A Horse Named Banner

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Excerpt from Banner, a heart-warming story about a girl, her father, and her horse, by award winning author, Blythe Ayne: At the mile they turned right again, onto dirt road. The fields on either side smelled of grasses and ripening grain. They undulated and whispered in an ethereal gold-blue-silver murmur. Silently Minute and her father shared the Nebraska summer evening. Suddenly, her dad spurred his horse into a canter, and then a run. Minute spurred Banner madly, running full open in the moonlight, unsaddled, the horse, herself, the wind in her hair, hair and mane streaming out in a great long sweep. It felt like flying, and Daddy, ahead, with the black sky, black earth blending, looked like he and his horse were flying. Banner flowed into the night, his hooves pounding a rhythm, the motion smooth and graceful. A stride or two in the miraculous shift between canter and running, then everything poured together – the animal underneath, the fields and fence posts alongside, the moonlight streaming like water over everything. Banner's hooves thumped against the sky, Minute could feel he loved the flying as much as she did. Ahead, on the top of the hill, Daddy stopped and turned his dark horse profile to her, watching them advancing. They came thundering up the hill, possessed....

About the author

Blythe Ayne

I live on ten acres of forest with a few domestic and numerous wild creatures. Along with creating an ever-growing inventory of books, both fiction and nonfiction, short stories, and articles, my writing has appeared in hundreds of online and print publications. I have received numerous writing awards and grants, most recently a Willamette Writers’ Kay Snow award for “Grounded Angels.” 
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Other awards, grants, and acknowledgments have included an SFPA award, CCLM grants, National Endowment for the Arts grants, a inclusion in the PEN Syndicated Fiction project, and numerous others. Thank you for your interest in my work. Your support helps me care for ten acres of natural forest, its flora, and all its resident fauna. 
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The creatures and I thank you!