Spirit's First Winter

SPIRIT'S FIRST WINTER

by

Hannah Aldrich

(age 12)

“Papa, quickly!!”

 Rose, and Kitty, both ran to the house almost out of breath. Their father stumbled out of the house in alert.

“What is it? What is it?” he asked.

“The new foal is here!” Rose exclaimed. So the Father and the girls both went into the stable to see the foal.

 “Ain't he quite the feller?” said the Father.

“It's a boy, just like you wanted,” said Kitty.

“Whatcha reckon we call 'im?”

“How bout Spirit? suggested Rose.”

“Sure!” agreed Kitty. 

So it was settled; the colt was named Spirit. As the months passed Spirit grew stronger, taller, and of course, his curiosity also grew. When September came around, the first snow began to fall. It's soft pleasant white blanket got thicker as it silently drifted down to earth. Spirit got great joy out of this. He bounced in circles, around and around, snapping with his teeth, trying to catch the flakes. The girls watched him grow as the days, weeks then months flew by.

“You know what?” Kitty asked Rose.

“What?” asked Rose.

“This will be Spirits first winter,” said Kitty sounding a bit worried.

“He'll be fine; don't worry.” said Rose comfortingly.

Now it was December. The girls sat together on the fence while they watched Spirit glide from one end of the fence to another, slipping through the cold winter air like a knife through butter.

“He's so handsome,” said Rose as she gazed at the white mustang.

 “He looks so wild.” said Kitty.

 “We'd better go help Papa feed the cows,” suggested Rose.

 “You’re right.” agreed Kitty. When they approached the house, they saw black smoke rolling from the nearby woods. The girls panicked and ran to the house. At the same time, their Father was calling to them. Telling them that the fire was too quick and it was heading for the stable. The girls began throwing wet blankets on the fire. Then they heard a high pitched whinny come from the sable. The girls both cried.

   “Spirit!” at the same time. They turned to their Father with questioning worried looks.

   “Go get all the ho'ses out of the stable!” he yelled. They ran to the stable and began opening stall doors and yelling at the horses, making them run. The fire got bigger and stronger and began to spread farther. The girls ran for Spirit's stall and thrust it open.

  “Run, Spirit, run!” The terrified colt bolted from his stall and fled out of the stable. The girls sprinted for the stable door as well and swiftly ran to their Father who had been struggling to keep the fire away from the house.

  “Did you get all the ho'ses out?.” he asked.

  “Yes Pa Pa” the girls replied. They got the fire put out after hours of struggling and sweating. No one knew how it started. To this day it still remains a mystery. From that night on, the little colt, spirit, was known as, the Wild Mustang, Spirit.

(Assignment for Lesson #3 of Polliwog Pages - Verbs)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog