Excerpt
Tanya
The Circle H Ranch
Willow Springs, Montana
It had been a full week since he had been to a meeting, and Joel
was thinking that he needed one. Both he and Harry had
worked hard with the horses all week. Joel’s ankle had healed
after a couple of days; not enough that he was doing jumping
jacks, but enough that he was able to saddle up and ride. By now,
both Joel and Harry had all of the horses out riding in the hills
and he could tell that the animals really loved it. Buddy the Border
Collie was also getting a great workout accompanying the
horses on the rides. With things going as good as they were, Joel
figured that he and Harry could give the horses a day off. They
turned the horses out into the big meadow of flowing green grass
and declared the day a holiday.
Watching the horses lazily graze in the lush meadow, Joel
thought that, for the horses and for himself, this was probably as
close to heaven as he could be on this planet.Unlike the surrounding
harshness of the hill country that was parched from the constant
rays of the sun and the whipping of the winds, the meadow
was protected on two sides by some of the biggest trees Joel had
ever seen in this part of the world. Oaks, he thought. Flowing
through the heart of the meadow and contributing to its lush
appearance was Paradise Creek, with its headwaters in a spring
that was back in the hills. As he stood there and watched the
dozen three-year-olds make the most of their holiday, the shrill
call of a meadowlark serenaded Joel
Manolis Aligizakis 