My Country Pride

My uncle had a large patch of land. 20 acres to be precise. All of it was filled with pastures for the animals and huge crops consisting of corn, potatoes, and cabbage. Hopefully none of the meals that he will be cooking for me will consist of any of those foods.

My uncle was a tall man, nearly six three, with a dark brown beard that almost covered his entire face. He didn't look friendly, but he didn't look cruel either. And he didn't smell like smoke, booze, or crack, so I was grateful in that respect.

"What's yer name again, kid?" He asked me as he slipped a piece of straw between his teeth. I didn't take him to be a redneck, but after he spoke to me one could clearly tell that he was.

"Christen," I replied.

"Well, Cricky, I have rules 'bout livin' on my farm. Now you follow me," He led me towards the chicken coop. "These here chickens are expensive! They give me food, eggs, and a wake-up call so don't you be messin' around with 'em!" I nodded in understanding as we continued.

He led me to where the hogs were.

"These guys give me bacon, ham, pork, ribs, and any other kind ah meat you can imagine! So don't you be messin' around with them either! Unless yer feedin' them!" I watched as the disgusting animals rolled around in their own feces and squealed with pleasure as they were doing so.

"You don't need to worry about me when it comes to pigs, Uncle. I wouldn't want to mess with them anyway," He rolled his eyes at me and then continued to show me around.

"Here's the barn where the horses are kept," He announced as we walked inside. A dozen or so heads popped over the stall doors and whinnied in delight at our entrance. My uncle smiled and approached a large copper stallion. "This here's Big Brown. He was a winner of the Kentucky Derby back in '08, but now he's retired and givin' these mares a chance to have good racin' babies!" My uncle whooped with joy, startling a young dapple-grey mare.

"What's her name?" I asked, stroking the mare's muzzle to calm her down.

"That there's Lucky Lady," He grinned as the mare nipped at her swollen belly after she had calmed down. "She's expectin' one ah Big Brown's foals any day now!"

I continued to stare at the pretty creature, but my uncle was already walking out the door.

"Come on, you! I gotta go to work now training a young colt, so don't you go nowhere and stay outta trouble!" He clambered into his Ford F-150 and drove off, leaving a large cloud of dust behind him. I choked upon inhaling some, but then recovered my stumbling back into the barn and breathing in the... 'fresh' air.

"Oh, my gosh!" I gagged as I lifted my foot up and stared down. I had just stepped in... well, you know! "What more will happen to me, huh?!" I shouted, gazing up at the ceiling. "My family is DEAD my dreams are DEAD and now I have to live in this stinkpile just so I can go on living!" I kicked a bucket that was sitting behind me so hard that it went flying into the air and smashing into a stall door. The horses whinnied with fright and snorted uncontrollably. I could see the whites of their eyes and their nostrils flared with shock.

Then I heard the stall door that had been hit creak open. I glanced on the door to see if there was a name plate for the horse in that stall, but I saw none. A cobweb dangled from the corner of the stall and swayed quietly in the breeze. I cautiously walked towards the stall, hoping that I could get there in time to close it before the horse got out.

"Slowly," I said to myself, not daring to go any faster.

I got to the door. I peered inside. I gasped in shock.

Nothing.

It was a vacant stall.

I sighed to myself and slowly latched the door. I scooped up the metal bucket from the floor and chuckled slightly when I saw the large dent I had made in it. Then I heard the horses start to scrape their hooves across the ground and pin their ears behind their heads as they stared at me. I rolled my eyes and started to head back to my uncle's house.

"More apple fritter?"

I quickly whipped around as I heard a small voice from behind me. I looked all around me, my pale green eyes darting from the ceiling to the back corner of the barn. My heart started to pound and I could feel myself begin to panic. If someone was in this barn, then I wasn't going to stand here and wait for them to steal the horses and then kill me! So I ran. Childish, I know, but I wasn't about to take the chance!

I ran until I reached the house and then I slammed the front door shut, never to open it again!

Until one day...