Chapters Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life
A novel based on My Little Dashie
By Elias Fuentes
Part One
In My Life
So this is how the sadness of my life starts. My parents started yelling at each other as I was at the dining table, eating cereal. I’m not so sure of what they were arguing about since it was a while ago sense the event happened. As they were fighting I couldn’t stand to see what I was seeing. My parents fighting broke my heart. I started to cry. My sister, Hannah, came out and told them to stop fighting, yet, they wouldn’t stop. My sister looked at where the source of the sorrowful noises was coming from, me. I was bawling my eyes out. I was afraid that the worst would happen: my parents breaking up.
“Stop it, can’t you see what you’re doing to your son!” my sister yelled. My parents stopped their argument to take a glance at their weeping son. I got up out of the chair I was in and went to my room to cry alone.
“Sorry about what has been happened tonight. Whatever happens is just what we’re trying to do best for you. Night, love you,”
“Night, love you,” I replied in a hoarse voice. I cried myself to sleep that night, hoping that the inevitable wouldn’t happen.
***
(Now if I were to continue the rest of my life to the next point of interest worth telling you would most likely get bored. All I can say is that I continued my life going to school, always looking forward to seeing my friends, Gage, Ian, Lucas, and Sage. My parents and I never talked about what happened the night before for a while. All I was missing was my resilience to what was happening In My Life.)
*Several weeks later*
I started to hear of this television show that supposedly was a good show: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic©. I really didn’t have any doubts about this show. People at my school could occasionally be heard saying
“My little pony, choked on bologna,” Something like that. Really I never cared. In fact I thought it was just something stupid. So one day I gave it a try. It was one of the greatest shows I have ever watched. It seemed to make my heart fell warm inside. It seemed to make this gray life a bit happier, but not enough. I looked up who wrote the show, it was made by Lauren Faust. I instantly recognized her as the person who made Fauster’s Home for Imaginary Friends©. I always loved that show when I was younger, until it got cancelled.
So I started to watch more of My Little Pony. I started to get, what one could say, addicted to it. It was great with the characters, how it’s funny, teaches good lessons about friendship, and has great plots (*wink*). If only they could be in my life. Oh how great that would be. Maybe then my life wouldn’t seem so bad.
***
*Another several weeks later*
So this is the part where my life gets even worse. It was about two weeks from winter break. I haven’t told anybody, not even my family, about my love for My Little Pony. My mom called me out of my room to talk.
“Elias, like you have known, your Father and I have not been getting along well and you know that what we are doing is what we are trying to do best for you and your sisters. Your Dad and I are breaking up.” My heart skipped a beat. I had a feeling that this would happen.
“Wait, but this me-,” I tried to say in a shaken voice.
“That we’re going to be moving? Yes. We have already found a house. We are going to be moving on January 1st and you’re going to be going to Northridge Middle School. I know this is a bit sudden we just wanted you to be happy for as long as you can before we told you the news,” my mom explained. Happy! Like I have even been happy before she told me. I went back to my room and started to cry again. I was always a sensitive person. I was thinking about what was going to be happening. I would have to leave my friends that I know, have to go through Christmas knowing that my parents are breaking up, and that I am going to be starting a new school. That night I couldn’t stop thinking about what could happen after Winter break, so I just fell asleep.
***
*One week later*
(So by judgment you’re probably getting bored out and are going to hit the “back” button on your screen. Well don’t it gets better)
I started to tell my friends at school the news. My friends would say that they're sorry about my parents and things like
“No, you're kidding right?” about me moving and going to a different school. So I got their phone numbers. About a day later, word got around the school that I was moving. Some people would say that they were going to miss me. That made me feel a bit happier, but there still was the fact that I wouldn’t be seeing them anymore. Even the teachers said they were going to miss me. I was going to miss my favorite teacher, Mrs. Smith. She was always nice and enjoyed having such an inquisitive kid like me. I was really going to miss it here.
***
*December 31st, 2011*
Well it is the day before the day we move. Christmas was good and I am definitely thankful for the gifts I got. I am not looking forward to moving, as you would think I wouldn’t be. I had everything packed (and I won’t get to into detail because you’d get even more bored out). The only thing we didn’t pack into the moving truck was the thing my dad was going to keep at his house and our beds since we needed to go to sleep somewhere. Once all the boxes (marked with the owners name) and other items too big for boxes in the truck my dad went out and got a pizza for us to eat. Pizza is one of my favorite foods and I always was excited for pizza, but not this time. Like I say throughout the story, it is hard for about anything to cheer me up. I ate the pizza and decided to get to bed so we can just get this moving done quicker.
