Fallin' For You-Part 4

SEVEN

Sophie woke that Saturday morning to shouting and stomping from outside.

"Let me sleep!" She cried, covering her head with her pillows—which didn't really help. "I was in the middle of a dream!"

But the noises kept on going.

So, Sophie bolted out of bed, stomped downstairs, and out of the front door. She made her way to where the noise was coming from and found something a little scary.

Kicking like a bucking-bronco was a silvery horse. Grady and Edaline were both trying to restrain the beast, but it was being very temperamental.

"What's going on?" Sophie asked, coming a little bit closer.

"Stay back Sophie," Edaline said, glancing her way quickly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Sophie watched her parents try and restrain the crazy horse for probably thirty minutes before they finally got him under control.

They put a bridle on him and then walked him to a fenced in pasture. He seemed to have calmed down, but Grady and Edaline insisted that Sophie stay away from the unstable horse.

"When did he get here?" Sophie asked as the three of them walked through the other pastures.

Edaline rubbed her eyes. "Very early this morning. He wasn't supposed to arrive until this afternoon, but they brought him earlier."

Sophie nodded. "Does he have a name?"

Grady shook his head. "No, and you're free to name him. He was born in Germany, then he was shipped over to the U.S a little after he was born to some sort of horse farm. Then, many years later, me and your mom bought him from that farmer."

"Well, I guess we can see now why he wanted to get rid of him," Sophie said, looking back at the horse. "He's got a terrible temper."

"Hopefully, Grady and I can fix that," Edaline said with a curt nod. "For now, we should all go inside and get some breakfast."

Sophie couldn't agree more.

§§§

"Dude, it's only September," Dex said as they all—Sophie, Dex, Tam, Linh, Maruca, Jensi—met at the park that afternoon. "We have tons of time to plan for Halloween,"

"I just think it's a good idea to get a head start," Tam urged with a shrug. "I mean, aren't you always telling us that we need to be more prepared?"

Dex rolled his eyes. "When I say that, I mean for school. Do you know how many times you've asked me for a pencil for the past three years? You never have one!"

"I can't help that," Tam said. "Linh always steals my pencils."

Linh slapped his shoulder. "I do not,"

Biana sighed. "The point is: what's wrong with planning ahead? I think it'd be fun to go shopping for costumes."

"That does sound pretty fun," Linh said, Maruca nodding along.

"I agree with Tam," Jensi said. "It's good to get a head start,"

"Oh, come on," Dex groaned. "Sophie, aren't you going to back me up?"

Sophie bit her lip. She agreed that it was a little too early to go Halloween shopping, but...

"Biana's right Dex," Sophie said, immediately feeling terrible. "It'd be like a fun field-trip for all seven of us, and we wouldn't have to shop when most of the good costumes are sold-out."