Not Alone (open)

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"You can bet that it was well worth the wait."

Mason mused as his eyes scanned the next page of the paper. His mouth was chewing another mouthful of the sandwich, savouring the delectable blend of lettuce, smoked chicken and honeyed beef. He found it hard to pry his mind away from the gnawing goodness of the meal, giving up after he had finished reading the second page.

The man continued to savour each bite, watching as the girl resumed twirling her baton. He was interested to find out what else he could do around the town, which apparently had its road dividers filled with palm trees.

"Do you know any good places that I can visit?"

[Stella Corbin]

"Yeah" she told him. "Yeah" she told him. She had lived here for a few years, so of course she did. When she first came here, she didn't want to go anywhere or do anything, but eventually she had gone out and explored.

"Well, here in Kingswood we have typical places like a park, a mall and a movie theater. We also have an art gallery, an ice rink and even a mini golf course and a bowling alley." That was about all she could think of at the moment, but that seemed like a decent list.

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"Hmm, ice rink? Weird."

He was particularly surprised with the fact that the town had an ice rink. Here he was, in a sunny seaside town of Kingswood, just to find out that there's a ice rink instead of a swimming pool. Mason nodded interestedly as he keep the thought in view.

Being a man with a rich taste for art, he was definitely taken in with the suggestion of visiting an art gallery. Mason wondered if he could find any sea related paintings or landscape photography. He would soon find out one of these days.

"What is your preferred place for a fun time?"

[Stella Corbin]

At first Stella was a little confused because his question was so similar to the one he had just asked. She thought about it for a few seconds and realized that it was a little different. He didn't just want to know of good places to visit, he wanted to know what her favorite place was. "Probably the park" she told him, "or the stables."

She watched him eat his sandwich. It looked like he was really enjoying it. She was starting to wish she had one, and she didn't even like sandwiches very much.

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Mason had just finished his sandwich, crumpling the wrapper into a ball and tossing it into the bin beside him. His ears perked up to the answer, facing her interestedly. He liked horses, especially riding them, since childhood. It was apparent that he wanted to continue to do so.

"Stables? What kind of breeds do they have there?"

Musing silently, he busked in the slow afternoon sun, the cool breeze caressing him gently as Mason watched the horse trotting daintily in the water.

[Stella Corbin]

"Lots of different breeds. Arabs and Thoroughbreds seem to be the most popular. There's also a lot of Frisians and Lipizzaner’s. Then Princess here is a Paso Fino" she told him, pointing to her horse, "but I think I might have told you that already."

Princess stepped onto the beach and nibbled at the sand. "Don't eat sand, girl" Stella told her. "It will make you sick." She dropped her baton in the sand and got a carrot out of her hand. She walked up to her and held it out. Princess lifted her head up and eagerly took it, preferring it to sand.

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"I used to own a Hanoverian horse. His name was Henry."

Mason gave a soft smile as he watched her feed her Paso Fino. The carrot was immediately preferred by it as compared to the sand, nibbling on it daintily. He recalled the times he had spent with Henry back home. The cooling rivers, the graceful trots and rides through the countryside and adventures he had with it.

It was certainly a loss for him when he had to move in with his Aunt. Henry had been left to his father, for reasons unknown. Mason hoped for the best in his Hanoverian friend.

"Perhaps I could go there sometime?"

[Stella Corbin]

"Cool" she replied. She wondered what he meant by used to, but she didn't ask. If his horse had died or something, she wouldn't want to bring back had memory’s.

She stroked Princess's neck, while she ate her carrot. when she was done, she bent her head down towered the sand. Stella gave her a nudge towered the water and Princess ended up drinking water instead of eating sand.

Mason suggested going to the stable. "Go ahead" Stella told him. "It's next to the park, off to the right."

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"Is that so? Thanks, I will be sure to make a note of it."

Mason gave another smile. For some reason, moving into this town made him happy. Unlike the previous times, he finally felt a bit free, as though a burden had been shared. The relaxed atmosphere of the town and the slow waves breaking onto the shore calmed him. He twiddled his thumbs, breathing in the cool evening air gently.

Glancing to his watch, he realised that it was finally dusk. The sun had already set, the horizon now glowing a twilight hue. Getting up, he brushed the sand off his vest, taking a deep breath before turning to her.

"It's getting dark. Do you usually practice into the night?"

[Stella Corbin]

"No. It get's too hard to see the baton then. When I arrived here it was lighter."

It hadn't occurred to her until he said it, but it was dark out now. She looked at her watch, and had to turn on the watch light, and she saw that it was past nine. That was a little later then she planned to stay out. Luckily she didn't have anywhere to be and her aunt was too lazy to enforce a curfew.

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"Well, I can see that. Are your parents okay with you staying out late? It might get dangerous."

He commented gently, taking care to give an assuring smile, so as to not scare her. Mason placed his hands behind him, the fingers performing a little repertoire unseen to him. It was definitely quite awkward to be out this late, especially with a girl. Well, weird for him, since he had never been out too late before.

He sat himself down on the bench again, lying on it lazily as he stared into the sky. The eyes of his could only begin to pinpoint a few stars, the rest possibly shrouded or hidden by the clouds.

[Stella Corbin]

She paused. "Um... they don't care."

Parents? Stella wished that she had parents. She had never had a mom, but she had always wanted one. When she moved in with her aunt she was hoping that she was getting a mom. She didn’t' t know what moms were like but her aunt didn't seem like one.

Even more then wanting a mom, she missed her dad. When she was with her dad, she didn't think about wanting a mom because he was all she needed. Now he was long gone.

[salt]

"A..ah. I apologise for asking."

Mason noticed the tinge of sadness in her reply. He knew what it hinted. He immediately wanted to change the subject. Looking around for something, he decided to revolve the topic back to horses. He paced on the sand, his shoes lightly pressing on the dunes.

Giving a soft smile to the horse, he turned back to her.
"What did you name her as?"

[Stella Corbin]

Mason randomly changed the topic and asked what her horses name was, so she told him. "Princess. I know it's kind of a silly name, but I got her when I was eight-years-old so it didn't seem so silly then."

She thought back to when her dad had given her Princess. When she asked him her name, he had told Stella that it was up to her. She had hardly even thought about it when she decided to name her Princess.