Chapter 4 Part 1



He woke up, groaning. “Good God....what happened last night?” His eyes burned like two marbles of molten magma were in his eyes. His nasal passages burned like he just inhaled a flame.


The clothes he was wearing were all orange “I didn’t wear orange last night!!” He looked around the perimeter. Stone floor, stone walls, and the bars made it an instant giveaway.
Michael Schaefer is incarcerated in Crystal Falls Penitentiary.
He had no idea why he woke up in prison. He seems to be suffering from amnesia for he cannot remember what he did last night. He could remember the farthest childhood memories of playing football with his dad or making cupcakes with his mom, he could remember his first day of preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school. He could remember when he lost his virginity.

He couldn’t remember the past 24 hours of his life.



Mike looked up in fear as a sullen police officer glared down at him in a silent rage. Before Mike could even say something, the cop said. “Do you really want to know what you did last night?” His throat hurt so much that he couldn’t speak a single word, he just nodded. By now, Mike was confused and angry. Why was he incarcerated? Why couldn’t he remember? What could he have possibly done?



(clomp) (clomp) (clomp) The police officer walked down the prison hallway to Mike’s cell with his rap sheet.
“Michael Alexander Schaefer, you are hereby charged with battery and assault of a teenager at Crystal Falls City Place. Eyewitness reports from your friends tell us that you allegedly thought the teenager was quote “starting sh*t with you” so you called him an anti-gay slur and the next thing they saw was you violently shoving him into a wall and punching him in the stomach."



Mike didn’t know how to feel at that moment. He suddenly remembers.....and for the first time, he genuinely feels horrible. A tear flows from his eye as he realizes that he easily could have killed that kid.
“Is......is...he ok now?”


“Judging on how much you really screwed him up, I HIGHLY DOUBT YOU WANT THE AWNSER TO THAT QUESTION!!!!!!” The cop screamed. He took a deep breath and gave Mike a calm but blatant warning. “You better pray that the family will be nice enough to drop the charges, or else you are going to be in here for a VERY long time.”



Eventually, everything was all sorted out. It was an out of court settlement. He was turned loose on ONE condition. That he gets a job and cleans up his act. Only one problem, almost NO ONE in Crystal Falls was hiring, and the fact that Mike had a rap sheet didn’t help his case either.



But then he found the answer. It was an ad for a place called Six Gable Stables. The ad itself consisted of offers for riding lessons, rehab for problem horses and not only that, they were also in need of new stablehands.
Mike had never told anyone this, but he has always admired horses. He always thought they were beautiful, graceful, and intelligent creatures, when people discuss what the strongest animal is in terms of wit, intelligence, and brute strength. He thinks of not a tiger or a lion, but a mighty stallion.

That was basically it.....the only way for Mike to redeem himself was to become a cowboy.