I woke up the next morning staying still in my bed for about five minutes. I didn’t want the rest of this day to continue, that way I wouldn’t even have to deal with the rest of what seemed to continue to be a miserable life, but then, I wouldn’t be able to experience the greatest event in my life. I got out of bed and my family and I had a breakfast of left-over pizza. After the breakfast, my parents, sisters, and I came to a decision that my mom and sisters would drive my mom’s car to the house and my dad and I would drive the truck to the house.
On the ride to the house, my dad and I didn’t talk. Instead we just listened to music. He listened to The Beatles, which was my favorite band but was replaced by another, there was a podcast that would post edited My Little pony music like it was edited into dubstep, which rocked my soul. He never took notice to when I what music I was listening to.
We arrived at the house later on. It was bigger than the house I used to live in, which seemed to pleasure me a bit. I wanted to get the unpacking done rather quickly so I could relax later on, so when my father opened the back of the truck I slid the boxes with my name written on them onto the ground. My mom’s car arrived after I got the last box to the ground. My sister, Madi, went inside with a few of her boxes. I picked up a few of my boxes and went inside and looked at all the rooms. It was easy to tell what the bedrooms were. I figure to let my mom would have the biggest of the three (there wasn’t four because my sister is going to college, she is just on break from college) since she is the parent so I went to the biggest room and of course, my sisters stuff was in there. I wasn’t going to complain so much because it was only just a room. I put my boxes in my room and went back outside.
So later on all my stuff that was supposed to be in my room was in my room. My piano, my dresser, my bed; finally the unpacking was over, but I still had to deal with me parting from my dad and going to a new school. It was nighttime and I went out my room and into the living room. I found my dad in his jacket; his eyes were red and puffy. I knew that he was ready to leave. I walked over to my dad and started to hug him.
“See you, Eli,” he said in a hoarse voice from him crying “I love you.”
“I love you too dad,” I said back I started to cry again. My sisters told him by and that they love him. I went to my room and remembered all the memories we had together. I t made me cry even harder. I then noticed how my room was cluttered with my boxes. I grabbed them and stacked them outside next to the recycling bin. I went back in my room and watched some My Little Pony to lift my spirits. After that I went to bed.
The next morning, I woke up from the dream I had. It wasn’t a bad dream but nor was it good. I was in my old school and was with my friends. Even though I was with my friends, in the dream, I was in great sorrow in the dream. I can’t explain why I would’ve had such a dream so I guess it just happened. I had a breakfast of cereal when my mom walked next to me.
“Eli, you left you boxes next to the recycling bin. Please go out unfold them, and put them into the recycling bin,” my mom ordered.
“Okey dokey lokey,” I replied. I went outside and started to unfold the flaps of a box to make them thinner and put them in the recycling bin. Box after box I went until something I didn’t expect happened. A box of mine, which was on the ground next to me, shook as something inside it moved. I edged away from the box unsure of what just happened.
I did unpack all my stuff didn’t I? I got curious and looked through the slit of the boxes flaps and saw a cyan, sky blue, light turquoise, whatever you want to call it colored body with a lock of green and blue hair visible. All of a sudden a slight idea came in my head, but no it was absolutely crazy, or was it. I reached my hands out towards the box and opened the flaps. What I saw was definitely not what I was prepared for.
I saw the sky blue coat, the rainbow hair, and tail, and the body of what definitely looked Equine (the family that what horses, ponies, zebras, etc. were in, and by this one’s appearance of what looked like a character from my favorite television show, it most likely was a pony). At first I didn’t know what to do. But then I thought I knew exactly what to do. Let it live with me; after all this is a very own Rainbow Dash, when in the world do you come across one. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming. I knew I wasn’t.
Certain warmness beyond what I have ever felt came upon me. For once I started to feel happy. I knew they existed. I knew the fourth wall didn’t exist. Only thing now is how the heck I would take care of it and what would my mom think. Then I started thinking, how is a character from My Little Pony in the human world. Perhaps they just always existed and this one just came upon me by luck.
“How?” I said under my breath and those sky blue eyelids opened to reveal her familiar rose eyes from the show “Just how and why are you In My Life?”…
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Chapter Two: How will this work out?
Part Two
How will this work out?
