Spirits of Life- Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Last day of school, Fern. Wake up!” came Dad’s voice from the hall.

Sunlight was pouring into the room. I shoved the covers off. It all must have been a dream. It seemed so real though. Anyhow, breakfast. The smell of fresh bacon woke me up totally and completely and the thoughts of my dream vanished like fog as I was hit with the scents of breakfast. I descended the stairs, passed the living room, and looked into the mirror. For a split second a wolf appeared there, the same as in my dream. Then I was the same girl with very messy hair. Again, the smell of bacon drove me on. It was quite odd because I wasn’t usually that attracted to meat, nor was my sense of smell usually that sharp. These thoughts drifted to the back of my mind as I sat down for a hurried yet complete breakfast. A mountain of eggs loomed over some greasy bacon. I piled eggs into my mouth. I shoved all the bacon into my mouth, bit down, and swallowed. All my food was gone in under a minute.

“Wow sis, a new record,” exclaimed my little brother, Bo, who was half way through his miniature breakfast.

“Yeah. Finish up and come help me feed the critters,” I said as I walked out the door.

The cool northeastern wind off the towering peaks of the northwest Terracordula Mountains blew towards my face as I walked towards the pasture. I took a deep breath as I walked past the stable where the horses where kept at night in the winter or in bad weather. This time of year, though, they were left out side to enjoy the weather. The air tasted clean and fresh. I opened the gate to the pasture and whistled. A few seconds later the herd of horses rushed over the hill towards the stable.

Hildia rushed out in front with the astonishing speed of a horse that was racing to win the biggest race on all of Terra. Her blood bay coat glistened in the sun and her black mane blew back. She was like fire on the hill. She raced past me with a powerful rush that brought a thrill of power and strength to my heart. I raced after her and let my heart pound.

I placed feed in all their troughs and went over to stroke Hildia. She looked at me with her big eyes and tossed her head excitedly. She seemed to be the only one who understood me, with the exception of my best and only friend, Sam (short for Samantha). Ignoring the rules I leaped up onto Hildia’s back and clucked. She sped out of the stable and raced back over the hill. Her muscles rippled with speed and power so that it felt like I was part of her fiery strength. We raced down to the brook, then turned back to the stable, the freedom of my spirit left me. We walked back into the stable and I slid down off Hildia’s back.

By the time I had gotten the horses back to the pasture Bo had finished feeding the chickens and was about to feed Sweep. Sweep wagged his shaggy tail as Bo laid down his food bowl. We both bent down and stroked the fluffy dog.

Finally I stood up and sighed, “Come on, Bo. We don’t want to miss the bus.”

“Hey, Sam,” I shouted as Bo and I headed down the hill toward the bus stop.

Samantha looked up from the book she was reading, leaped off the boulder that she always sat on, and waved. I hurried downward, leaving Bo to walk leisurely down the hill.

“So, are your animals being loaded?” I inquired.

“Yeah. Fern, I hate this moving business. I really don’t want to move to the Mutabilis grasslands. I belong here, with my friends, and the Terracordula mountains next to me. But Dad says land is so much cheaper in Mutabilis that we will be able to have more land and more animals. I don’t think it’s worth it, though. My whole life is here.” Sam said.

Until today we had carefully avoided talking about her moving. But they left today after school so there was really no avoiding it. The rumble of our bus’s engine met our ears and we picked up our lunches. It felt odd not to have a book bag but we only needed a lunch for the last day of school. We would without a doubt be having a field day.

“Last day of school,” stated our withered old bus driver as we boarded the nearly empty bus and prepared for the long ride to pick up kids and go to school.

“The day went too fast,” Sam wailed.

“I know. How will I survive middle school without any friends? I’ll miss you so much,” I whimpered. The school day had been spent outside. Most kids played, but Sam and I only talked. Her family would be leaving as soon as she got home. My only friend would be gone. The bus screeched to a halt at our bus stop and Sam, Bo, and I got off. I wasn’t totally prepared to say good bye to my friend so I made a quick decision to go see Sam’s family off. “Hey, Bo!” I yelled. He turned and looked back from where he was halfway up the hill. “Tell Mom and Dad I’ll be back soon. I’m going to say good bye to Sam’s family.”

Our feet kicked up dirt as we shuffled slowly down the road. I kicked a rock and it tumbled into the grass.

“I’m really gonna miss you, Fern,” Sam said.

“Hey, it’s not the end of the world, we can still be pen pals,” I stated as we turned onto Sam’s driveway. White fences stood on either side of us but no horse grazed. They had all been loaded onto trailers for their move.

“Come on, Sam. We need to get going,” came Mr. Peguse’s (Sam’s dad) voice from the truck cabin. He would be driving the horses and Sam’s mom would be driving the moving truck.

Salty tears dripped down my face as Sam and I said our last good byes. Then she ran to her Dad’s truck and climbed in. Rivers of tears rolled down our faces as the trucks went down the drive way. I waved until they turned and were gone. I was alone. I was friendless and my heart ached from the weight of it all.

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I have 6 chapters of this story written already, I just haven't reviewed enough to post any more yet.

The Prologue to this story is here:

Spirits of Life- Prologue