Racing with Thunder (Discontinued)

Chapter One

I stood on my toes. I couldn't see any familiar faces. It all swarmed with random strangers, walking back and forth. Aunt Julie was suppose to pick me up, but now I guess not.
I tried staying calm. I sat on a bench. I fiddled with my jumper zipper. Nothing could keep me from wondering if I should run back home, just live alone while my parents were away overseas, or stay until someone came for me.
A random lady waved to me, her little boy sneakily poking his tongue at me. I felt like punching one back, but thought to myself that it wouldn't be very mature from a twelve-year-old, so I rolled my eyes instead. The little boy stared at me and mumbled something under his breathe. I could tell he had said something like, "I don't like you", or, "You're weird". But whatever he said, I really didn't care. I only cared about the long hours I may have ahead of me.
Finally what felt like ages, a man came towards me. I could smell the drenching smell of horse and wet dog. What a life he must have. But I didn't recognize him.
"Are you Crystal?" He asked. How did he know my name?
"Yes," I said.
"Crystal Sharp?"
I nodded.
He removed his straw hat, revealing his newly cut hair, and let out a sigh like he was relieved. He fanned his face with the hat. Then he looked squarely at me, his eyes resting on my bag. I grabbed my bag, clutching to my chest.
He cleared his throat.
"I'm your Uncle Mike. I know your Aunt was coming to pick you up, but she had to visit one of her friends who's sick. So I was to pick you up."
I stared at him.
"Okay," I said slowly.
"Come, Crystal. I bet you can't wait to meet your cousins? I've brought Kyle with me. He's your second youngest cousin." He said.
After I got up, I followed him out of the airport and down the road to his truck. It was huge. And Kyle was in the middle.
At first, I wondered how I could get myself up there, then I put one leg up first and boosted myself up. Kyle looked at me strangely, like I wasn't a human being. Then he grinned, showing his two front buck teeth, and stared up at me.
"City girl," he said.
I frowned.
"What?"
"You are a city girl."
"So?"
He laughed like I didn't know what he meant. Weird. In fact, this whole thing was weird. I had no idea where I was being led to.
The whole trip was quiet and no one spoke. Uncle Mike whistled a really annoying tune every now and then, but Kyle was really quiet.
I stared out the window and imagined what I could do once I got there. What was there to do on a farm? What would my life be like? How would I fit in? Would I even like living with the Grizzly's? Would I enjoy doing farm chores? Well, this was it. Soon enough I would find out.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I stepped out the truck, stretching my arms and back. That was one whole hour of torture. One whole hour of boredom. And one whole hour of not getting spoken to.
I looked around.
It wasn't that bad. It was actually great to smell fresh air for a change. Not polluted. Not full of city junk. But my thoughts instantly changed when I smelt cow dump.
I scrunched up my nose, waving my hand in front of my face. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.
Suddenly, my life turned from bad to a big nightmare when Aunt Julie gave me a big hug as soon as she got home. She was definitely a bear hugger. Guess that's why her last name was Grizzly.
"Glad you made it, Crystal," she said, "sorry I couldn't pick you pick up. How was your flight?"
"Good, I guess," I mumbled, trying to escape from her grip.
"That's nice. Why don't you go explore? Me and Uncle Mike will take care of your bags."
"Actually, I only have one bag. Mum and Dad couldn't help me pack so I only chose a few things. Plus they were in a hurry so I had no time to pack much." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh?" she grinned from ear to ear. "Well just go explore anyways. Then you can help me with dinner."
Great. My first chore. But I did as was told.
I slowly walked down the gravel path and studied the farm. Cows roamed the pasture, sheep baaed from their pen, pigs snorted, and chickens bawked. Then my eyes rested on horses.
Since I could remember, I was scared of horses. I never liked them. When I was five, I had fallen off a small pony that my parents had bought for my birthday. It was horrid. It was terrible.
I slowly backed up, keeping my eyes on them as if they would stampede out of their corral. My heart felt uneasy around those beasts. My head started to hurt as soon as I saw one.
As if I had never seen a horse before, Kyle caught my attention by snickering at me. I heard him giggle until he scurried away behind the farmhouse. That was weird. He seemed to get on my nerve more than that boy at the airport.
