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The horse and the car

"The race is tomorrow, you know," Sherry pestered as she walked by her husband carrying her morning cup of coffee, "he needs to get stretched out."

"Yes, dear," said Ernie from the couch. He hadn't really heard her, he was half way through a crossword puzzle and making great time.

Sherry was used to this from Ernie, so she always liked to have her fun, "Well perhaps Blaze and I will just run off together into the sunset. It would be quite romantic." She took a long sip of her coffee waiting for her words to process for Ernie.

Eventually, they did. "Wait, what?" Ernie sat up from the couch, "What are you talking about?"

"Only getting your attention, my love," she said smiling. "Now do you remember what I said first?"

Ernie rolled his eyes back in an attempt to remember, "Something about tomorrow..."

"The race?" Sherry asked as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Right! The race! Blaze should probably get stretched out today," he said absently until he saw Sherry was staring at him with a look that was half amusement half pity. "That's what you said, wasn't it?"

"Yes, dear."

"Okay, well I'll get him stretched out after I finish this crossword," Ernie said, settling back into his couch nook.

"The weather may not keep," Sherry tried to remind him, "probably better to do it now."

"It's raining a bit, it'll clear up later. Besides," he tapped his paper for emphasis, "I'm already half way done."

Sherry smiled at him, but looked at the sky worriedly. It was only half misting and that was pretty good weather for them. She would even ride Blaze in this weather, no hesitation. It was supposed to get sunny later, but gods know how long that would end up lasting. If he was half way done though...surely there would be time. "Okay, well I'm out to do some errands so be sure to stretch him out before I get back."

"Yes, dear," said Ernie jokingly.

Unfortunately, Ernie's hot crossword streak did not end up being a good predictor of his actual speed. Ernie was staunchly against cheating by looking things up on the internet. He would, occasionally, text a friend and try to get an answer out of them, but it seemed that people had better things to do with their Fridays than answer pleas for help with a crossword.

He was startled from his thoughts when he heard the door slam and his wife approach. "So, how's Blaze doing?" she asked as she began to unpack things from the bags she'd been carrying.

"Ah yes...Blaze," Ernie began, hoping to buy himself time.

"When you took him out," Sherry said as she continued unpacking things.

"Yes...yes...well..."

Sherry stopped unpacking, "You haven't taken him yet, have you?"

"Well the crossword ended up being-"

"You said you were halfway done!"

"I'm now three quarters of the way done," Ernie said with a smile, hoping to provoke some humor.

Sherry responded by just staring at him.

"Okay fine, I'll take him out now," Ernie gave in after putting down his crossword.

"It's raining now, you shouldn't go riding in this," Sherry said gesturing to their front windows.

I really do get in the zone when I'm doing a crossword, thought Ernie unhelpfully. "It'll be fine," he started to say until Sherry again stared at him. "Okay, I won't ride him, but I'll take him for a walk in my raincoat."

"You know he needs more than a walk."

Ernie thought for a moment, "Okay, I have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it."

Sherry soon found herself in the passenger seat of their car, wishing she hadn't agreed to this. Surely, there was a better way. Ernie was driving the car and Sherry had ahold of a rope that was secured around Blaze's head and stretched behind Ernie's seat. They were driving down the roads somewhat slowly so that Blaze could trot along with them.

"See? He's loving it," smiled Ernie, mostly to himself. He was quite impressed with his plan. Blaze got a good stretch, he and Sherry stayed dry, and he had figured out another crossword clue while they'd been driving. "I'm sure he'll win the race on the 28th."

"The 28th? You said the 29th."

Ernie rolled his eyes back thinking, "Ah, are you sure?"

"Yes," said Sherry, showing him the calendar alert he'd set up for both of them.

"Well, what's it matter?" asked Ernie as he continue to drive along the winding road.

"Today is the 28th."

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

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