There were three
days until the race, just 72 hours for Becky to save her family farm. You see,
Becky’ s family breeding operation had been having trouble raising enough money
to keep their foals. The government
wanted to build condominiums on their property, and Becky had entered herself in
an endurance race to win the prize money of $100,000 to pay the veterinary bills.
Becky Fluterson thought of all the foals that would be born when she won that money. She stared out the window
at her beautiful mare, Sunny. Sunny’s white mane blew in the wind, and her palomino
coat sparkled in the sunlight. She had three white shocks and a thin white
stripe running down her head. Sunny was a seven-year-old quarter horse and mustang
cross, and full of spirit .Becky’s hair was almost the same color as Sunny’ s
coat . They had been practicing for the big endurance race since last month. The
age limit was 10-15 years old, and Becky was just 10, so she would be probably
the youngest kid there.
Two days passed, and it was the day before the
race – time to go and stay at the campground. Becky and her mom loaded Sunny
into the trailer and drove to Whitehorse Springs . When they arrived, they set
up their tent, then Becky took Sunny for a walk. She passed by some campsites and most people
seemed nice but one. Her name was Sarah -
she had it writing across her trailer - and
Sarah seemed to almost growl like a mountain lion at Becky, then stuck her nose
up and stormed back into her trailer.
“Don’t mind her,”
a voice called out from behind her. It was a girl who looked about her age. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. “My name is Alexei, and that’s Sarah. She’s always like that, stuck up and shallow.
That’s her horse over there. His name is Storm, and she wants to win just
so she can have more money than she already has. Not me, I’m just in it for the fun.” “Well my
name is Becky and I’m here to try to win the money for our farm because the
government threatened to shut us down. Oh, and is she really always like that?”
Becky asked. “Yes,” Alexei said, “Do you
want to go for a ride around the camp?” “Okay,”
replied Becky, “I’ll just go tell my mom, and get my horse, Flint, tacked up.”
Becky ran off, returning two minutes later for a night ride, then turning in
for bed.
The next day, it was time for the race. Becky went out to the barn to get Sunny and
brought her back to the trailer. By the time Becky was done grooming Sunny, it
was just 20 minutes before the race. She put on her vest and helmet, then tacked
Sunny up and mounted her for a quick trot to the starting line, where she saw
Alexei and Sarah. Minutes passed, then a small crowd of spectators appeared.
A woman came with
a gun, and pointed it skyward. She
called out, “This endurance race is unlike most others. Each of you gets a
different map. You have to find four
flags, put them in your saddle bag, and come back here, Now, ON YOUR MARK, GET
SET, GO!!!!!!” The gun went off and Becky made a fast start, but so did Alexei
and Sarah. Then the three split up and
went in different directions. Becky’s map showed her first flag was on top of a
muddy slope to the north, or at least she thought so.
When she got to
the hill, it looked a bit dangerous, so
she wrapped Sunny’s legs and started up. Everything was going well, until suddenly,
Sunny’s hooves started slipping down the
hill. Sunny struggled to stay upright. Becky was really scared, but she knew
she had to stay confident because whatever she thought, Sunny would feel it,
and in a time like this she did NOT want Sunny to be scared.
The mud was just impossible. Becky didn’t know what to do,
but something inside her was telling her to jump left. She thought that was crazy - that she was out
of her mind - but she didn’t know what else to do! So she clicked her heels
into Sunny’s sides and guided her left. Sunny jumped, and Becky closed her eyes.
She didn’t know what was going to happen, but there was that voice again, telling
her that everything was fine. When she
opened her eyes, she was standing on a small rock ledge, and Sunny looked calm.
So they continued up the slope, finally
reaching the top where Becky took the
flag and put it in her saddlebag. Then she and Sunny descended the slope
sideways. “One flag down, three to go,” Becky said. They rested for a bit, and
had lunch. When they were done, Becky mounted Sunny and they cantered off to
find the next flag, which was behind a rock in a seemingly easy-to-reach spot.
She rode Sunny
to the big rock and spied the flag in the distance. She told Sunny to walk forward, but Sunny stood
strong. Becky urged her on again, but
something was wrong and Sunny could feel it. Becky surveyed the area, still seeing nothing, so she urged Sunny on
again. The mare took one step forward, then
stepped back, her ears pricked, every part of her alert. Becky looked around
again. Still nothing. Suddenly, she heard
a rattling sound from behind the rock, and a rattlesnake darted towards them. Sunny
reared, and Becky wanted to scream, but then she reminded herself that whatever she thought, Sunny would feel, so she stayed calm and pleaded for a miracle.
At that moment, a
rustling sound arose, and a beautiful palomino mare jumped out from the bushes.
She had a blaze, and a white mane and
tail, and she looked like a mustang. She reared fiercely, then faced the snake and stomped
it dead. At this, Sunny gave out a high-pitched
whinny, and the mare turned, listening. Then
she walked over calmly and touched muzzles with the mare.
Suddenly, Becky
realized this was Sunny’s mustang mother.
At that, she also realized it was Sunny’
s mother who had been sending her those earlier thoughts. Then the weirdest thing happened. The mare spoke.