I continued walking along the gravel path. Then I heard someone shout, "Watch out!" I didn't know they were yelling at me until I found myself on the ground, tackled by two big dogs.
I groaned.
Someone laughed at me.
"Told you to look out," A girl said.
"Yeah, thanks a lot," I mumbled.
"Welcome," she bowed. Then she sped off with the two dogs, leaving me on the sharp gravel path. The small stones felt like needles. Tiny needles that slashed against my skin.
I stood back up and dusted my shirt and jeans. How could my life get any more complicated? Oh, wait. It just started when a horse nipped at my hair.
I jumped back.
Sitting high on a tall black horse, another boy about my age, but maybe a bit older, smirked down at me.
"Didn't mean ta scare ya," He said. The way he talked made me cringe.
As if in protest, the gelding nickered at me.
I took big steps back. What if this beast trampled me? He seemed evil enough to do so.
"You didn't scare me. It was that monster," I said, pointing to his horse.
The boy laughed.
"Monster? Tornado ain't a monster. You're hilarious!"
Right now, I felt like screaming at him. But since I was nearly a teenager, I knew better.
I stood straighter.
"How is that being hilarious?" I asked, defensively.
He smirked more. Then he shrugged.
"You just are," he said. He kicked his horse, Tornado, into a trot, then a run behind the farmhouse. What was up with hiding behind the farmhouse?
Uncle Mike and Aunt Julie were already inside the house. Maybe I should get to know where I was staying. I just hoped I didn't have to share a room with any of my cousins. Most of them were terribly annoying.
Inside smelt like horse, just as much as outside did. It also smelt like wet dog, no wonder why Uncle Mike was basically dressed in it when I first met him. That was the first time I had even seen him face to face.
I never knew Mike. I only knew Aunt Julie because I vaguely remember meeting her at Christmas when I was six. I remember her holding a baby, but I can't remember who it was. In fact, I don't know any of my cousins. I also didn't know she had five children. Five. Imagine how miserable and stressed my parents would be to worry all the time about five kids. I mean, it was bad enough they chose to forget about me and travel overseas without their only daughter.
A dog slowly limped toward me and curiously sniffed my leg. Poor thing. Why was it limping so badly?
I studied him before spotting his missing left front leg.
No wonder.
I gave his head a pat and nearly jumped out of my skin when he barked. How could such a small dog bark so loudly?
I stood back up to look around. The dog followed.
I wandered around the kitchen then to the lounge room. Although it didn't really look like a lounge room.
Books stacked on a shelf that had me a bit creeped out. It was covered in some animal fur. Just above it sat a giant moose head.
I screamed. I covered my mouth.
The sudden sight made me nearly pass out. Never in my life had I seen such a thing. It's eyes were bulging out, staring right at me, and the antlers were huge.
Aunt Julie came rushing from downstairs.
"Are you all right, Crystal?" She said in a concerned voice.
I slowly nodded, keeping my eyes glued to the lifeless beast. It reminded so much of a horse. But more lumpier.
Aunt Julie laughed so hard, she clutched her tummy.
"You aren't scared of Oscar, are ya?" She asked. Then she patted the moose's head. "He wont hurt you, pumpkin. He's part of the family."
"Part of the family?" I said in a squeaky voice. How was a dead moose part of a family?
"That right, sugar bolt. Your Uncle Mike is one fine shot. He got him right in the head. See that hole?"
I looked at the hole. I gulped.
It was the size of a bullet. Well i guess that's exactly why she said Uncle Mike was a fine shot.
"What is all this screaming about?" Uncle Mike's face glowered with red as he emerged in the lounge room.
He bent to catch his breath.
"Nothing, darling. Crystal just got a fright from old Oscar here," Aunt Julie said, patting the moose again.
I sniffed the air. Something smelt worse than horse and wet dog. Something that tickled my nose.
"I smell smoke," I said.
Aunt Julie's eyebrows shot up and she dashed for the kitchen.
She came in holding a burnt turkey.
"Oh, now look what I've done," she said, shaking her head. "Now I'll have to make another one."
She walked away.
The dog, still at my feet, whimpered up at me.
