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Oh, to be loved (1)

By: Wolfie Steel.

A horse walks the streets of London in the heat of a summer day, furs and humans alike all milling around him just going about their business and having fun, to them he is nothing more than a ghost, hell if he was to collapse in the street the folks would just walk around or over him.

The clothes he wears are ripped and dirty, he hasn't had the luxury of a bath or a shower for mmm, must be six months or more, in fact the last shower he had was when he stayed overnight in one of the local YMCA hostels.

Why is he not there now, well that is simple, he knows that there are folks out there that need the hostel places a lot more than he does. His body is nothing more than a shell, you can see every bone in his body and he knows all too well that if he doesn't eat soon he will die.

And so he walks the streets of London looking for dumpsters to rummage around in, oh yes he knows that it won't be much, but it will be enough to keep the proverbial wolf from the door.

You ask how is it that I know so much of this young horse, again that is an easy question to answer, I know so much about him because he is me, Jackson Taylor.

Yeah I have made some pretty stupid financial decisions in the past and they have now come back and bitten me firmly on the ass, I was never one to have mountains of money at my disposal, while my folks were alive I would live with them, I had a job and that kept things going along nicely.

Then came that fateful day, December 21st 2007, yeah just four days before Christmas Day, it appears that my folks were involved in a massive car accident that claimed eighteen lives, of course my folks were two of the unlucky ones.

Well it turns out that my folks had not made a will, the house also still had a mortgage on it which I would now be responsible for, but on my meagre salary I was not going to be able to make ends meet.

Eventually the day came when the bailiff came to evict me; I owed so much money that in the end I had to file for bankruptcy, and so now I have no money, no food, no job and no prospects. Pretty soon I fear that I will become yet another statistic in the game of life, on my lowly headstone it will read "Here lies Jackson Taylor, he took on the game of life and lost"

I open a dumpster and find a small pile of freshly dumped bread, probably goes out of date today and so they can't sell it, but to me it is a royal banquet, if only I could find a dumpster with some split bottles of water in it then I would have tonight's meal sorted, but I know full well that the chances of me finding anything to drink are slim to none existent.

The darkness falls and I make my way back to my park bench which is my bed for the night. I sit on my bed and take stock of my dumpster findings, three large sticks of French bread; this is quite a haul for me as it will see me eat for at least a week and a half, two weeks if I'm extra frugal.

I break off a small piece of bread and put it into my maw, the sensation of actually having nourishment fills me temporarily with joy, I eat one more piece and then I put the rest in an old carrier bag.

I bring my legs up onto the park bench; I then loop the handle of the carrier bag around my leg for security, if anyone tries to take my food then I will be the first to know. I then take off my old jacket and make it into a makeshift pillow which I place on the hard wooden seat, my head hits the pillow and I begin to doze off to sleep.

It is close to dawn when I am awoken by someone's presence, I react instantly and shoot bolt upright ready to protect my food. My eyes begin to focus and in the dim light of the dawn I can see a well dressed stallion staring at me.

In this light I can't make out many more details than that, but he has obviously seen my reaction at wanting to protect my worldly possessions, and in a non threatening manner he comes closer to me.

"What the fuck kid, you are just skin and bone"

He kneels before me and gently opens the bag that is still wrapped around my leg.

"French Sticks, is that all you have for food, god damn it that ain't nowhere near enough"

I begin to sob a little and he realises the strength of what he has just said.

"Oh nice work Travis, stamp on a kid when he is down why don't ya. Look bud I'm sorry about my tactless comment, believe it or not I didn't mean for it to come out like that, now my name is Travis Hampton and call me an old softie but I don't want to see you die from malnutrition, so here is the deal, why don't you let me take you to one of the early morning cafes and get you something decent to eat, and then you can get a shower at my place, or if you feel uncomfortable with that then you can get a shower at one of the hostels, does that sound okay with you?"

At this moment I am so hungry that I would gladly go with this guy, but as hungry as I am my alarm bells are still sounding, and it seems that he can hear them too.

