Follow Your Dreams

Chapter 7: Birthday Girl

I jumped out of my mom's car before it completely stopped as she pulled into Little Creek Stable's driveway. I ignored her scolding and ran off into the direction of the barn. We had gotten here late and it was almost noon. It was also the last day of February and my birthday. Once I finished up with my chores, Vixen and Beanie were going to come over and also spend the night. I stopped in front of the barn, immediately noticing that something was wrong. The wheel barrow and shovel weren't there like they usually were, and there was no activity inside the barn. "Eh, Jake probably just slept in today." I concluded. I walked to the tool shed and grabbed the wheel barrow and shovel from it before returning to the barn.

I walked up to the first stall on the left and dropped the shovel in shock. The stall was spotless. The bucket had water like it needed to, there was nothing to muck, there was already fresh hay, and oats were in the food bucket. I checked each stall and saw the same thing each time. None of my stalls needed to be taken care of. "Surprised? I decided to help you with your chores today. Mr. Davis helped as well." Jake's voice echoed throughout the nearly empty stable. Storm and another horse were inside their stalls. Jake and I had told Mr. Davis about how Storm treated Hershey and the two have been separated ever since.

I jumped slightly, scared because I hadn't thought that he was here. "You did this? Why exactly? I don't mind working on my birthday." I laughed as I turned to face Jake. He was standing in the entrance to the barn. He just shrugged while I grabbed the shovel and wheel barrow to drag them back to the tool shed. I was surprised, that was for sure.

"Alright well, it was nice to see you, birthday girl. I have to leave now but I'll see you tomorrow?" Jake said before running off quickly. I raised an eyebrow but didn't try to look into it. I watched him leave before heading to the pasture.

"Without chores to do, you're pretty bored." Mr. Davis chuckled. I jumped back from the fence that surrounded the pasture and turned to see Mr. Davis.

"What is up with people and scaring me today?" I complained. Mr. Davis laughed and joined me beside the fence. "I'm more than bored. My mom said that she wasn't picking me up until two in the afternoon. I have nothing to pass time anymore because you and Jake did them for me." I smiled.

"Well, you could always help me give old Frosty a bath. He clearly needs one." Mr. Davis said as he pointed to a white Arabian that pranced around the pasture. The Arabian didn't look very white though. He was covered from head to toe in mud and dirt. I shrugged and walked back to the barn, walking down the aisle to where the tack room was. I grabbed a light blue halter with a matching lead line before returning to the pasture.

"I'll grab Frosty. Can you start the water so it's warm?" I asked as I opened the gate and entered the pasture. Mr. Davis nodded and walked over to the washing stalls located in front of the barn. "Frosty, come here boy!" I called. The white Arabian trotted over to my and sniffed at my pockets, hoping for some treats. "Sorry to disappoint you, but no treats today." I laughed and put the halter onto his head. He snorted and tried to trot away but I quickly clipped the lead line to his halter and kept a firm grip.

"The water's ready!" Mr. Davis shouted from the wash stalls. I gave a slight tug on the lead line to get Frosty's attention. He walked on my right side as I led him over to where Mr. Davis waited. I tied the lead rope to a little ring inside the stall. Frosty remained perfectly still as we began to wet his coat before scrubbing in a bunch of soap.

An hour and a half later, Frosty was looking brighter than ever. "We should put Frosty in the barn. That way he stays clean just a little bit longer." I laughed softly. Mr. Davis nodded in agreement and untied Frosty's lead rope. I took the lead rope from him and led Frosty to his stall inside the barn. He immediately went in the direction of his oats, no longer paying any attention to me. "Love you too, old boy." I rolled my eyes and walked back to the entrance. I noticed a car pull up, immediately recognizing it as my mom's car.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kate. Have a happy birthday!" Mr. Davis said as I began walking to my mom's car. I looked at him from over my shoulder and waved goodbye before climbing into the front seat of the black car. She drove us home and opened the door to the house for me. I stepped inside and nearly tripped over the rug that lay by the doorway. The whole house was completely dark, no sunlight entered through the windows.

"Did we lose power or something, mom?" I asked. She just grabbed my arm and led me in the direction of the living room. The second I set foot into the room, the lights turned on and blinded me for a moment.

"Surprise!" Multiple voices yelled loudly. I let out a tiny scream of terror as I noticed a few of my friends from school jump out into sight. Jake, Vixen, and Beanie were included in the group.

"At this rate, I'm going to have a heart attack before the day is over." I pouted and crossed my arms. Everybody laughed as Vixen and Beanie walked over and hugged me. There were snacks in the kitchen along with a few balloons that had floated to the ceiling. Somebody turned on the TV and put on a movie for us to watch. I smiled as I made myself comfortable on the couch. Vixen sat by the armrest with Beanie next to her. I sat with Beanie on my left side and Jake on my right side as we all watched the movie.

*Author's Note* Some of you may have seen the message that I posted. Okay, well you would have only seen it if you are my follower or stalked my profile. Anyways, the message said that I have already planned this book to its end. Now that I have the book planned out, I will be updating more frequently. A new chapter might be out every other day, or every day. This depends on how fast I work to finish the book. I'm hoping to make it around 20-30 chapters at least. I know that in the message, I said that I would begin the updated tomorrow. Well, I finished this chapter and felt like updating it today so whatever! Hope you enjoyed!

~AyakaTheNightfury