Are You Hungry?

I walked past the archery ground and reached the pegasi stable. I entered the stable and was greeted by a terrible smell of horse poop!

The stable was very filthy. Seriously, if this valley belonged to a goddess, she should have been able to afford a clearer stable.

As I was entering the stable, I saw twelve beautiful winged stallion staring blankly at me. Oh my God! They were beautiful.

I walked in and scanned every winged-horse. I stood at middle of the stable and looked at them.

"Hey, everyone." I said but I wasn't expecting them to answer.

"To hell with your 'hey'. Give us something to eat. We're starving to death." one of them complained and the rest nodded in agreement.

Wait! These pegasi were talking! How?

"You can talk?" I said with astonishment and this attracted the attention of every pegasi in the stable.

"You can understand us?" all of them said in unison.

"Umm... yes. Wait a minute. Others can't listen you?" I asked, quite confused.

"Yeah. They can't. Whatever we say they can't hear a thing." One of the black pegasus complained. I felt bad for them. There was no food in the stable and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for aeons.

"I'm Adrian Crimson, son of Zeus." I started with the introduction and all of them gasped or whatever you would say for a pegasus.

"You're Zeus's son." The one in the corner said.

"No wonder he can understand us." another said.

"Wait what? So, you know why I can hear you?" I curiously asked.

"Yes. of course, you are a son of Zeus and our father THE Pegasus is a creature of air and sky. So, being the son of the Lord of the Sky, you can understand us." The same black pegasus said.

In their nonsense talk, I almost forgot the reason for which I came here.

"Umm... great talk and all that... but I need your help." I said without wasting time.

"Not interested."

"Nah."

"Sorry."

These were the responses I received.

"Why is non of you ready to help me?" I asked.

And the black pegasus answered.

"Oh! It's not like we don't want to help but we are hungry and tired. Nobody has given us anything to eat from last four days."

"What? You haven't eaten for four days!" I was shocked. No wonder they didn't want to help me.

I looked closely at them, they really looked very weak. I decided I won't take their help until I didn't calm their hunger.

"I will bring you food to eat. Tell me what do you eat?" I said and they whinnied happily.

And just like a good waiter, I took their orders and ran out of the stable.

It was dark outside, time was ticking by and I was not prepared yet. I should hurry.

I knew who I had to ask for the food. I went looking for Stheno.

"Stheno, why the pegasi hadn't been fed for four days?" I asked her and she told me that she was out for fourth days and during this time, others might have forgotten about that.

I asked her to arrange for the food and she agreed at once. She ordered some satyrs to take the food and I was relieved.

I thanked Stheno and went to the stable. When I reached there, there were already happily munching on their food.

When I entered, I was thanked a thousand times by all the hungry pegasi.

When they were done, I asked them again for help and they all agreed. But when I told them that I only needed two, they became sad. So, I had to promise them that I would come everyday to visit them.

I asked a pure black pegasus to let me ride on his back and he was happy to do so. Then, I practiced to ride a pegasus.

It was the most lively experience of my life. I could feel the air brushing gently against my face. It was so refreshing. The pegasus flew round and round the valley.

I had asked him to fly high so that nobody in the valley could see.

"Hey, buddy. What's your name?" I asked the pegasus.

"I'm Luo." Luo said.

"Okay Luo. That's enough for today." I said and he landed in front of the stable. I climbed down and said goodnight to Luo.

I went to the dining area and saw that dinner was already done. I remembered that Clara had told me to collect the dress after dinner.

I rushed to the girls' cabin and Clara was standing at the door. She held a cloth bag in her hands.

I ran towards her and she looked at me blankly.

"Here, it's done." she said in the same expressionless tone. She handed me the bag and then, started to leave.

Before she could close the door, I stopped her.

"Clara, aren't you going to take anything in return?" I uncertainly asked. But she just stared at me.

"No." she said and shut the door.

'I won't be able to understand that girl.' I thought. And turned to go back, but before that, the cabin's door opened again.

"Isabella is looking for you since evening. She's worried sick. You better go and meet her or else she'll kill you." Clara said and closed the door.

I recalled that I had told Isabella that I would meet her. But I became so busy that I forgot about her.

Just when I was thinking all this, someone held my wrist and turned me around.

"Isabella?" I said, thinking about an excuse to explain myself. "Isabella, actually I.... " she put her finger on my lips, stopping me from saying further.

"Are you hungry?" she simply and calmly asked. There was no sign of anger.

When she asked me about my hunger, I was finally able to remember how hungry I was since my practice with Stheno. But when I came to know that Isabella's birthday was tomorrow, I forgot about my hunger and focused on my plan.

I really was very hungry.

"Yes. I am." I honestly answered and she held my hand.

"Come." she said smilingly and I didn't have the heart to deny. I followed her.