"Look kid I'm going to be straight with you, yes I find you strangely alluring but that doesn't mean that I am going to force myself on you, that wouldn't be a clever thing for a City Analyst like me to do, the press would have a field day and I would be ruined"

Everything the stallion had said had an air of truth about it, but while I was starting to trust him a little there was one question that still bugged me, what was he doing walking through the park in his suit at this hour of the morning, oh sure it could be something innocuous like he is just returning from a night club, but the overriding fear is that what he has just told me could be a complete pack of lies.

Two things now persuade me to disentangle myself from my carrier bag and stand up, first is the fact that I am so very hungry, second is the fact that the way that he is dressed, well suited, jewellery on his wrists and not the cheap stuff either, he is also from what I can see very well groomed too, not to mention drop dead gorgeous.

With my mind made up I stand from my bed and follow on behind him, I dare not walk next to him because I bet I smell like a garbage dumpster. We find a cafe that has just opened for the day, we both head inside, Travis finds a table close by and takes a seat at it; I however am stopped by the owner, a female hyena.

"I have told you before hoss, this is a cafe not a hostel, so kindly sling your hook"

Travis stands from his seat and takes hold of my hand, he then turns to the owner.

"My good lady, this young man is with me, if he goes then so do I and let me tell you, I got quite a lot of cash to spend, would be such a shame if at least some of it wasn't going through your cash register"

The hyena cuts me a filthy look, but she allows me to take a seat, Travis now sits opposite me and we wait for our order to be taken. A male fox soon walks to our table and takes our order, with him now gone Travis looks at me.

"Okay my friend, tell me a little bit about yourself, and don't worry whatever the reason for you being homeless I do not judge people"

I look down at the table top and then back up at his eyes; they look so caring and so sincere.

"My name is Jackson Taylor, believe it or not I am forty one years of age, I have been homeless pretty much since my folks died in a car accident in 2007, you know, the same old story, the money I made from work was not enough to cover the bills and food shopping, so in the end I filed for bankruptcy and then I found myself out on the streets"

Our breakfast orders arrive at the table and I grab my plate before it even has time to come to rest, I gorge myself on bacon, sausage, eggs and beans, the side order of toast is dealt with pretty quickly too, next I polish off the drink with gusto.

I look back at Travis and notice that he is only just starting his breakfast, this makes me blush.

"So Jackson, I'm guessing that it has been quite a while since you had a decent meal inside you?"

I nod a little, still blushing.

"If I eat at all it is usually what I find from the garbage dumpsters"

I guzzle down the drink that had arrived with the meal.

"And as for drinking, this is the first time that I have had anything to drink in about three days"

Travis now gains a rather sour look to his muzzle.

"Jackson, you can't continue to live like that, in fact I'm surprised that you have lasted as long as you have, no offence my friend but right now I could play a xylophone tune on your bones and ribs"

I know that he is right, I mean heck we are both stallions, and yet at this moment I look nothing like a stallion, even the slaughter houses would turn me away.

"Well Travis, this is my life, yes I know I need food and drink to survive, but to get a decent meal requires money, and that is something that I don't have, I can't get any money from the welfare state because I need to be living at a fixed address, but I can't afford a fixed address because I have no money, so you see I am caught in a vicious cycle"

A look of determination now graces Travis's muzzle.

"Would you do any kind of work for money?"

I look at the stallion opposite me in disbelief.

"Are you kidding, as long as it is legal I will do it"

A smile breaks out onto Travis's maw.

"In that case, Mister Jackson Taylor, I would like to hire you as a live in house keeper, if you want to take the job then I will go through the basics of what I require to be done, but you also need to know that the job will come with a decent salary, a permanent roof over your head, all your meals, plus a few other perks too"

I hold out my thin boned hand which he takes in his hefty hoofed hand.

"Okay Jackson, let's have another breakfast and then we can walk back to the place that you can now call home"

Travis signals for the fox to come and take another order, this time when it arrives I take my time over eating it; well I don't want to appear too greedy in front of my new boss.

With the second breakfast finished Travis pays the bill and then we head out from the cafe. The walk back to his home gives me chance to get a better look at the guy that I am now working for, let me tell you now, the word stud doesn't even come close to describing this beauty and right now my groin is showing what I think about being given the chance to work for Travis Hampton, City Analyst.