Chapters My family died. It was a year ago, but no amount of time could hide the pain. Both of my brothers, my mother, and my father passed away in a deadly car accident as they were coming to see my choir concert. A drunk semi-truck driver was the one who made it happen.
During the concert, I kept glancing around for my family in the audience, but I couldn't see anybody. Not a wave from my mother, not a loud cheer of encouragement from my two older brothers. I couldn't see anybody.
When the concert was over, I looked for them. It should have been simple since my oldest brother was over six and a half feet tall and always wore goofy looking hats, but they were nowhere to be found. I sat in the lobby of my school for about an hour until my cellphone rang in my pocket. The number was unrecognized, but I answered it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Is this Christen Conners?"
"Speaking,"
"There's been an accident,"
I went to the hospital, anyway, hoping that one of them could still be alive. I asked every doctor if I could see them, but they continually rejected my requests. I waited for news. Any news. Were they alive or not? My question was soon answered when a young nurse approached me, a dark shadow looming over her face. She didn't even have to speak. I could hear it from her countenance.
"None of them?" I asked, tears beginning to cascade down my face.
She shook her head.
I sobbed. I couldn't control my heaving sides or my struggling gasps for air. My heart pounded rapidly against my chest and in my ears so hard that fell to the ground in spasms. My body convulsed and twitched on the ground as numerous doctors came to my aid. They tried to help me off the ground, but they couldn't get a solid grip on my legs since they were kicking around erratically. One time, my leg struck a doctor's chest and he gasped out in shock and collapsed onto the ground. Until the nurse jabbed a needle into my arm, I continued kicking and shrieking.
I awoke hours later to find myself strapped to a hospital bed and unable to move. The room was silent and bare as I quivered with a sudden chill. I could hear the IV beeping steadily beside me and I looked down to see a long, narrow tube protruding from my right arm. I must be on a sedative right now. I couldn't feel anything. Not sadness, grief, mourning, I just felt... dead.
I should be dead. I thought to myself. I should be with them.
The hours turned into days. The days turned into weeks. The weeks turned into months. The court cases dragged on until my aunts could stop bickering about who was going to take care of me. Aunt Margaret was a chain smoker and refused to stop her habits to take custody. Aunt Jane was an alcoholic and wasted all of her money on expensive bourbon and whiskey and eventually had her house repossessed. Aunt Eliza had a criminal record for importing illegal drugs into the country and was finally on parol.
"You take this filthy little brat!"
"How could our sister have had children ?"
"Downright despicable !"
"Dirty maggot!"
I couldn't shed a single tear as my aunts accused me of everything wrong that had happened. The judge continued to try and bring the court to order, but every time he struck the gavel down, my aunts would think of a better word to call me. Some of them I can't even repeat without shaming myself.
"I will have order in my courtroom!" The judge demanded, silencing my aunts for a few brief seconds so that he could speak. "This child needs a legal guardian!"
"Then send her to an orphanage so I don't have to deal with her!" Aunt Margaret screamed, choking slightly on a cigarette that had disappeared behind her teeth.
"Are there no other living relatives of Patricia Conners that could care for her?" The judge asked, glancing over to his aid while my aunts erupted into yet another argument.
"There is only one other, sir," the aid responded, flipping through pages of recorded files. "He lives in Colorado and he's Patricia's elder brother,"
"Does he have any criminal records?" The judge questioned.
"No, sir,"
"Any problems with drugs?"
"No, sir,"
"Does he live in a stable environment?"
The aid laughed.
"What's so funny about this case, Mr. Peterson?" The judge growled.
"Oh, nothing, sir!" Mr. Peterson quivered in his shoes and gulped nervously. "It's just when you said the word 'stable',"
"What about it?" I could tell that the judge was becoming perturbed.
"Well, Mr. Conners owns a farm. He's a very successful business man! In fact, he breeds cows, sheep, pigs, goats, and horses as well!"
"An animal man, you say?" The judge silently stroked his whitening beard and smiled. "Would he be willing to accept her?"
"I don't know, sir, but I could give him a call,"
"This court will have a short recess until five o'clock tomorrow," The judge stated bluntly as he dropped the gavel down once more.
I slowly stood from my seat and walked quietly towards the door, hoping that my aunts would not pursue me. They did.
"It's your fault that Patty is dead!" Aunt Jane screamed at me, clawing for my hair and howling like an insane animal. I could smell the bourbon protruding from her breath and I covered my nose with my sleeve. Aunt Eliza pulled out a small pouch filled with white powder and inhaled some of it into her nostrils. She sighed with relief and then glared at me.
"How could I keep my business going if I have a little tattle-tale like you in my home?" She started laughing loudly as the three of them walked out of the courthouse and into the night. I shivered from the cold and hoisted my jacket over my shoulders to block out the chill, but to no avail.
