Here´s my first fanfic including Michael ever.... Wrote it back in February 2009. I´m not sure if you´ll like it, but thought I might share it. Nothing special, but I like it for my own personal reasons
SANDSTORM "Slow down, for Heaven´s sake! Do you want to kill me?!" she shouted.
"Come on! I know you can do it!" he laughed excited.
Oh yeah, just tell me once more that horse riding is easy, ran through her mind as she was trying not to fall off Sandstorm, a black beauty worth of his name.
When she found out she would ride him, she protested heavily by stating being still not the best rider, but her companion insisted on it: "Don´t worry, Sandstorm is perfect for you." He said with a smile which would have melted even the iceberg which sent Titanic down. Well, just try to resist that...
They were just passing by a lake when she heard him calling on her:
"We´ll take a break here!"
Thank you, dear God, she thought, for letting me live a little longer...
They stopped at the lake, leaving Sandstorm and Tinkerbelle get their deserved reward in the greenest grass she has ever seen. They sat on a blanket and were looking at the late afternoon sun mirroring on the crystal clear water of the lake.
"Michael, why did you choose Tinkerbelle and let me ride Sandstorm?" she asked with a seemingly angry tone. "I was scared to death at times."
He laughed and repeated what she had heard before. "I thought he is perfect for you."
"But WHY?"
He gave her a short intense look and then looked at the lake again.
"Can I ask you something first, Martine?"
"Sure," she replied with interest.
"Imagine two children," Michael continued. "Let´s call them Jimmy and Evy. Jimmy likes to play with other kids. He is always in the centre of their attention, everybody wants to be with him because he loves to talk, has many toys, his parents give him all the things he could ever wish for and everybody wants him to share it all with them."
Martine nodded while looking at Michael. "I can see him." She smiled.
"Good,"said Michael and smiled too. Then he went on.
"Now look at Evy. She´s the little one in the corner watching all the fuss around Jimmy. She´s holding her teddy she got from her parents on one of her birthdays looking at the kids and deciding what to do - join the others or stay in the corner and play with her teddy. A part of her longs for the company of other children, but a part of her is afraid to do so."
"Why?" Martine jumped suddenly in.
Michael looked at her and said gently.
"Because she´s afraid to be rejected by them, she´s afraid that noone would care..."
Martine´s smile vanished from her face. She turned her head to escape his intense look.
"Now the question.Which one of them is you?" asked Michael.
"I think you know the answer," she replied quietly while watching Tinkerbelle and Sandstorm run around and play.
"Yes," he said with a calm understanding voice. "See, Sandstorm is beautiful, strong, gracious, and yes," he giggled, "sometimes tricky and he loves joking around with people."
Martine dared a smile, but still not a look at Michael.
"However, he has and never would hurt anyone. He is just a creature which despite of having adapted to people´s rules and expectations loves to feel wild and free. He needs it. To feel free to be what he wants to be and to do what he desires to do..."
His voice faded like the sun setting slowly on the horizon.
Martine felt her heart beating fast. No, no, just breathe, woman, she kept on saying to herself. You can´t let this happen...
"I´m afraid..." she whispered suddenly.
It was Michael´s turn to ask the question now.
"Why?"
She finally turned her head to him and said with a nervous smile:
"I´m afraid we´ll miss the dinner if we don´t hurry up now..."
Michael started to laugh, shaking his head. Martine was happy to have released the tension, and laughed too. A shiver went suddenly down her spine as she saw the light summer breeze blowing away a few curls of Michael´s porcelain white face. She still couldn´t believe to see those curls back again after so many years. He was fifty, but he still looked so young...The sparkles in his eyes and the wide beautiful smile were those of Peter Pan. Only his maturity and enormous wisdom were the real signs of his age. In fact, he was the wisest man she has ever known. And he´s been through so much...
Michael stood up quickly reaching out his hand to help her. She accepted gladly, enjoying the short moment of feeling his warm hand holding her own. "A touch, a kiss, a whisper of love, I was at the point of no return." Well, almost, she thought...
"So, do you want to change?" he asked when they came back to their horses. He raised his eyebrows.
Martine looked at the hazelnut-brown horse lady and then at her black beauty. A wide smile appeared on her face.
"You wish..."
As she said that, she heard Michael´s cute laughter behind her. Only a few minutes later, she almost couldn´t believe her ears when hearing herself shouting:
"Faster, Sandstorm! Come on, boy, you can do it!"
When they returned, a little boy ran out of the house with long dark hair flying around him.
"Dad!" he shouted in joy with a huge smile.
Michael jumped off the horse just in time to catch his youngest child and hold him in his arms. Yet, he didn´t expect the boy to knock him down to the ground. They were laughing for a while while lying in eachother´s arms.
Martine was watching them laughing too and she felt sudden warmth at her heart.
"Hey, Martine, I hope you gave Sandstorm a good run!" said the boy with a fire in his eyes, which reminded her so much of those of his father.
"Sure she did, Blanket, she really did," said Michael with a giggle as all three of them were heading to the door.
"But only after your dad gave ME a good run," she countered with a grin.
"That´s great! Most of other people don´t want to ride him, but I think he´s the most wonderful horse in the world, I love him!" replied Blanket with excitement and ran into the house.
Martine laughed and wanted to follow him when suddenly Michael stopped and turned to her. Her heart almost stopped - with the curls around his face and the light coming from behind of his back, he looked almost like out of this world.
"What are you afraid of?" he asked.
She was just staring at him with her mouth half-open, not able to move.
"Of myself..." she whispered looking straight into his dark eyes.
Michael smiled and took gently her hand.
"Well," he said, "you don´t need to, you really don´t need to..."
