Titans by Victoria Scott

it. When the Titan doesn’t immediately follow me, I turn and give a frustrated come on wave of my hand.
    Barney chuckles as the horse clops after me, taking its sweet time, stopping to sniff dandelions as if it can enjoy such things. When we arrive at the barn, I duck inside and search for anything else I may need to wash the thing. I find some brushes, soap, and a couple of dry towels near a dusty full-length mirror. I’m about to holler for the Titan to move its rear when it trots toward the end of the barn, stopping short of the hoses.
    “Hey, no,” I say. “I have to clean you. You can’t go to your stall.”
    I stop when I see another horse, a real one, reach its head out and nuzzle the Titan. The mare is gray in color, with a white face and mane. The Titan meets her nose and nods his head up and down. The mare matches his enthusiasm, coming off her front legs a few inches and touching back down.
    “Oh my gosh. Does the Titan have a girlfriend?” Magnolia strides in, a plastic bottle in her right hand, and two sodas stacked in her left. “If that machine develops a real relationship before I do, I’ll just die.”
    I laugh. “You have a different boyfriend every month, Mag.”
    “My point exactly. They come and go so quickly.”
    “Because you show them the door.”
    “Because they bore me.” Magnolia smirks. “Besides, didn’t you break up with Dave?”
    “Not exactly,” I mumble. Dave and I dated for exactly three months during my junior year. I know, because he gave me a box of dried, chalky chocolates to commemorate the day, and then promptly dumped me for Misty Gamin. I never knew quite how to take that.
    “What did I tell you?” Magnolia hands me one of the sodas. “If you believe you dumped him, others will too.”
    “I don’t care that he dumped me,” I say.
    “Riiight.” Magnolia juts her chin toward the back of the barn. “Rags said you’re going to clean him. Want help?”
    “If you’re offering.”
    I give Magnolia my elbow and she takes it, smiling.

After Magnolia and I wrangle the Titan away from the mare and into the back, I turn on the water hose, point it toward the horse, and prepare to spray.
    The Titan snorts.
    “You think I won’t do it?” I say.
    The Titan gazes over my head, searching for the gray mare. Realizing it’s ignoring me, I squeeze the lever and water shoots from the nozzle. It hits the Titan square in the chest and causes a fine mist to float over Magnolia and me. Magnolia squeals and the Titan rears up on his back legs, surprised that I actually did it.
    The steel horse makes for the front of the barn. Feeling brazen, I step in front. The horse halts and tries to get by on the other side, but I’m there, spraying away. Dirty water washes in rivulets down the horse’s legs. When the horse tries to escape for the third time, I hold up my hands to shush him.
    “It’s okay, horsey,” Magnolia says between sips of her soda. “We all gotta bathe. If you want to impress that girl of yours, the first step is good hygiene.”
    When I turn the water back on, I don’t squeeze the lever as hard. This time, I start with his silver hooves and work my way up slowly. Even though the water is far from its head, the beast holds its nose so high in the air I can’t help but giggle. The Titan eyes me laughing, picks up a long, glittering leg, and brings it down into a puddle of watery mud.
    Dirt splashes across my shins.
    “Oh!” Magnolia exclaims. “Did he do that on purpose?”
    I press my lips together because, yeah, I think it sure as heck did. “You want to play that game?” I level the spray gun at the horse’s face, count to three, and squeeze. As the water hits it, the Titan stumbles backward until its rear slams into the back of the barn. I stop spraying at once and rush toward the creature.
    “Are you okay?” I ask. “I didn’t mean to—”
    The Titan lifts his right leg.
    Oh, no .
    I turn to flee, but before I can, water and mud spray across