Chapter One - How It All Began
"So that's why you always get your way! You're a wizard!" I gasp in amazement.
"Yes, I am," Caitlin answers. "But you'll never be able to prove it to anyone, because I will not give you the opportunity. You always loved horses. Well, now you will become one!"
Caitlin starts rattling off some chant. Suddenly I feel my body start growing and changing. Black fur begins to cover my skin everywhere. My arms fall forward and I land on hooves where my hands used to be. I think I also have a tail. This can't be happening! I must be having a crazy dream. There is just no way that I could be turning into a horse! I try to wake up, but I can't. I try to scream at Caitlin, but all that comes out is a whinny.
Caitlin laughs and walks away. I want to run after her and hurt her, but I've never been a violent person. I could go home, but my parents would never recognize me now. I decide to go to the river, where I do my best thinking, to say a prayer and decide what to do next.
It is weird walking on four legs. It takes awhile for me to find the right rhythm, but soon I get the hang of it. I am already hungry and thirsty. I drink from the river. I feel relieved when I see my neighbors, Jacob and Kelly Miller, walking towards me. I start walking towards them too.
"Kelly, look, it's a horse!" Jacob says.
"I've never seen this horse before," Kelly responds. She reaches out and pets me on my forehead. "She seems really tame. Maybe we can keep her?"
"That would be great," Jacob says. "but this horse must belong to someone. Let's see if she'll go in our barn and then we can tell Mom and Dad."
A part of me wants to turn and run. But I am too confused to think. Maybe if I just go to sleep I will wake up tomorrow and laugh at this memory. I go in the barn and eat the hay they offer me. The Millers don't have any other horses. There are a few cows that Jacob and Kelly raise for 4-H. And lots of cats. The barn smells like dust and hay and manure. What if I have to go to the bathroom? No more toilets? This is way too embarrassing!
Jacob and Kelly come back with their mom. "This is strange," she says. "The only neighbor around here that has horses is Shamira, and this definitely doesn't look like one of her horses. So where she came from and how she got here is a mystery!"
"Then let's call her Mystery," Kelly says. "It's going to be awesome having a horse!"
"Wait a minute," Mrs. Miller says. "We will need to try to find her owner."
"But can we please keep her in the meantime?" Kelly looks at Mrs. Miller with puppy dog eyes. Jacob and Mrs. Miller look at me. I nod my head. It's the best I can do since I can not talk.
Mrs. Miller strokes my neck. "Well, she looks healthy and harmless. I guess you can keep her for now, as long as it's okay with your dad. I will expect you to help take care of her."
"We will," Jacob says.
And that was the beginning of my life as a horse.
YOU ARE READING
My Life as a Horse
Teen FictionBOOK ONE in series. I always loved horses, but the last thing I ever expected was to become one myself! Luckily my friends were there for me, to help me out and recover my true identity.