So I decided to keep the rainbow pony. I grabbed the box and lifted. The little pony started to get scared as it didn’t even know what was happening to herself. That made me decide she must be really young. I started getting more and more questions. How will I take care of you? Will you be able to talk like in the show? What will my mom say?
I hadn’t the slightest idea of what would happen once I bring the Pegasus pony in the house. Would my mom get rid of Rainbow Dash or will she let me keep her? Probably not; this is what worried me most. I wasn’t going to just give up the pony. It was the only thing that made me happy in life. I could try to hide her, but no that, most likely wouldn’t work but it is worth a try.
I brought the box inside. My mom was in her room and so was my sister. Alright this is a good start. I walked to my room and shut the door. I set the box down on my bed. I thought it probably wouldn’t be good to keep her in that box so I decided to let her sit on the bed. I knew a bit about animals and that there are certain ways to carry them. Thing is, I never had a little pony (considering the types of ponies in My Little Pony are smaller than ones in reality) so I didn’t know how to carry this one. I came to a decision that it would be best to pick her up by her belly and carry her by cradling her in my arms.
With a pony from my favorite television show in my arms, I had a great amount of happiness filling inside me. It was something that I just couldn’t explain. I set Rainbow Dash on my bed and she laid down. I shut my blinds so she could rest peacefully. I really didn’t know what to do with her after that. I suppose one could call her a pet and that I should just take care of her, but she was more than a pet. So I thought of when a human has a baby, they take care of them, not treat them as if they were a pet. Soon that baby would grow up to take care of themselves. So I am going to treat the rainbow Pegasus as if it were my baby. After all she must be very young right now.
I sat down on the bed and picked up the sky blue pony. She squirmed under my arms. I sat her down on my lap and started to stroke her rainbow mane to reassure her that it’s alright. I couldn’t believe I was touching the Rainbow Dash’s rainbow mane. I mean well I always thought about ponies being in reality, but this wasn’t some imagination, it was actually happening. But right now I couldn’t just be here with the pony in awe; I had to be serious about what I was doing. How exactly was I going to take care of her? I made the assumption that she must have been hungry and thirsty. What exactly do baby ponies eat? I know that they get milk from their mothers. Perhaps they like carrots. I suppose it really didn’t matter considering this pony is from a cartoon.
Once again, I grabbed hold of the pony, making sure not to stir her too much, and lied her down on the bed. I walked out of my room, making sure to shut the door, quietly, behind me, and walked to the refrigerator. I wondered if it is ok for ponies to drink milk that isn’t from their mother, more importantly from a cow. Bah, how much harm could it do? Uh, Eli, maybe it could make her sick. So I decided to google it and apparently, it is ok. I grabbed a few baby carrots and a jug of milk from the fridge. What should she drink the milk from? I guess it would be best to have her drink it from a bottle. I went and got a bottle (sometimes my sister babysits) from a cupboard, filled it with milk, and let the milk warm for a few seconds in the microwave.
I went back to my dimly lit room and sat next to Rainbow Dash. I wasn’t sure how to wake her up. I didn’t want to give her a rude awakening, so I just gave her a slight poker on her side.
I grabbed the bottle and put it up to her mouth. Surprisingly, she opened her mouth and started to suck on the bottle.
“Heh, you’re making this a lot easier than I thought it would be,” I said. The next thing I thought of was about how she would be going to the bathroom. I never heard of a pony sitting on a toilet, nor have I heard of a bathroom that is made for a pony. Wait, the world is your litter box. I would just have to train her to do her business outside. But then my mom would really find out, heck, it’s only a matter of time till someone finds out. And what if she ran off? Gosh there are so many things to taking care of a pony. Well, at some point in life she will be able to take care of herself rather than right now.
And that brought another thing up. How long is a pony’s life, especially a pony from a television show? I came to the decision that it would be about three years, for that is how long it takes for them to grow in reality. Anyways, how was I going to keep her from running off? Well, Rainbow Dash was about as big as my dog, which was pretty small, so I could use his collar for her and put a leash on her to keep her from running away. I left Rainbow Dash’s side for a few seconds to get my dog’s collar. I went back to my room; collar in hand, to see her still lying on my bed, thank goodness. I put the collar around her neck, which started to irritate her until she just let it be, picked her up, and carried her to the door that led outside.
I grabbed the leash that was hanging next to the door, and put it on the collar. Then it hit me, what would the neighbors think if they were to see me with a rainbow Pegasus? Well most neighbors don’t even have a good view of where I was letting her out and who cares what people think so I opened the door and let her do her business.
