Fast as Lightning

Chapter 1 The Apple Tree

"Caroline, wake up!"

"Coming, mom,"

I walk downstairs fully dressed and ready to go do my chores.

"Honey," mom points at the table "eggs, eat up."

"Thanks mom,"

"Al," mom screams up the steps, "Get up!"

I hear this faint noise from up the steps,

"Coming mom!"

"Ok," she says to me, "Go do your chores, your brother will take care of your plate,"

"Thanks mom," I say, and walk to the white chiken coop thats old and rusted, and needs to be replaced, badly

"Hey there guys," I say holding my nose while I talk to Andy the chickens. All of the sudden i notice my long brown braid is coming out. I redo it into a ponytail, because I need my hair off of my neck. I finish up the chiken coop with getting rid if the dirty straw of of the floor and i replace it with new straw.

After I walk to the cow pen, I milk Bessie, who is our award winning cow. Then I stare into a pale filled with milk, and I see myself, my brown ponytail hanging off of my one shoulder and my light blue eyes, and my long slim face. Perfection. My degree of perfection. I am disrupted by a blueish truck pulling into our driveway;Callie. Callie is my brothers girlfriend and she is 16 just like my brother Al. Beside her on the drivers side is her dad, Rick. And on the other side of her is her 13 year old brother Brett. Brett too has brown hair and light blue eyes. I yell to my dad.

"DAD!!!"

"WHAT?" he screams back to me.

"Rick is here!"

"OK!"

I put the pales into a milk mixer so it isnt foam but a liquid, as I watch Al walk up to the truck and kiss Callie on the cheek, And she smiles. I see Rick telling Brett to get out, and he jogs over to me.

"Hey," he says

"Hey," I reply

I have a couple more pales to do so he lifts them up and pours them in.

" Thanks Brett, I appreciate it,"

"No problem, Caroline," he says with a smile that has a whole mouthful of teeth. As we finish up, I take the pales and stack them and he watches. I say

"Follow me,"

"Alright," and he follows.

We walk out of the cows barn and I walk to the horses stable. I get a saddle and say

"Wanna ride?"

" Heck yeah I wanna ride, girl," he says chuckling. And I cant help but to laugh too, and I hand him a saddle.

I take him to the horse pen and I open the gate to Thunders stall.

"This is Thunder," I say, "Shes a mare, and very strong, fast, and bullheaded. But I think you can handlle her."

"Ok, I hope so," he says.

He saddles up and walks her to the walkway that is in the middle of the barn, and he watches me go into another horses stable. I bring out Lightning, my racing horse. Lightning and I just raced last month and got First by a long shot. Brett seems pretty impressed with him.

"WOW," he says, " Whos that?"

"This Brett, is Lightning my racing horse."

"Sweet,"

"Thanks," I say and I saddle up.

We walk past the other horses we have in the barn to lead Lighning and Thunder out before we ride.

"Whats the names of those horses?"he points at Spirit and Big John,

"Spirit and Big John,"

"Why do you have those horses, like what are they used for?"

"Spirit is used for riding and rounding up cattle, but mostly fun stuff,"

"And Big John?'

"Riding, Fun, and jumping. Hes really good at jumping. Al jumps with him in competitions, like over obstacles and stuff. Do you have any horses, Brett?"

"Yes actually, Jumper, Strider and Rider are twins, and Duke,"

By the time we're done talking, we're out of the barn. We get on my horses and ride to one of our many Apple trees. We get off of our horses and gather apples for the horses and us.

"I better be getting back," he says

"Yeah, me too,"

We sit together for a little longer though, and watch the sunset, over the rolling hills of my farm, wondering what tomorrow will bring.