Chapter 3: Lucky Charm

After several trips to the realtor, I located the land of my dreams - a large parcel of grassland high in the outer hills of Starlight Shores.  A variety of trees lined the northern reaches of the property, along with a small stand of thin young aspens.  The nod to my namesake was nearly enough to convince me, but I also enjoyed the fact that a freshwater pond stretched across a section of the property.  The money I had been saving all my life was for this very moment, and it was not even difficult to hand it over.

I was left with nearly nothing, but I didn't care at all.  I had slept out under the stars before, and I would easily sacrifice the comforts of life in pursuit of my perfect dream.  This would be my ranch.  This place would produce a line of horses that would come to be synonymous with the finest breeds of the world.  This was the place that my future generations would reap the fruits of my efforts.

My life began anew in this wonderland.  I worked hard as a military grunt, saving my paychecks to begin building my own modest house.  I began to explore local animal shelters on the off-chance that a neglected thoroughbred might have been placed for adoption.  I was looking for quality bloodlines, physical perfection, promising traits.  Instead, I found Charm.

Starlight Shores is a town that will eat you up and spit you out - it doesn't matter whether or not you are human.  Charm was a plain palomino of mixed descent, who had been originally raised by a prominent animal trainer with the intent of being on the big screen.  Unfortunately, the horse was deemed untrainable and was subsequently mistreated and surrendered to the shelter.  Charm was everything that I was not looking for... but he was what I needed.

We bonded instantly, man and horse, and at once seemed to come to an understanding with one another.  This horse needed kindness, and I needed to know a difficult horse.  I knew that if I could get a handle on this creature - if I could somehow succeed in training where a professional had failed - then I would have all of the self-validation I would need in pursuit of my dream.

He shied when I saddled him, and protested when I mounted, stepping from side to side.  But, I persisted, speaking calming words to him.  In time, he accepted my weight, and although he was anything but at ease with it I was able to ride him down the long road that led toward home.

Charm may not have been the champion that I had in mind, but he was a raw horse that could be molded.  He could learn from me, I was certain of it.  Besides...  I had a lot to learn from him as well.