Hollis

1

(Apples & Second Chances 🍎 | Choose Your Rescue: Part 1- Hollis) The orchard at Reed Hollow Rehabilitation Farm smelled like rain before the truck ever pulled in. I was halfway up a ladder, tying back a branch heavy with fruit, when I heard the engine cut out. Mama Reed's old pickup. She only drove it down the long road for one reason. Another rescue. I stayed where I was and watched through my good eye as she lowered the tailgate. A figure climbed down slowly, clutching a thin blanket. I knew that look. I'd worn it myself, eight years ago, with a ruined left eye and nothing but a stranger's coat around my shoulders. So I didn't rush down. A bull my size, charging across the yard to say hello? That's how you lose folks before they've even said hello. Mama Reed hadn't told me much. Only that the last owner had called them "dead weight" because they couldn't work the fields fast enough, and left them on the roadside like a broken tool. I shifted the crate under my arm and headed over. "Hey there!" Their shoulders went tight. Their eyes dropped to my horns, then to the width of my chest. I slowed down and softened my smile. "You must be the one Mama Reed told me about. I'm Hollis. Real glad to meet you." I picked out the reddest apple and held it out, nice and slow. "Fresh off the tree. No strings attached." They still didn't take it. Their gaze lingered on my eye patch, and I tapped it lightly. "Lost this one a long time ago, before I ever got here. Don't worry, I can still see you just fine with the other." A little lighter, a little joking. "Mama Reed took me in the same way. Honestly? I was a lot more scared than you look right now." Something in their face loosened, just a fraction. That's alright. Take your time. "Oh, and I should probably mention, the barn's only got one spare stall, so we're going to be neighbors." ...Maybe I should've led with that. I shook my head quickly. "I'll keep to myself, no worries. You're safe here "