A Walk in the Rain (open)

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Poppy did not seem thrilled to be taking their daily walk today, most certainly due to the rain. Her displeasure, however, was nothing in comparison to the first time Cora had tried to take her out in the rain. Poppy had whined and cried and did her very best to stay in the warm apartment. After that experience, Cora had went online to one of the greyhound owner forums she now frequented, and learned all about greyhound fashion. A week later, boxes of greyhound clothing had started arriving. Perhaps the tummy warmer hadn't been completely necessary, but Poppy had certainly enjoyed it in the cold winter months. 

Now, the greyhound wore her raincoat as they walked down the street to downtown Blue Ridge. She planned on taking Poppy to the reserve and then back to the apartment, where they could warm up again. The summer storm hadn't been expected, but it showed no signs of stopping. Cora had considered driving to the reserve and walking once they got there, but she figured that it would be getting muddy, and it was best to stay on the sidewalks and get their exercise out of the trip.

She'd been taking Poppy to the small animal clinic to run and the dog seemed to enjoy it a lot, though she didn't run for long before flopping back down at Cora's feet, ready to relax.

clothes

[Jayne Doe]

Jayne put her foot up on the back of a park bench as she tightened her shoelace, putting it in a double bow so that there was no chance of it coming loose while she was running. Straightening up, she wrung the water out of her blonde hair and then shook the water from her hands. She wasn't exactly dressed for the rain, but at least with it being summer, even though it was wet, the weather wasn't cold, so the sleeveless top and running shorts she was wearing weren't a problem

The girl's life was had really been turned on it's head. Not only had she recently lost her social worker, and gained a new one (woopie!), her foster father had also decided that they were going to disown her, as though she were some stray puppy they had picked up off the side of the road and could dump again just as easily. She had also just finished one of many meetings that she'd been having with her social worker since the issues with her foster family had arisen. The woman, Diane Steadman wanted to take the girl to her foster parents' house and sort it all out, but Jayne didn't want to leave Blue Ridge and Diane knew that the Academy would back the girl's decision.

Leaving the bench, she started jogging down the path and then broke into a run. Even though it was vacation, she needed to keep herself in shape for when things started up in the Fall again. She was enjoying the rain that was falling down as it was going to stop her from getting too hot and running would allow her to clear her mind, once upon a time she would got for a ride on her pony to clear her mind, but those days were well and truly over.

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Cora continued down the sidewalk, watching her boots splash into the water settling on the surface of the pavement. Poppy was ambling along, not at all annoyed by her raincoat, which Cora had been worried about at first. Rather, she seemed to appreciate how warm and dry it kept her. Poppy lacked the heavier coat and thicker skin that other dogs had, so cold and wet weather was especially unpleasant for her. Cora too didn't like cold weather, but the rain didn't bother her so much, and she liked it a lot, mostly when she was inside. It limited her riding however, which made it annoying, especially if the rings took days to dry up.

Their walks were normally when Cora did most of her thinking, as there wasn't much to bother them, and she didn't have to focus on other things. Her main focus lately had been on an idea she'd been forming in her mind. It was interesting, but it would have to be taken seriously, though she thought that she could have a lot of fun with it. She was considering buying a young, green horse, who she thought had potential, and training him or her into a hunter/jumper. She was happy with Fin and Remi for herself, but this new horse could be a nice project, and she could probably make a good profit if the horse was trained well enough when she sold it. It would certainly offer her a new challenge, and it would give her a good goal to work towards. Perhaps she could end up selling it to one of her students, which would be a treat to be able to see the student continue on and hopefully succeed with her project horse. 

Her idea would involve a lot of work, and Cora didn't want to act on it too quickly, but she was getting excited. She was in quite a happy mood when a young runner, who she assumed was a Blue Ridge student, passed her. She smiled at the girl, and continued with Poppy, who was looking after the girl with interest, but caution.

[Jayne Doe]

Jayne was working through her issues as she ran down the path that she almost ran straight passed a woman and her canine, but she quickly saw them and returned the woman's smile. Something tugged at the back of her mind, knowing she had seen the woman from around the Academy, it was just that since she didn't take any riding classes, she didn't know the equestrian teachers well enough, and as she could only just place the woman's face, meant that she was an instructor rather than a teacher.

Her mind went back to her thoughts and she wasn't really paying attention to where she was putting her feet, as she always made a habit of not looking down or glancing behind when she was running so as not to loose momentum. And because of this, she didn't see the large puddle until her left foot hit the middle of it, water completely covering her shoe and in her desperation for her other shoe to not go into the puddle, she lost her balance and fell over, rolling a couple of times across the wet grass that edged the pathway she had been running on. Now, her left foot was wetter than wet and she was covered from head to foot in mud, but she just lay there laughing before she finally sat up and tried to wipe the mud and grass off her arms, just making a muddier track down her arm. Even though the air was warm, making the rain seem warm as it fell, it was surprisingly cold when it was on the ground.

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Cora didn't think much more of the girl once she had passed and returned the smile, figuring that she would probably end up getting so far ahead of them that she wouldn't be in view for much longer. The girl had seemed very focused in her running, which Cora admired, and it didn't look as if she would be slowing soon.

She was then surprised when she watched the student lose her balance and fall shortly in front of them. Cora picked up a slow jog, and in seconds, she was beside the girl who lay in the grass next to the path. Poppy stayed at the end of her leash, looking warily at the stranger while Cora inquired about the girl's welfare. "Have you hurt yourself?" The girl could have easily twisted her ankle or hurt herself otherwise in the fall, though she was lucky she'd fallen in the grass, even if she was terribly muddy now.

Then the girl began to laugh, and Cora was a bit taken aback. Hopefully this meant that the girl wasn't injured, though she wouldn't be leaving her until she was sure of this. Had she been the one in the mid, she would have been awfully upset with herself and humiliated rather than amused.

[Jayne Doe]

Jayne pressed her lips together to stifle her giggles as the woman and her leggy canine joined her and the woman inquired about her well-being. "Other than my pride, I think I'm fine." She grinned as she looked down at herself again. "And so in need of a hot shower. Oh, and wishing I had brought a jacket." She shrugged her shoulders as she bent her knees, feet flat on the ground and then rocking her weight from her heels and glutes to her toes, she pushed herself up so that she was standing. She winced slightly as she put weight onto her left ankle, but quickly shook the pain off, knowing that she probably twisted it as she fell.

She shook her hands to try and rid them of water and mud, though to no avail, and just wiped them on the front of her already mud covered shorts. "Sorry for disrupting your walk, Ma'am." She said with an apologetic smile. "I promise that I am fine though." Sure, her ankle hurt a little, but she could run that pain off and if she couldn't shake it off by running, then she would just limp back to the academy. She had always been a runner and wouldn't let anything get in her way, short of broken ribs and a cast on her leg.