Once we were inside, I went into the living room to see my mom sitting down on the couch. My heart skipped a beat as I had a feeling about what was going to happen. My mom took notice to the sky blue pony cradled in my arms.
“What is that?” my mom said, pointing to the sky blue pony in my arms.
“Oh, it’s a…pony,” I said with some resistance because I didn’t want the only thing that made me happy to go away.
“Where did you get it?” my mom inquired.
“I found it,” I answered.
“And why did you bring it in here?”
“Because I always wanted a pet pony,” I lied. She would never believe that this pony I found was a character from a television show.
“And why are its mane rainbow colored and its coat sky blue”
“I don’t know I found it like that.” After I said that, I heard my sister, Madi, open her door to see what was going on in the living room. She saw me and the animal that was nestled in my arms. My sister saw an episode before and knew what Rainbow Dash looked like. Her face turned to shock at what she was seeing.
“Madi, go back to your room,” my mom ordered. My sister obeyed and went back to her room. “Eli, why did you bring that animal in here? You know that I wouldn’t allow you.”
“Like I said, I always wanted a pet pony,” I said.
“Eli, just why can’t you like something that boys your age are supposed to like?” This is where it crossed the line. Nothing agitated me more than people saying that either My Little Pony is for little girls or it is gay. This is where I always got defensive.
“My Little Pony is not for girls! There are guys that watch the show! Don’t act like I’m the only one who watches My Little Pony!” The pony in my arms started to squirm in my hands, scared of what was going on. I started to caress her rainbow mane. Not only did this start to calm her but it also comforted me. This almost made me start to cry at the thought of giving Rainbow Dash away.
“Uh, who do you think you are raising your voice to? And you’re not going to tell me how I’m going to act!” she yelled. I continued to stroke her mane.
“I just wish you could respect what things I like!”
“And I just wish you could respect me!”
“I would show you some respect if you respected me!”
“That’s it, go to your room. We will talk about this later,” she said.
“Fine, but just to let you know, I think I chose my words wisely. I just wish you could have some logic to agree with the right thing.” I went to my room and sat the little filly on my bed.
“Sorry about that,” I said “I just wish my own mother could have some logic like the little amount we have in this world.” After I said that the filly looked at me and gave a nod. “No way,” I said awed at her understanding my language. How did she understand English already? WAS she with someone before me? A more important question is how is this going to work out and what is going to happen henceforth?
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Chapter Three: Now We Say Goodbye
Part Three
Now We Say Goodbye
A long sigh billowed out of me. Just why was this family always so chaotic? I started to feed Rainbow Dash a few more carrots and let her finish her milk. I couldn’t let my mom take her away from me. This was my dream come true and what made me happy. I could try to persuade her to let me keep her, but that’ll only make her even angrier for arguing with her. Another sigh came out.
“What am I going to do? I can’t just give you away,” I said to the little filly. She looked back, a look of sadness in her expression. What CAN I do?
All of a sudden, from what seemed like there was no hope, the most radical idea hit me. I did know the way back, but, what would I do once I got there? Would he let me keep her? Well he did own a few animals, not to mention ones that not everyone has like a rat and a tamed raccoon. He definitely had enough land to own a horse. And how would I get there? It was a long way there, anyways. What about food? I might be able to manage.
I wasn’t even sure if I should be doing what I was thinking but it might be a good thing to do. Or it could be the worst decision I ever made. Besides, it is only late winter nights would be cold. I could make a shelter, after all the books and shows I watched and read on survival, I should know how to make one. Then I would need some extra clothing so I could double up on clothing I am wearing to keep me extra warm, but, I also had to do things to keep the pegasus safe. If she doesn’t stay safe and she doesn’t make it, this would be a waste of time. I was tired of dealing with what was happening, I had to give this idea a shot.
I saw the sky blue pony give a yawn. She must’ve been tired. This is where I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know where I could’ve let her sleep besides my bed. I’ll just have to sleep on the ground I suppose. I grabbed an extra blanket and pillow from my closet and set them on the ground. There was something around her neck. Oh yeah I forgot to take off her collar she was using. I took it off and went to the living room and found my dog. I put it on his neck and went to my mom’s room to tell her goodnight.
As I was brushing my teeth, the thought of this idea sounded somewhat exciting. Well that is going to wait till tomorrow. I went back in my room and tucked Rainbow Dash under the covers.
