Birthday Surprise

Birthday Surpise

by

Evie McKenzie

(age 15)

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEE…

I slammed my hand down on the snooze button, Ah, peace.

“Hannah! It’s time to get up!”

Ugh. Out of all five children why did I have to be the one that’s not a morning person? I kicked back the sheets and sat up. Why does today feel different? Then I remembered,

“Today I’m fifteen.”

“Wow, really?” I looked up; it was Jason my almost-eighteen-year-old, brother. “Can you say that one more time, Hannah? I’m not sure I can believe it until you say it again.”  The sarcasm in his voice made me mad.

“Go!” I pointed to the barn. “Don’t you need to do chores?”

“Done and done.” He smiled. “Why don’t you go take care of your presents?” With that he sauntered off to his room.

What on earth could he mean? I leapt out of bed and pulled on my good jeans and the nicest t-shirt I could find.

“Happy birthday, Hannah,” Mom said as I thundered down the stairs. “Come and eat some pancakes. They’re chocolate chip.”

I licked my lips. Chocolate chip pancakes were my favorite! I sat down at the island, and Mom set a plate of pancakes down in front of me.

I looked over at her. “Mom? Jason said I should go take care of my presents. What did he mean?”

She smiled. “Wait until Dad and your brother and sisters come in. Then you’ll find out.”

“Alright, keep your secrets. I’m going to eat these delicious looking pancakes before they get cold!”

“You do that.” We laughed.

By the time I had finished eating, the rest of my family had come in and cleaned up from barn chores. We all went into the living room, and I opened presents.

I got a $25 gift card for I-tunes from Sierra, my twelve-year-old sister, and a new bike helmet from Jason. My youngest siblings, Catherine and Conner, nine-year-old twins, got me a 6” horse model of an Arabian rearing.

The presents from Mom and Dad were a dog leash and collar in my favorite colors, aqua and lime green. I looked up at them, and they laughed at my perplexed face. 

“The rest of the present is from Aunt Trisha. Why don’t you call her and find out what it is?”

I jumped up and ran to the phone, but not before I had thanked everyone for the gifts. I hurriedly dialed Aunt Trisha’s number.

Ring… Ring… Ring… “Hello?”

“Hi, Aunt Trisha.”

“Well, hello, Hannah. I suppose you’re calling to find out what I’m giving you for your birthday.”

“Yep. What is it??”

“Well, Anchor just had puppies, and I thou…”

“I GET TO PICK OUT A PUPPY???”

“Hold your horses, Hannah! Yes, you get to pick out one of the puppies.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! When can I come choose?”

“Right now, if it’s alright with your mother.”

“Mom, can I bike over to Aunt Trisha’s house and choose one of the pups?”

“Yes, you can.”

”Mom said I could. I’ll be over in less than five minutes!”

“See you then, bye.”

”Bye!” I hung up the phone and rushed upstairs to grab my sweatshirt. “Bye Mom! I’ll be back in a little bit!”

I shoved the collar and leash in my bag and ran outside. Three minutes later I pulled into Aunt Trisha’s driveway and parked my bike by the house. The puppy barn was about ten yards from the house, and I ran as fast as I could to get there, assuming she would be there.

“Slow down, Hannah!” Aunt Trisha laughed as I burst through the open door.

“Sorry, I’m really excited!” I walked over to the pen where the puppies and their mother were eating. “It’s going to be so hard to choose!”

“Go ahead and sit with them in the pen. Wait for them to come to you.”

“OK.” I entered and sat down. Right away, Anchor, the mama, came over and sat next to me. I stroked her head and waited, after about five minutes the puppies started to notice me. One of them bounded over and pounced on my foot. I laughed.

“You’re a silly little one, aren’t you?”

“That one is Clownfish. He is a little bit of a clown.”

Another one of the puppies came and sprawled out on my leg.

“His name is Octopus.”

“Good one. You’re a cutie, Mr. Octopus.” The other five pups waddled or bounded over to me, except one, an image of her mother, just walked quietly over to me sat down and placed her paw on my leg. Right away I knew she was the one.

*****

“Harbor, what are you doing over there? It’s all muddy, and I just gave you a bath!” It had been a week since I had gotten her, and she was learning commands well. I ran over to see what she was looking at. Right there was a Himalayan kitten, all covered in mud and looking just about dead.

I scooped up the scrawny kitten and ran to the house.

“MOM!” I hurried into the kitchen; Mom turned around and saw the kitten.

“Bring it over here, Hannah.” She grabbed a towel out of the drawer and placed it on the counter, “Wipe it off, and I’ll see if I can find a basket. You can get some of the goat’s milk out of the fridge. Make sure it’s fresh.”

I walked over to the counter and wiped the kitten off. It was a girl. I fed her some milk, all the while thinking about a name. Then after a few minutes, I remembered that I had always wanted a cat named Magenta.

“What do you think little kitty? How’s Magenta for a name?” As I held her up and looked into her eyes, she purred. So from then on everyone called her Magenta, and she and Harbor became the best of friends.

The End

(Assignment for Lesson #5 - Setting)

If you are between the ages of 12-18,

(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!