“Yes, I’m Sundance and you are right, Sunny is my filly. Oh, and that was me. I know what you think
and I can send you mental messages. All horses can. Like now, Sunny sent you a
message too, but only girls and boys who have a real love for horses can hear
us as you do, Becky. I’m here to help you get through this endurance race and help
you save your family farm.” Then
Sundance added, “I have a safer place for you to sleep because cougars live
around here.” “Oh, okay, thank you” replied Becky softly. As they left, she leaned down to lift the
second flag from the sand.
They trotted towards a dark cave. Well, it
seemed dark. Becky dismounted Sunny and led her up the small hill and into the
cave, with Sundance in the lead. When they got inside, Becky thought it was rather
dim, but like Sundance said, horses can see what you’re thinking. At that thought, Sundance pushed some
crystals over to catch the moonlight, and suddenly the whole room lit up in a
rainbow of colors. Becky smiled and soon fell asleep beside Sunny.
In the morning, Becky awoke to the sweet smell of Sunny and so she
tacked up her mare. To her surprise,
Sundance was gone, but she knew with her magic that Sundance would be fine. So
she mounted Sunny and set off to find the next flag, which was … where?... “Behind a waterfall! Are
they trying to kill us? ” Becky hollered.
She cantered off to the waterfall and the sound was so loud and growing
louder that Sunny started to spook. Becky
wanted to be scared too, but she told herself again that whatever she thought,
Sunny would feel. So she stayed calm and stroked Sunny’s neck and spoke soft
words. Sunny quieted down and slowly Becky
moved closer with her eyes half open,
just enough to see where she was going. Closer
to the waterfall they went, and closer…then under it, and she pulled the flag from
the foam and quickly turned Sunny back to land. They cantered to the top of a
hill, where the sound of the
waterfall wasn’t so bad.
Becky looked at the map, and the last flag
was in a tree, so she cantered towards the tallest one she could see.
She spotted the flag dangling from the branches, and stood on top of Sunny’s
saddle to reach it, but Sunny spooked again,
and Becky fell off and hurt her arm. Sunny
returned to Becky’ s side, then gave a loud whinny as a cougar jumped from a
tree and landed just meters away from them. Becky’s heart pounded. She picked up a rock and tried to hurl it at
the cougar, but her arm hurt too much, so Sunny gave out another loud whinny. Sundance came thundering out of the bush as
she had before. The cougar whipped around sleekly and turned to face Sundance,
who was rearing and bucking madly. The
cougar lunged at Sundance with its claws spread. Sundance jumped out of the way, then tried to
step on him, but she missed and the cougar slipped out of the way. The cougar
jumped again at Sundance, but this time he jumped on
her back and she could not shake him off. He sank his claws into Sundance’s
back and she screamed in pain. Becky screamed and tried again to throw the rock
but she was badly hurt. Sunny ran to
Sundance’s side but by now she was on the ground and Sunny reared up and came down hard on the
cougar’ s head. The cougar instantly unlatched his teeth and claws and escaped into
the bush. Becky got up and ran over to
Sundance and Sunny. She had tears in her
eyes when she saw Sundance, who had a deep cut in her withers and was on the
ground in shock. Becky rested with her for the night .
The next morning,
Becky woke up and attempted to pick up Sunny’s tack, but her arm throbbed so
much, she decided to first wrap it in her scarf. Becky put a halter on Sundance’ s head and
led her to a log where she tied her, then she stood on the log so she didn’t
have to lift the saddle over her head as she tacked up Sunny. Becky mounted Sunny, then rode off to the
path that lead to the finish line, with Sundance close behind.
When she got
there, she saw Alexei and Sarah. Alexei
said, “You go, Becky. You need the money
for your farm.” “Thanks,” said Becky. But Sarah had plans of her own. She clicked her heels, telling Storm to go,
and he bolted. Becky galloped after her and then they saw a tree that had fallen
the night of the storm. Sunny pulled ahead of Storm and cleared the tree, but
when Sarah got to it, she shifted her weight and threw Storm off balance. He slid and stopped, and Sarah fell off.
Becky, meanwhile, raced to the end and won. Soon after came Alexei, then Sarah,
who ran to her trailer wailing, “MOMMYYYYYY!” Becky took home the prize money
and everything was fine. She brought Sundance home and healed her wounds and
let her go free again.
Becky lived a
happy life, raising foals, but one crazy
surprise followed another one morning. First of all, Sunny was gone. Becky looked everywhere but she could not find
her mare. The next day, oddly, Sunny was
back , and Becky was relieved.
Three months
later, Sunny was due for a check-up, so the veterinarian came back with data
saying everything was fine -- but Sunny was pregnant. “How did this happen?” Becky wondered, but then
she remembered the one night Sunny had run
away. “She must have mated with a
Mustang stallion,” thought Becky. Nine months later, Sunny had her foal, a
beautiful cream-colored colt, who was very high spirited and full of life.
Becky named him “Sunbeam” because he was as beautiful as sunlight -- just like
Sunny and Sundance. Suddenly, she heard
Sundance, “Good work,” and then she heard Sunny, “Thank you.”
As they say, Becky
lived happily ever after. So did Alexei who won second prize, and Sarah, whose
mom just gave her the money.
THE END
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