“Nighty night, Rainbow Dash,” I said. She snuggled up in the blankets and shut her eyes. It was odd because she almost acts humanly. Well she is some kind of magical creature so who know what awaits Rainbow Dash and I in the future. A yawn came to me also. “Time to hit the hay,” I whispered and fell asleep.
Next morning, I felt a soft prod on my face that disturbed me from my sleep. Then, there was another prod. I opened my eyes to the rainbow pony’s face in front of mine.
“Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” I said with a smile on my face. I never thought that I would ever wake up to the sky blue pony’s face from my favorite television show, awaiting my awakening. The pony’s face started to fill with excitement and bolted around the room. I gave a slight chuckle at her excitement towards getting to see me up again. Perhaps she gained a liking towards me after I started to take care of her.
I stood up and made my bed. I noticed at red, green, and orange strand of hair on my pillow. I also never thought that a strand of hair from Rainbow Dash would ever reside on my pillow. I looked back at the filly, which was looking at me with excitement.
“Well, we have a rather long day ahead of us, might want to get started,” I said to her as I walked over to my closet. I grabbed a heavy coat, some sweat pants, a sweat shirt, three shirts, three socks, a jacket, and some boxer briefs. Keep in mind, Eli, you have to keep light. That was true because I didn’t want to be totally weighed down and slow. I took one shirt out of the pile. I turned around to grab my other backpack (one that I didn’t use for school) when I saw the pony looking at me in a rather inquisitive way. She must’ve been thinking “What in the world is he doing,” though she would be even more bewildered once we were off.
I grabbed my orange satchel from my closet that of which I was going to use for carrying food. I grabbed my map and compass from my bookshelf and put them into my backpack. Once I was done packing my clothing I walked out and looked into the pantry. I grabbed some vegetables such as carrots, celery, and lettuce. Then some fruit and baked bads (as Pinkie Pie would say) and stuffed them into the satchel. I hid the stuff in my closet.
“Hey mom, what’s for breakfast?” I asked her after walking into her room, the foal cradled in my arms.
“If you're responsible enough to take care of a foal then why don’t you make yourself something?” she asked.
“Ok then,” I responded. This is a reason why I couldn’t stand it here. So I made myself some boring old cereal which I really couldn’t stand eating, it was just the quickest thing I could make to eat. I took a glance at the pony that I had set down so I could prepare my cereal “You must be hungry too,” I said. Hmm Rainbow Dash never was really seen eating in My Little Pony so what was her favorite thing to eat? I guess I would just have to experiment and find out.
I walked over to where the fruit were and grabbed an apple.
“Here eat this,” I said crouching down and giving the apple to her. She ate it and it must’ve been good to her for she continued to eat it. So I continued to eat my cereal. I took a glance at the kitchen clock and saw that it was 3:00 “Wow, time flies,” I stated and put my bowl into the sink. I thought how she might have to go to the bathroom again so I got my dog’s collar, put it around her neck, hooked a leash on it, and let her outside to do her business.
Once inside, I wondered what I could do to pass the time away. Well I could play some piano maybe that could entertain the little filly. But once that thought came to my head, my mom called me to her room.
“Yeah?” I said as I was entering the room, the rainbow filly following beside me. Once in the room, the pony started to explore what she hasn’t seen in this room.
“I have come to a decision that we will be giving that animal to a person who owns different horse-like animals. He seemed to be interested in owning a rainbow pony so I decided to let him have it,” my mom explained.
“Ok,” I said trying to sound rather upset by letting out a fake sigh. It also came to my attention that my mom never noticed that the foal had wings. I guess it was a good thing to try not and let her notice. So I picked up the pony and went back to my room. I checked my clock that read 4:00. “Anyways to pass some time I suppose I could play some music for you,” I said to the rainbow pony, which still seemed to understand what I say.
I went to the piano and got some classical music out and started playing. Her face had a drab expression on her face as I was playing Fur Elise.
“Oh yeah,” I said as I understood that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t like classics; something more in the rock genre. All I really had was The Beatles. Perhaps she would like Helter Skelter. So I turned to Helter Skelter and began to play the medium rock song. She seemed to like it as her expression seemed to perk up, so I continued to play more songs until a good hour had past.
