Mandatory Motherhood: Short Stories

Surprise Party

Chris walked into the mess hall with Starla on her back, it was dinner time and she didn’t want Starla to get cranky. She was lost in thought about what to feed Starla tonight until she realized that the mess hall was silent. Usually, she would hear Colgate, Archy, Mia, and Aaron discussing various things, but the mess hall was empty. Was she the first one here today?

Chris looked at the clock and grimaced when she saw that it was an hour past the time when everyone usually ate. Either everyone has already eaten or they are super late. She went into the kitchen to check the drink for dishes and found it clean and dry, everyone’s late then? Come to think of it Mia usually uses the base’s intercom to let everyone know it's dinner time and she hadn’t heard anything…

She shook her head and decided to focus, she was going to make Starla something to eat first, then she would worry about everyone else. She opened the fridge and found, nothing she checked the cupboards and found nothing. She was baffled, even more so when she discovered that the walk-in freezer was locked. She then noticed that the baby food blender was not on the counter either.

“Hungy Mama..” Starla spoke out making Chris panic a little.

“I must have left it in the RV Starla, just wait a bit longer ok?” Chris looked all around the counters and the table for a sign of what had happened but didn’t see anything, Starla was getting antsy so she reassured her again and went out to the RV. She found the foodstuffs were gone in there as well.

Chris was starting to panic when she noticed a note stuck to the back of the door. It read: ‘To the white pony as bright as the sun, forget the fridge for the food has run. It has slinked away through the bay where wrenches have fun.’

Chris stared at the note and sighed. “Mia… a prank? And with food when Starla is hungry?”

Chris figured Mia meant the motor pool where Aaron worked on modifying vehicles so that he could fit into and drive them so she made her way there to discover another note on the garage door. This note read: ‘The food flew away to roost with the grandpa or our modern birds.’

Chri started at the note as Starla was getting cranky now. “Mia I don’t have time for a wild goose chase, especially when you want me to go all the way to the memorials!” Chris took a deep breath and entered her magic sight. She had recently figured out how to use it to detect life signs and pinged out for any hits.

Her sight registered life coming from the central base building on an upper floor, so she took off to search the building. The closer she got the easier it became and she soon found herself in a rather fancy-looking area. She figured this was a place for VIP guests and the upper brass. Why was everyone up here? Actually, why was power even on in this building? Chris tossed those thoughts aside as Starla began to cry. She was going to chew some people out for this wild goose chase, even though she cheated and bypassed it. She could tell everyone was behind a pair of double doors, so Chris flung them open to find the room pitch black.

She stepped in ready to chew everyone out, she could tell where everyone was standing in the dark with her magic sight. Before she could speak the lights turned on and she heard them all shout: “Surprise! Happy Birthday!”

Chris stood there staring, she saw the cake and a few presents and food. “But it’s not… it was a while back and… can we get some food for Starla please?”

Everyone in the room stopped when they realized the little foal was crying and quickly got her some food. Mia got told off later by Aaron for not just sending Chris on a “pickup errand” as they had originally planned.