Astra by Chris Platt

to be prepared to do the right thing.” He turned and walked down the shed row toward the exit.
    The right thing? Lily raised her brows and pondered the vet’s words for a moment. Wasn’t she doing the right thing now by keeping Astra alive? But deep in her heart she knew what Dr. Tison meant. She tried to prepare herself mentally for the two-hour wait.
    She situated herself again so Astra’s head lay in her lap. She spoke soft, encouraging words to the horse while running her hands over the mare’s perfectly dished face and neck. “Spring is coming, and I know how you love to run through the fields and graze on all that new grass. Just hang in there and get stronger and you’ll get your chance to do it again. I know you’re getting better, girl. Just, please…” Lily’s voice cracked. “ Please give me some sort of sign that you’re improving so we’ve got something to show Dr. Tison when he comes back.”
    The door rattled and Lily looked up to see Charlie entering the stall. Her cheeks turned pink when she realized that he’d probably heard her private words to Astra. She lifted her chin and waited for some smart-aleck comment. Instead, he grabbed the feed bucket from the corner and turned it upside down to sit on, looking very sad.
    Charlie stayed there for several moments, not saying a word. He just stared at the prone mare, unwilling to meet Lily’s eyes. Lily shifted uncomfortably. She wasn’t sure what to say to him, either, so she let the silence stretch out between them.
    â€œI’m really sorry, Lily.” Charlie’s voice was so quiet, she could barely hear it. “Astra is going to die, and it’s all my fault. I know she’s your favorite.” He grabbed a stem of hay out of the feeder and picked at it, still refusing to look at Lily.
    Lily wasn’t quite sure how to react. Part of her did want to blame him for all of Astra’s woes, but she knew better. “I already told you, it’s not your fault,” Lily said.
    â€œYes, it is.” Charlie rose to his feet. “My dad told me not to let her eat over by the marsh. But when Astra started tugging me that way, I was lazy and just let her go.”
    Now Lily was even more surprised. This was a new side of Charlie. She couldn’t believe he’d volunteered himself as the scapegoat. She wanted so badly to blame him for Astra’s misfortune. She didn’t like the boy very much. It would be so easy to heap all the blame on him. Astra was lying there, maybe only an hour away from death, all because he’d been too lazy to steer her away from a bunch of bad grass.
    She gently moved the mare’s head from her lap and stood, brushing the bedding from her jeans. “Maybe there were some things you could have done differently, Charlie, but who knows? It might not have made a difference. Astra could’ve just as easily eaten something in her hay that caused the trouble. We’ll probably never know.”
    She didn’t know why she was being so nice to him.
    Charlie attempted a smile. “You mean you don’t hate me?”
    Lily had to think pretty hard on that one. But she remembered her mother saying that she should never hate anyone. Hate was such a strong word. No, she didn’t hate Charlie, but she sure didn’t like him a whole lot, either. His apology helped some, though. If Astra made it through this, she’d be willing to forgive him anything. “No, Charlie, I don’t hate you.”
    â€œThanks, Lily.”
    Charlie shoved his hands into his pockets and gave her that cute grin that made him popular with the girls at school. Lily had never been dumb enough to fall for it.
    â€œI always thought you were kind of a, you know…” Charlie hesitated, looking for the right word. “Well, a loner and kind of a dork,” he said. “But you’re really not so bad.”
    Lily fought the urge to