I decided I should make something more dinner-like to eat since it was nearing dinner time. I went to the pantry and found some macaroni and cheese. “Yeah I doubt ponies eat that,” I thought to myself “Meh, I would just have to feed her some more veggies. I wonder if they ever get tired of what they eat.” I wondered. So I boiled a pot of water and put the noodles in. I went to the fridge and grabbed some milk, butter, and lettuce. I wonder if Rainbow Dash likes dandelion sandwiches like Twilight. I went to the window and picked a few dandelions from a pot and put them on a slice of bread I grabbed from the pantry,
“Here you go,” I said as I gave her the sandwich which she seemed to like and I continued to make my dinner. At about 6:00 it was done and I ate a bowl of the macaroni and cheese. I went back to my room and started to draw some pictures from My Little Pony. That was something I would do to pass time away.
I started to draw Rainbow Dash’s “Why Wub Woo” face. That was always one of my favorite faces she made in the show. Once I was done I held it up to Rainbow Dash, who seemed to approve of the drawing, and I looked at the time, which was now 7:30. Well now what do I do. It was getting pretty boring. Too bad the little filly couldn’t talk. That would make it 20% cooler right now.
“So, uh, what do you want to do?” I inquired. She replied with a blank look on her face. She must not have known what she wanted to do. “Alrighty then,” I said wondering what we could do. Think Eli, what kind of game would a foal like to play. Peek-a-boo, babies like peek-a-boo. “Where’s Eli?” I said, covering my face with my hands “Here I am!” I said taking my hands off my face; she seemed to like this so I repeated this several times. Soon 8:00 came and I decided it would be best for little Dashie have a nap.
I tucked her into my bed and turned off the light. I turned on my bedside lamp, which has a dim light, so she could rest peacefully. I went and grabbed a book about spectrum and rainbows and started to read to pass more time away.
I grabbed a blanket of which I would have several uses for and have Dashie a poke on her side.
I crept up to the front door and opened the door. I crept outside; it was surprisingly warmer than normal due to no snow being on the ground. I shut the door behind me. I had about 24 miles.
“Now we say goodbye,” I said looking at the house. Most people would say that I was only joking but, no, I was serious. I was determined to walk there and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I walked down the road, the pony in my arms, I knew where North was right now and that was where I needed to head. I walked off the road and onto land and continued to walk. “The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can,” I sang and walked in hopes for a better life awaiting me.
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Chapter Four: So Many Wonders
Part Four
So Many Wonders
I continued to walk, wondering if the pony was warm enough. I think I could safely make the assumption that she was because she started to doze off into sleep. I wanted to get to a good place for me to stay from people’s vision, that way I could travel without people wondering what the heck a kid was doing with a pony traveling all by himself.
The best place for me to travel would be through a forest, and there was plenty around here for me to travel through. I kept to the North while slanting towards the nearest tree line. When I came upon the forest, I noticed that the forest was rather thick so it would be a good spot to travel.
I wasn’t always a brave person. I heard of some scary thing like slendermen, The Exorcist, and not to mention Pinkamena from the fanfic Cupcakes. Things like slendermen scared me the worst when I was in a forest and it was dark. I felt like something was watching me slowly inching closer and closer to me. It was dark, I looked around me. I looked through the pitch black void between two trees and thought I saw the many arms of a slenderman moving around, slowly getting close to me.
I was really scared, but, I knew that I had to be brave. All of a sudden the thing that always cheered me up came to my mind. A song that was sure to make this place seem better.
“When I was but a kid and the sun was going down. The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown. I’d hide under my pillow, from what I thought I saw, but granny Fuentes said that wasn’t the way to deal with fears at all,” I sang “ She said ‘Eli, you got to stand up tall. Learn to face your fears. You’ll see that they can’t hurt you. Just laugh and make them disappear.” So I laughed at the face of fear and made it disappear into the dark abyss of which the demon belonged to.
“Ha, ha, ha,” I laughed and my fears were gone. Everything seemed better and I produced a smile to appear on my face. I pressed on into the less scary forest.
I wanted to cover a lot of ground today; at least getting to the edge of the highway. I picked up the pace and went on.
About an hour of walking, I covered a good four miles and decided to take a rest and eat an apple. After I was finished, I checked on the filly that was asleep, so I guessed she must be fine, and I moved on. After another four miles I set up a small camp by getting some dryer leaves and setting them as a floor. I gathered some sticks and put them in the ground as walls and on top for a ceiling.
I thought about how good it would be to make a small fire. I rummage through my bag and to my luck, I found a lighter. I grabbed some left over sticks and hoped I could get a fire started. I gathered some dead, dry leaves and grasses and stuffed them into the small pile of sticks. I set the fire starter on fire and to my luck, which must have been very good today, the sticks caught fire.
