Finding+Daisy

Finding Daisy “Are there any horses on the farm?” I asked my dad. We’ve just pulled our car into the driveway of our new house, an old horse farm. “No,” he said. I frowned. Seeing the disappointment on my face he said, “But I bet there are some old saddles or something you could look at. You’re smart; you’ll find something to do.” “OK,” I said. I love horses. I was super excited to know that we were moving to a horse farm, but I couldn’t believe it when I figured out there were no horses there. We get out of the car and start unpacking our things. “Oh, look the neighbors are here!” My mom shouts. I see them come down our driveway. They have a girl my age. She skips over to me and smiles. Then she says, “Hi, I’m Caroline. What’s your name?” “Bridget,” I say, “I was just going to check out the stables, want to come?” “Sure,” She says. We take off running and go into the stables. “Wow,” she says, as she looks at the trophies on the shelf. “Are there any horses?” “No,” I say. Looking at the rows and rows of stables. Just at that moment I hear a whinny from behind me. “Did you hear that?” I asked. Wondering if the sound was just my imagination. “Yeah, I did,” she replied,” It sounded like a horse. But you said there were no horses!” “I thought so too! my dad told me there were none.” We hear another whinny and a loud neighing. “Let’s go check it out,” I say. “I don’t know. Shouldn’t we tell your parents?” Caroline asked. “No! They’ll just take it away” I was not going to let my parents get in the way of my dream to own and ride a horse. “Come on, let’s go see it!” Caroline follows me unsurely. I race out of the stables and find a corral and a light brown horse with a long flowing mane, powerful legs, a long wavy tail and a white pattern on its back that looked like a flower. “Wow!” I say. She looked beautiful! Caroline approaches the horse cautiously, like it’s a rattlesnake. She says “We should really tell your parents.” I say, “I already told you, they’d take her away, I don’t want her to leave…. What do you think I should name her?” Caroline says, “Bridget, you can’t keep it. We have to tell your parents.” But I don’t hear her; I’m looking at the horse. It’s skimming over the grass in the corral until it sees a daisy then it starts to eat it. “Daisy” I say. “Her name is Daisy.” After that we head home. We keep Daisy in her corral. Caroline almost lets it slip that we find a horse, but I silence her by giving her the evil eye. The next day I go out to the corral. Caroline isn’t there so I won’t have to worry about her nagging me to tell my parents about Daisy. She doesn’t like to break the rules, I can see that. I decide I want to ride her today. I spent all of last night practicing with saddles and reading my horse books that I got for my 9th birthday. So I think that I am ready. As I get a saddle down from the shelf I hear the barn door open. I glance over and see my dad. He sees me with the saddle and smiles. “Going to ride the floor there?” He smiles at me. “Um….yeah. I wanted to get some practice.” I say unsurely. He laughs and says “Don’t fall off!” I say nothing so he heads for the house. “Phew! That was really close.” I think to myself. I dragged the saddle over to the corral. Daisy comes over to me and starts sniffing the saddle. She’s really curious. I lift the saddle onto her back. She tries to shake it off, but I hold it steady. Then I strap it onto her back. She tries to bite it, but then gets used to the feel of it. I put the reins on next. She spits them out twice before they stay in her mouth. Now for the big moment. I climb onto her back and grab the reins. I squeeze her with my legs and she starts to walk. I walk her through the gate of the corral. Then it’s all open land. There’s a big field filled with grass and a few shrubs. It’s surrounded by lush green forests, with many colorful flowers. We walk into the field and I squeeze her again and we trot. The whole time I’m smiling and bouncing on her back. It’s getting late and I don’t want my parents to get suspicious so I walk Daisy back into the corral and take off her saddle. I put it away and wave. “Bye Daisy,” I say. She perks her ears and nods at me. She’s a very smart horse! I smile and head home. The same thing happens for the next few days. Sometimes Caroline comes over. She always pesters me to tell my parents, but I never do. One day I come home and Daisy’s not in her corral. I guess she jumped the fence and went into the field. She’s a very smart horse. But she isn’t there the next day either. Caroline and I are looking at her empty corral on the second day of her being gone. I walk into the field, but she isn’t there either. Caroline follows slowly and says “Maybe she ran away.” But I know Daisy, she wouldn’t do that. “I know she wouldn’t run away like this! Something must have happened,” I say. “Bridget, I know you really liked her and it was really thoughtful to keep her here but… she’s gone!” Says Caroline. I don’t believe her! Just then we hear a whinny from in the forests. “Daisy!” I shout. I knew she didn’t run away! I race into the woods and look around. I hear more noises coming from in front of me. I race through bushes, thorns and more bushes until I see Daisy. She is lying on one side, she doesn’t look well and she is very skinny. One of her legs is sticking out at a funny angle. She must have gone exploring in the forest and broke it. Well curiosity killed the…horse. I push the image out of my mind. Daisy will be fine! Caroline comes gasping beside me. Seeing Daisy’s leg she says, “Now you have to tell your parents.” Uh oh……! We run home. I don’t care how much trouble I’m in. My parents have to help Daisy. I burst into the door of my house, tears streaming down my scratched face. I didn’t even notice I was crying. Even Caroline had wet eyes. My mom and dad rush over and ask. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” I manage to stutter, “Horse…broken leg… in forest, help!” “What?” my parents both shout in unison. Caroline explains about how we found Daisy and about how she broke her leg. My parents just sit there and gawk at her. When she is done they both turn to me and lecture me about how I should have told them first. Caroline mouths, “I told you so!” I can’t hear my parents, I’m to busy thinking about Daisy. I interrupt my dad in the middle of him explaining about why you shouldn’t ride an unfamiliar horse and say in a weak voice, “So will you help her?” I feel the tears rushing down my face as I stare at their faces. My mom suddenly remembering the horse shouts, “Yes!” She calls the vet while Caroline and I show my dad Daisy. He just stares in shock and amazement. It’s almost midnight and Caroline’s parents come to take her home. I promise her I will tell her how it goes. I want to go home and sleep too! But I stay awake for Daisy. Soon my mom and the vet come. He checks Daisy out and starts to examine her leg when I finally fall asleep. It’s been a long day, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. I wake up in the morning in my bed; I guess it was all a dream. Then I remember, today’s my birthday! I should give Daisy a piece of my cake. I’m so glad it wasn’t real. She is just fine! I see my mom walk in. “Oh good you’re awake. I want to talk to you about Daisy.” “Oh….” I say. I guess it wasn’t a dream. So then how is daisy? “Is she ok?” I ask, wondering how her leg is feeling. “Yes she is fine.” My mom replies. I smile Daisy is going to be ok. Then I realize, they’re going to take her away! “Well did you take her away yet?” I ask with a sinking heart. My dad walks in and says,” Take her away? What are you crazy? Of course were keeping her!” I can hardly believe it as they shout, “Happy Birthday!”