"His name's Dingo," Uncle Mike said. "Your Aunt rescued him after a car crash. Sadly his owner died in it, but he was lucky to survive."
"What breed is he?"
He shrugged.
"Part dingo and part labrador I think."
I frowned.
"But why is he so small?"
He shrugged again.
"Born like that I guess."
I hid my smile.
This dog was like me. Not the missing leg part, or the small scars, but because he was born the way he was. At school I was picked on for hating horses by the other girls who ride. I was picked on by the boys because I was nothing like the other girls.
We were both special.
I helped with the rest of dinner, and instead of cooking another turkey or putting on any meat, Aunt Julie decided to just keep the burnt turkey and eat it.
I politely declined her offer when she passed me a plate of the overcooked, way overcooked, meat. It was so not worth a single bite.
Soon the table was crowded with the five cousins.
Uncle Mike said the prayer of thanks.
I sat between two girls, one smaller than Kyle, and the other girl with the two big dogs. I still haven't fogiven her and her dogs so I kept my eyes on my plate.
The smaller girl tapped my shoulder.
I looked down at her.
"Melissa," she said.
"Huh?"
"My name is Melissa," she said sweetly.
"Oh, I'm Crystal," I mumbled.
"I know."
Melissa went back to eating. Then she pointed to the Kyle and an older boy.
"Those are my brothers, Kyle and Humphrey."
I looked over at Kyle who grinned with his two buck teeth, and the older boy who stared at me.
He looked serious.
I felt uncomfortable under his gaze.
"And my two sisters are Mandy and Macey," she pointed to the girl beside me, Mandy, and the older girl next to Uncle Mike.
Mandy grinned with burnt turkey all through her teeth.
How could she eat that?
"Sorry about the dogs by the way," she said. But I could tell by her smirk she was trying her best not to laugh. "Pip and Yip always does that around visitors."
Visitors? Did she think I was a visitor?
"I'm not visiting. I'm staying for who knows how long."
"I know, that's why you're sleeping in the attic."
Attic.
I don't know why, but the way she said attic made me shiver. Was something up there I should know? Because if it were spiders, I don't mind a few creepy crawlers.
After dinner, I followed Melissa upstairs. Actually, more like I was being dragged. She held my hand so tight, I thought it might fall off.
Soon she stopped skipping and pushed open the trapdoor.
My eyes adjusted to the light as I climbed up.
It wasn't that bad. A little dusty, a few old books that i might read soon, and maybe a squeaky bed, but other than that, it was a bit like home. Apart from the dust, my room back home was messy. I only had a little time to pack, so I had left my room with clothes everywhere, bed unmade, and even my closet wide open.
"You don't like it?" Melissa asked.
I bit my lip. All I had shown was my grimace instead of appreciation.
"It's all right, really. I can manage." I said, feeling my bed.
I felt something lumpy under the sheets. I jumped when I pulled out a creepy old doll.
"What is that?" I screeched.
"That's Molly," Melissa picked up the doll and clutched under her chin.
Now I could see the face. It was really old. One button eye was missing and the other looks. . .well. . .broken in half. The skirt was ripped. The shirt was stained, and an arm was hanging from it's body.
It was unbearably creepy.
"Have you ever sewn her back together?" I asked.
"No," she shook her head.
I thought for a moment. Besides reading and dancing, I had a passion for sewing. My teacher back at Gold State School even said I was really good.
"Maybe I could fix her up a bit?"
She frowned.
"What's wrong with Molly?"
I pointed to her face. I gestured to her arm.
"I just think maybe she could with a bit of a make over. Then she'll be good as new. I promise."
Melissa's face burst into an eager grin.
"Really? Molly gets a make over!"
I smiled back.
Melissa was so cute when she bounced around like that.
She passed me Molly.
I studied the doll.
Did I mention she needed her hair fixed too?
"Melissa, Crystal needs some time to settle in," Aunt Julie called. "Come down here and finish your chores. Then get ready for bed."
Melissa answered obediently and bounced to the trapdoor.
She stopped and turned to give me a hug. Unfortunately, she was a bear hugger. Just like her Mum. Maybe the whole family was just the same.
Grizzly's. Am I right?