If my uncle didn't want me, then I would be sent to live in an orphanage. Those were the judge's exact words the next afternoon at 5 o'clock. Mr. Peterson was running late as was Aunt Jane (a few days later I learned that Aunt Jane had passed away in a bar fight over a half-broken bottle of whiskey).
Suddenly, Mr. Peterson ran into the room with a huge smile on his face. He walked up to the judge and whispered something in his ear. The judge smiled too and then looked over at me.
"Well, young lady, it looks like you're moving to Colorado," he picked up his gavel and prepared to give the final decree of the court. "Mr. Conners has agreed to take Christen Conners into his custody on his farm in Colorado. There she will stay until the state sees fit that she be removed from that area due to..."
The list dragged on and on as the judge listed events that could lead to my no longer living with my uncle. I've never met my uncle and my mother rarely spoke of him. But he was family. And family should be loved forever.
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...
"I don't wanna hear 'bout a story of a stranger in my barn! You WILL go out there and you WILL feed them horses!" my uncle screamed.
"But the last time I was in there, I-"
"Not another word!" He interrupted, shoving a large bucket of oats into my hands. "You'd better get out there fore I start reconsiderin' bringin' you here!" He pointed his finger towards the front door and I shuddered only slightly. Then I walked outside and towards the barn.
"Is that why he brought me here?" I asked myself out loud. "Did he bring me here to work?" I kicked a pebble on the ground and watched it go tumbling down a little hill and I sighed. "Well, it's better than living in an orphanage and getting to do nothing,"
I opened the barn door and looked inside. The horses all stuck their heads out to see who had entered, but they instantly whinnied in rage and slammed their hooves into their stall doors.
"Yeah, yeah, shut up!" I muttered as I dumped oats in Big Brown's bin. He snorted in anger and tried to bite me more than once. "If you do that, I'll be personally responsible for making sure that you're turned into GLUE !" I tossed the oats randomly into his stall and instantly he forgot about me and nosed around for his meal. I grumbled once more under my breath as I continued to feed the stupid horses.
By the time I got to Lucky Lady's stall, my arm had grown weary and I could barely lift the scoop for the oats anymore. I sighed in exhaustion and lazily dropped the food into Lucky Lady's bucket, not even noticing that I was giving her more than she could have. I shrugged my shoulders as she scarfed down the meal.
"What's the problem? She's pregnant anyway so she needs the extra calories!" I put the scoop back in the oats bucket and placed it near the hay in the back corner.
Then I heard a stall door creak open.
I slowly turned around and found my gaze resting upon the vacant stall. Perspiration began forming on my brow, but I wiped it quickly away. I then looked around for something to protect me and I found a dull, but large, pitchfork leaning on a bale of hay. I snatched it up and held it out in front of me. The tip of the pitchfork shook uncontrollably, but only because my hands were violently shaking as well.
I tip-toed towards the stall, aiming the edges towards the stranger.
"If there's somebody in that stall, then you'd better leave now !" I threatened, though I could hear my voice wavering from the fear of the moment. I forced another gulp down my tightened throat as I placed my free hand on the stall door. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of anticipation.
I put one foot inside.
Then the other.
I readied the pitchfork.
I opened my eyes.
"What the-?"
"I'm Applejack. More apple fritter?" it spoke. The small orange pony with a blonde mane and tail... spoke. Freckles covered its face and its deep black eyes lit up at the sight of me. It extended its front hooves as if trying to embrace me. Then it laughed.
I lowered my pitchfork and stared at the strange sight. She giggled loudly and rolled over onto her back, entangling her mane with straw and random bits of dirt. At one point, she even tried to eat some of the hay, but immediately gagged and started to cry.
"Oh, no!" I muttered, quickly walking over to the small pony. She continued to shriek, tears (literally) leaping out of her eyes and beginning to form puddles in the straw.
I didn't know what to do!
So... I picked her up. She squirmed in my grasp and gurgled in protest, but I continued to lift her until I brought her to my chest. Her eyes looked up into mine and I gently rocked her back and forth. Eventually, she sighed contently and dozed off into a light sleep in my arms. I took my spare hand and slowly stroked her mane that felt like flannel and pondered.
"Who are you, little one?"
I hid her in my room. Come on, now! Do you really think that I could show my uncle this... pony? (At least I think it's a pony) What would I say? "Hey, uncle, I found this magical horse in your stall!" No! I'm not that stupid.
Besides, she seemed to like my room more than the barn when I placed her down on my bed. She squealed with glee and buried herself in the comforter, obstructing her from my view... well, except for her bright yellow tail that was sticking out of the covers. I playfully tugged it and she giggled with joy.
So I hid her there. I don't know for how long, but