One fine August day, Elizabeth Smith was walking home from her small, one room schoolhouse about a mile and a half away from her family’s run-down, two-acre farm.  As she walked along the narrow, worn out path that she walked each day, she thought about what wonderful things she learned that afternoon.  She loved school, even though she had just started and was already thirteen.  She had wanted to start much earlier, but her family’s money wouldn’t allow it.  Her father had even said, “A girl like you doesn’t need school.  Your hands are tough and your back is strong, don’t waste it on learning.  You’re a farm girl, that’s what you were raised to be.”

Elizabeth knew that he was wrong.  She was a bright, intelligent girl, and her father didn’t know half the things about her.  He was a kind father, Elizabeth knew that, but sometimes he didn’t understand her.  He never noticed her bright blue eyes that danced in the sunlight.  If her father would have looked past the dirt and dust on her face, he would see a beautiful growing girl, but he never did.  She was his only child, and he had much wanted a boy in the family to help him around the farm.  So Elizabeth was now expected to help both her father and her mother.

Her mother on the other hand was soft and gentle, but had a pained look in her eye from the many years of poverty.  She wanted Elizabeth to be able to attend a local school just as much as she herself did.

When her father had gone out to milk the few cows that they had, her mother whispered, “I’ll talk to your father later, I’m sure he’ll have to give in one way or another.”

Elizabeth lost her train of thought and looked down at her feet.  They were rough and dirty with caulouses and blisters.  All the boys and the girls in her class had shoes.  She even saw some of the girls with frilly dresses, polished shoes, and hair drawn up neatly in a bun with a bow that matched their dresses laughing and pointing at Elizabeth.
Her father had always said, “You’re a Smith, and we’ve stood through many hard times.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!”

Trying to do what her father had said, it was still hard for Elizabeth.

If there was anyone Elizabeth adored most it would be Mary Beth.  From school she had to walk the opposite direction from Elizabeth, so they lived even farther apart.  They had been best friends for years.  On Fridays, they would alternate going to each other’s houses to enjoy a nice evening together.  Mary Beth was a nice, charming girl, and Elizabeth was now comfortable to tell her anything.  She was wealthier than Elizabeth, anyone could tell you that, but she never made any remarks about it, knowing that it would hurt her best friend’s feelings.

As Elizabeth laid this subject aside, she started thinking of something else.  The second most important thing she wanted besides a seat at school was a horse.  Not just any particular one, but one she could call her own.  The only thing that Elizabeth truly owned and treasured was her charm bracelet.  She had gotten it from her grandmother before she passed away.  He grandmother knew and understood Elizabeth’s love of horses, so she got one to put on her bracelet.  Her grandmother was not only her favorite relative, but a friend as well.  Elizabeth remembered when Grammy would come to visit her.  They would play paper dolls and take long strolls in the woods.  Elizabeth laughed to herself.  She remembered the many times when Grammy got a little too brave and wandered too far into the woods.  She never got worried about things and would tell Elizabeth that they weren’t lost but Elizabeth knew they were.  When they would finally reach the house she would never tell that they got lost.  She had the greatest fibs up her sleeve.  Ones like, “Oh you know me, we ran into some old friends and I couldn’t stop talking,” or “Well, Eliza here got a little tired so we had to sit down and take a nap.”  Elizabeth remembered how her mother would get mad at Grammy for calling her Eliza, but she did it anyways.

Elizabeth brushed the tears from her eyes and got back to her previous thought.  A horse to love and care for would be her second most cherished gift.  She had seen many in her lifetime, but wanted one that she could not only care for, but that she could ride.  She had never ridden one before, but only sat behind one on a hard seated wagon.  She loved to watch them when their spirits were high as they ran through open fields with their mans and tail dancing in the wind.  The only thing that she wanted when she grew up was a horse farm.  There she could have as many as she wanted with rolling acres where she could ride them whenever she pleased.  She would work for it, and do anything to get it.

As Elizabeth got back to reality, she heard a rustling in the woods.  She turned quickly in panic but in her surprise found nothing.  She then kept walking at a little faster pace.  She then heard it again.  Elizabeth turned around slowly this time and there, standing in the shadow of the oak trees stood a beautiful, light brown horse.  She gasped, frightened and excited at the same time.  The horse had two white socks on his front feet, a tail that reached to the ground, and was much smaller than many other horses.

She laid her reading book on a stump and slowly crept up to the horse.  He stared at her, and Elizabeth could see panic and fear in his eyes.  She then started whispering to the horse to try and earn his trust, “You’re ok…you’re ok…it’s alright…steady boy…steady.”

The horse looked skinny like he hadn’t eaten for days.  Just as Elizabeth took another step closer the horse perked his ears and turned quickly and ran out of Elizabeth’s vision.

What had just happened?

Had her wish come true?

Elizabeth didn’t know what to think or say.

Without further ado, Elizabeth picked up her book and started down the path knowing she had already wasted enough time and knew her mother would be waiting for her help in the kitchen for the evening dinner arrangements.  They probably would only be having a small portion of the chicken her father had killed a week before.  “This will have to last us a long time so not to waste valuable food,” her father always lectured.

When Elizabeth walked up the last stretch to her small cabin she started to smell the scent of wild flowers that were scattered along the path leading up to her home.  Elizabeth had grown to love that smell, and looked forward to it every day.  As Elizabeth walked up the broken steps she could hear her mother humming in the kitchen.  She often was humming Christian songs since faith became a very important part of her life.  One of her favorites that Elizabeth heard her humming most often was “Amazing Grace.”  Elizabeth would often join in as they worked in the kitchen together.