"Whew, good,” I whispered and walked to the little shelter I had made. I laid out a blanket from my bag on the floor of leaves and took one of the blankets of Rainbow Dash as the last sheet. She started to stir from her sleep but not enough to wake her up. I went under the covers with the filly in my arms and started to shut my eyes. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to rest but it was bearable. I fell asleep.
The next morning was still surprisingly warm. I opened my eyes to the beauty of nature to look at. The blissful, warm sunlight flooded through the trees of the forest and the only thing that was missing was the comfort of the luscious green of vegetation that would make this view much more welcoming. But still I have never experienced nature like this before. I have never seen a place filled with so many wonders. I got up, trying not to disturbed the little filly that was still snoozing away.
“What is this place filled with so many wonders? Casting its spell on me; that I am now wondered,” I sang. It was beautiful, but, I had no time to take in this beauty, I had to get to my destination. I took up the blankets and put one in my bag and another around Dashie, who I had picked up. I wanted to get this traveling done soon so I picked up the pace even more and went into a half jog half run.
After another hour of jogging, I covered about 6 miles. Ten miles left, my journey was getting closer to the end. I stopped again and started to eat some fruit and veggies when the foal woke up. I gave her a few carrots and an apple that she gladly ate. I was going to wrap her in the blankets again but she must not have wanted to for she denied me putting it near her. So I started to jog again and she started trotting alongside me.
This made it somewhat rather easy; in fact, I was even able to travel faster. We traveled about three more miles until we came to thinner parts of the forest and I could look outside the forest to see where we were. It looked somewhat rather familiar so I knew where I was going. I continued in the direction in where my destination was.
Finally, the forest started to break away. I swathed the rainbow filly in blankets. I soon found the road and knew exactly where to go. I went down the road until I took a right and continued. Soon, after a few minutes of walking, I took another right, and another couple minutes I took a left, I was getting close. I continued down the road. He lived in a heavily forested area which was my favorite part about where he lived.
I soon came upon the familiar house I would go to. I rapped on the door that was soon answered by my old friend whom I longed to see in a long time. He had the most surprised but glad look on his face.
“Hi,” said Gage a smile appearing on his face that is until he noticed the rainbow pony in my arms. His face turned to a look of great confusion. I had to understand. It isn’t every day you see your friend who moved in a suit of warm clothing, carrying traveling bags, and having a rainbow pony arrive at your door.
“Hey, Gage,” I said feeling happy to see my old friend “I can explain later but for now I only can ask you a great favor,” I said hoping he would understand. Most of the time, Gage and his family were always accepting people, especially towards me.
“Why don’t you come inside,” Gage offered as I kindly took his offer and went inside to explain and hope for the best outcome.
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Chapter Five: In My Life and in The End
Part Five
In My Life and in The End
I walked into Gages familiar house. He said I could go into his room and set my belongings in there. So I undressed from one of my doubled sweatpants, my sweatshirt, and one of my doubled over t-shirts. I went out and saw Gage in his mom’s room talking to his mom.
“Eli is here,” he said to his mom.
“Really!” she exclaimed. Gage’s mom was always very nice and always enjoyed my company. She also was a very acceptable person which is why I came here. She walked into the living room and said “Hey,” to me in an excited way.
“Hi,” I responded to her. I gave out a sigh as I knew I had to explain myself “Well, I ran away,” I said I looked at her and she surprisingly stayed calm at the fact I just stated “I needed someplace to stay without having so much conflict. You guys were the only people I could think of.”
She took notice of the pony I had with me.
“This is Rainbow Dash,” I said and still, she had a calm look on her face. Like I said, she is a very accepting person. “I found her one day and decided to keep her. My mom wouldn’t let me keep her so I ran away. So I ask of you a big favor, can Rainbow Dash and I stay here? She is tame and she is basically potty trained. Also, if it helps, I have food for her to eat along with some food for me,” I explained.
“Sure thing,” she said. Oh thank goodness. This is exactly why I came here; because I knew she might say yes. “Go ahead and make yourself at home,” she said.
“Oh, thank you so much. You don’t know how much better this makes things,” I said. Gage and I joined in his room and played a bit of some X-box, the rainbow pony at my side.
“So, why is the pony rainbow?” he asked.
“I found her that way,” I answered. “Anyways, I need to let her outside,” I said and walked out of Gage’s room, the filly in my arms. As I walked down the hall, the door to the left side of the wall opened.
