the low melodic tones.
"I had to leave my life in Vegas
That town will always be you
In every crowd, on every corner
In every face I'd see you
So with nothin' more than a tank of gas
I drove away without lookin' back
And I guess that's how I got where I am
Goin' anywhere as fast as I can.."