AARON LEE
(This story takes three weeks after Harding arrived
at Starbase 114.)
Ensign Kelly Harding stepped out of the station's
counselor office. That had been her third session
since arriving on the station. At first, she hated
the man, now she still hated him, but at least he was
starting to make some sense. Harding headed to the
holosuites. She had finally decided to run the
program her parents had made for her just before they
were murdered by the Khynah.
Harding entered the holosuite and hesitantly
entered the special program her parents gave her, not
knowing what it would be about. "Computer, begin
Harding Program Alpha." The computer chirped its
acknowledgment and the room disappeared and was
replaced by a mountainous region with most of the
mountains covered by a huge forest. It was sunny and
Harding closed her eyes and breathed in the cool,
moist air. She had always loved that air, she
remembered as she looked down from the hill she stood
on. Above, she spotted a Bald Eagle as it let out a
screech, soaring. Obviously it was searching for
food. This was her home....North Carolina. She
turned around and behind her stood a two story old
style log cabin. She smiled fondly at the sight. She
slowly walked up onto the front deck and entered.
God, how she had missed this place. It may have an
old style look to it, but it still had its
technologies such as the replicators and comm
terminals, she thought to herself. The walls were
also logs and the study room had an actual fireplace.
The stairway was wooden as well.
Harding could only remember good times here.
She
had been so young and free of worries. She could
remember giving her father and mother goodbye hugs and
kisses everyday as they left to work at Starfleet
Command in San Francisco, using the public shuttle
service. She could remember how she hated to be left
with a babysitter. She had been a free spirited
child, or at least that’s what her parents had told her
on countless occasions. As she stood in the family
room, she could almost hear her mother calling her for
breakfast or dinner. She suddenly found herself
fighting back tears.
She looked out the kitchen window to see one of
the most wonderful things she could remember about the
place....the barn. She hurried to the barn and
entered. There, to her right, in a stall was the most
beautiful and powerful horse she had ever known. It
was her horse. The stallion stood straight with its
head held high and had a shiny black coat. She
instantly remembered the name she had given it so many
years ago. How are you today, Cloud Runner? The name
and the horse had been given to her as a birthday
present from her neighbor, who was a Native American.
The name was given to the horse because he could run
as if he was on clouds. The horse just snorted and
bobbed its head up and down. Suddenly, Harding found
herself smiling. She could not remember the last time
she had smiled. She then took a saddle and strapped
it onto Cloud Runner. She was surprised that she
remembered how to saddle the stallion. She then
grabbed some nearby reins and put it into the
stallion's mouth and wrapped it around the crop of the
saddle. Kelly then mounted the horse, grabbed the
reins, gave a light jerk with the reins, "Yeeeaaahhh,"
Harding said. Cloud Runner with Kelly Harding on its
back, sprinted out of the barn and down the hill.
Kelly leaned forward as the horse ran faster. Soon
the horse was sprinting at full speed and she could
hardly feel the horse's feet hitting the
ground...indeed, it was as if Cloud Runner was running
on clouds.
For the first time in a long time, Kelly felt
free. "Thanks mom and dad," she said to herself as
Cloud Runner carried her through a trail leading over
and around the mountains and hills in the region.