“Mom, is Elias here or something,” said Gage’s sister, Lyric, “I keep hearing his voice?”
“Yeah he is. He is going to be living here for now,” responded Charlene, who was Lyric's mom.
“Oh, ok,” replied Lyric, a tone of confusion in her voice. She turned around and saw me behind her. “Oh, hi,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I inquired.
“Good,” she replied. She then took a look at what I was holding. “Oh my gosh, what is that you’re holding?”
“This is Rainbow Dash,” I said holding out the rainbow-maned pony in front of her.
“Wow, she’s so cool,” she said.
“Yeah she is pretty cool. 20% cooler than the average pony,” I said “Well, I’m going to go to let her outside.”
“Ok,” she said; and with that, I let her outside. The sky was a dark, expanse of gray. I never really liked clouds. They always darkened my days, naturally, and brought my spirits down. Once the pony was done, I went back inside and back to Gage’s room.
“So, how has school been?” I asked “Is Ian still living around here?”
“Yeah, he is still living here,” he replied.
“Have you won Mellissa’s heart yet?” Gage had a crush on a girl name Mellissa.
“Unfortunately, no,” he said, a look of sadness on his face. Gage was like me: never had a girlfriend.
“Oh that sucks. How about Lucas? How is he doing?” I said. Suddenly, Gage’s expression changed to an even sadder look.
“Lucas… Lucas is… dead,” he said “He blew his mind out in a car.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. One of my best friend that I knew since the second grade was dead. I thought about all the memories we had together. How we would walk down the halls telling each other jokes and why we weren’t comedians. How we would talk about Minecraft together. I couldn’t stand what I was hearing.
“No…,” I stammered out. “He can’t be dead.” I felt tears going down my eyes. There also was a tear going down Gage’s eye.
“Come with me,” he said as he got up and walked toward the front door. “Mom, Eli and I are going for a walk,” Gage called out to his mom.
“Ok, that’s fine,” she responded. Gage and I walked out. We went down a few roads until we came upon a cemetery.
“No,” I said. Gage led me into it until he stopped at a specific gravestone. It read “R.I.P. Lucas Neurburg, 1998-2012” I didn’t want to look at what I was seeing, but, I had to. I broke down onto the ground and started bawling my eyes out. I have never experienced a friend dying. I held onto the pony that I brought with me for some type of comfort. Gage, who was also crying, kneeled next to me and patted me on the back. I made myself calm down and stop crying. At least I got to experience the life of a good friend instead of missing out on having a friend like Lucas. At least I had my other friend to share the everlasting love of friendship between Gage, Ian, Lucas and I. This made me feel a bit better.
“There are places I’ll remember, all my life though some have changed. Some forever not for better, some have gone and some remain. All these places had their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living…” I started to choke on those last words “In my life, I loved them all,” I sang. Gage was looking at me as I sang. This meant a lot to Gage and me. Another song came to my mind. This one meant a lot about the love all our friends shared with each other.
“And in the end…” Gage started to sing along “The love you take. Is equal to the love… you make,” I started to cry again, even the rain joined in. My hair fell lopsided, as I have long hair. Gage and I cried together, but, this crying felt different. It was like half sorrow half joy. I had joy for the friend I used to have but sorrow for his passing. I managed a smile and hugged my friend and Dashie. I got off my knees and so followed Gage and the friend, Rainbow pony, and the exhausted kid from his journey walked to their home.
La la how their lives go on.
Elias's Source of Resilience to Life: Ponies
Epilogue: La La How Their Lives Go On
La la how their lives go on
And so Elias, Rainbow Dash, and Gage continued to live their lives playing and sharing the everlasting love of their friendship. Occasionally, Elias would go and visit Ian or the cemetery in which Lucas was buried at.
Elias’s resilience to life wasn’t very strong, but as days went by, it got slightly stronger, little by little. He was joined with his old friends and his companion Rainbow Dash. But as this story reached its end another shall be dawned to change Elias’s life. Foreeeeeverrrrr!
**Author’s note**
Most parts of this story are true. My parents really are broken up, my friend Lucas really did die, and I really did go to his burial site and sing the songs I sang with my friend Gage.
It is true that I don’t have much resilience in my life, but as the days progressed, it got stronger. Finally I am with my friend Gage and I have gone through these sorrows in my life.
What I have gone through in life is what inspired me to write this book, along with My Little Dashie. Now what I ask of you is to make a comment about what you have learned from this auto-biography.