Her house was relatively small, with two rooms and a loft in the top.  One room was the kitchen and a living room, and the other was her parent’s small bedroom.  The kitchen had a stove and wash basin.  In the center of the room was a small table with three worn chairs sitting around it.

The loft was her room and most treasured place.  That was a place where she could zone everything out of her mind.  She would sit up there on her small bed and think about happy things or things that were troubling her.  That was also a place where she could hide from the world or sir and read a storybook.  Thinking is what she did at night.  She thought about the past events that happened that day.  What did it all mean?  Elizabeth fell asleep in deep thought and wonder.

The next time Elizabeth walked the dusty path, the horse she longed to see was nowhere to be found.  She then realized that was just in the right place at the right time, and would not see the horse again.  This upset Elizabeth, but she knew that if she did find it again there was nothing she would be able to do with him.

The next week, much to her surprise, she did happen to see the horse in the same place that she had first met him.  She was now seeing him regularly, and she was not surprised to see the horse as she walked home from school.  Over time, and after many tries, Elizabeth touched the horse’s nose using apples as bribery.  Elizabeth could see that the horse was becoming more comfortable in her presence.  She decided to name it Todd after her grandfather who she had never met before.  She knew now that she had become attached to it.

Elizabeth always saved something from her small lunch to feed the horse each afternoon.  She even was able to sneak a few buckets of grain from the cows to Todd who was quite pleased with her efforts.  They were growing quite fond of one another and Todd would wait for Elizabeth everyday as she walked home from school by the big tree stump.

Weeks turned into months, and Elizabeth was pleased to see how much weight he had gained.  Over time, after watching Todd grow, she found out many things about him.  He was a spirited horse, but shy and calm in his own way.  Nobody knew about Elizabeth’s secret, and she really wanted to be able to tell somebody.  Elizabeth knew that the only person that she could truly trust was Mary Beth.  That Friday, when Mary Beth would come over to Elizabeth’s house, she would take her to see Todd.

“Where are we going?” Mary Beth asked.

“You’ll see,” Elizabeth replied, “but you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone about what you see today.”

“I promise,” she said, “but are we almost there?”

“Yep,” Elizabeth answered. “Boy will you be surprised!”

When Elizabeth and Mary Beth arrived at their destination, there was Todd standing there looking at Mary Beth with curiosity.

Mary Beth gasped, “Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe it!  Where in the world did you get the money to buy that?”

“I didn’t,” Elizabeth replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I found him in the woods while walking home from school.  He ran away from me at first, but now we have become friends.  Isn’t it the strangest thing?”

“I’d say!”  Mary Beth responded.  “Man, I can’t wait to tell…”

“No!”  Elizabeth quickly butted in.  “You promised!”

“Oh yeah,” Mary Beth remarked, “but can I just tell…”

“Mary Beth, this is serious, if anyone finds out, I’ll probably never be able to see Todd again.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, I promise with all my heart that nobody will know anything about this.”

“Great,” said Elizabeth, “I’d better start heading home before my parents start getting worried.”

“Ok, see you on Monday,” Mary Beth shouted while Elizabeth was walking away.

Two months had passed and there were signs of autumn everywhere.  The leaves on the trees were changing colors and shawls were becoming necessary.

“What will happen to Todd when the weather gets colder and it begins to snow?  He is going to need a place to stay,” Elizabeth thought to herself while lying in bed.  Elizabeth pushed the thought from her mind.  She would figure out something when the time came.

One October day, Elizabeth did not have a very good day at school.  First she forgot her lunch, then realized that she had forgotten to do some reading in her storybook.  To make things worse, she got in trouble for not paying attention in class.  She knew this was because she had Todd on her mind.  Elizabeth decided that she would try to ride the horse to free her mind of everything that happened that day.

When she got to the tree stump, Todd was standing there and walked right up to Elizabeth.

“How about a ride,” she said as if the horse was to respond, “How about we take a ride together.”

Elizabeth laid aside her schoolbooks and stepped up on top of the stump.  Todd followed her and Elizabeth slowly climbed onto the horse’s back.  They started walking slowly, and everything was going great.  Elizabeth was very relaxed on top of Todd knowing that he would never do anything to harm her.  As Todd stepped into a pile of brush, out popped a snake.  Todd jumped, not knowing what to do, and Elizabeth, not prepared for what happened, fell off the back of the horse.  Elizabeth could not move her leg and knew it had to be broken.  After Todd had calmed down he went back to stand by Elizabeth.

How would she get home?

She could not walk, and if she tool Todd her secret would be discovered.  But Elizabeth had to do something.  After much time, she hoisted herself onto Todd’s back once again and rode to her house.
“Oh my goodness!  What happened?  Where in the world did you get that horse?”  her mother exclaimed.

Elizabeth didn’t know how to explain, but decided to tell her parents the truth about everything.

“So the only person you told was Mary Beth?” her father questioned.

“Why didn’t you come to us first?” her mother stated.

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you would get rid of the horse.  I love him!   He is my friend, and he needs me as much as I need him.”

Her mother and father looked at each other and turned back to Elizabeth.

“We see how much you love this horse,” her mother said, “and you’ve never had a pet before, so, we will let you keep it.  I’m not sure how we’re going to do it, but we will figure out something.”

“You mean it!  Thanks for understanding how much this horse means to me,” Elizabeth cried.

“That’s what parents are for,” her father replied.  “Now lets get you over to doc’s to get that leg checked out.”

Elizabeth gave both her parents a hug, and realized that her dream had finally come true.

Summer
North Marshall Middle School