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Word Count: 406
lol forever. Slight powerplay. Note that she's not leaving, just moving on to the next stall on her side.
ETA:Didn't get to posting this until now. Sorry for the wait.
★ ★ ★
Grace leaned her pitchfork against a stall, suppressing a sigh. "All right, let me show you, honey." She opened the stall belonging to her mare, Layla, and went inside. She beckoned Hadley to follow and watch. "All right, so mucking a stall is pretty easy," she said, hoping that he was a quick study. It wasn't that she minded showing him; just that she disliked doing tedious chores already, and if he couldn't pick it up right away, those tedious chores would drag by even slower than usual. Yet, if she hoped to be an alembic for the boy, she'd have to be patient. She led Layla out of the stall, smiling apologetically at her as she tied the lead to a post; it was unnecessary with Layla, but she wanted Hadley to see what he should do exactly. "You've got to take the horse out first," she explained. "They've been known to startle or even get injured otherwise. Their hay and water bucket, too - just set them outside the stall." She pulled Layla's hay bale out of the stall and place it beside the water bucket, which had been removed while she was speaking.
She took up her pitch-fork and used it to lift excrement from the bedding in the stall. Turning to a blank spot on the ground, she shook the damp shavings off of it, then dumped the droppings into a nearby wheelbarrow. "You want to make sure to keep the damp shavings away, so that you can scrape them up afterward." She finished with this, and tossed the shavings to the sides of the stall, checking for loose droppings. Hopefully, Hadley was paying proper attention. "Still with me? Now, hand me that shavings fork - no, the other one - yes, that one, that's a good lad. Scoop the wet shavings, like so, and then.." She looked around, then at Hadley. "Hand me that broom, would you? Okay, there we are, just sweep up, and then go and do the next one. When you finish with that one, come back to the last, lay the bed back down, and put the horse back. That means, after the first, you'll usually have two horses out of stalls." She looked at him, then nodded. "You'll be fine, kiddo. Just do your best, aye?" There was a hidden meaning in her words, a sparkle in her eye. She smiled and left him to it.