Songbird

Chapter 16

Aunt Delphine woke us up at around six in the morning. "He'll be ready to go home in about an hour," She informed me. I swear those were the longest sixty minutes of my life. Aunt Lily had to pull me outside and sing some songs. It only lasted for fifteen minutes, but that felt like an hour. I slept for another fifteen minutes. I called my brothers, Jackson, and Ricky for only ten minutes. As soon as I was done with my call a doctor scurried over.
"Flynn is a lucky guy. He was pretty beat up, but luckily just a sprained wrist and a broken arm. Lucky kid. Are you his family?" The doctor asked.
"No, we're not," Aunt Lily replied grimly.
"Then I can't release him to you," the doctor frowned and started to walk away.
"You want to know why his family didn't come? His brother was the one who did that to him! His parents hide in their room, afraid of his older brother! His older brother beats him up every time he stays the night in his own house! I stayed here all night! His family isn't even here!" I snapped at the doctor. The doctor gulped.
"I'll release to you," The doctor decided. He left. Soon, Flynn was walking towards us. I got up slowly. Flynn smiled at me.
"FLYNN!" I screamed and Kona and I ran and hugged him. He hugged us back. I choked back a sob. Aunt Lily picked up her purse and Aunt Delphine helped Flynn into the car. The drive wasn't long.
"You stayed up all night?" Flynn asked me when we got into the car.
"No, I was so exhausted from training, I fell asleep," I assured him. He just smiled.
"How you feeling?" I asked. He gave me a thumbs up. I smiled a little. We pulled up to our house. I helped Flynn out of the car. Aunt Delphine hurried us in. She saw Ian walking over us. My brothers, Kona, Jackson, Ricky, Flynn, and I decided to talk in my room.
"We'll go practice at Churchill downs today again. Brady, Bruno, and I can go with Jackson and you and Flynn go with Kona," Ricky informed us. Brady stuck his head out of my window.
"Ian's gone," Brady's replied. Quickly, I grabbed my jockey uniform and helped Flynn out to the truck. He got in the back. Bruno and Brady got the equipment, Jackson got his horse out, Kona and I got Songbird and Cloud Dancer out, and Ricky went to go get the large lunches from Aunt Lily and Aunt Delphine who would be driving into Sonora. Aunt Lily got a job at the tack shop and Aunt Delphine was selling the products of the harvests. Everyone was somehow raising money for the entry fees for the races. Jackson loaded his horse up and Austin put the tack on the hooks. Ricky tossed them each a huge paper bag. I loaded the horses into our trailer. Brady hung up the equipment. I climbed into the backseat with Flynn. Kona got into the front seat. Both trucks started their engines and we took off. Our light blue house looked pretty. It was an old Victorian, likes the ones you would find in San Francisco. It even had that little castle part as well. The drive was I little under an hour, at least fifty-eight minutes, but that was the least amount of time. I opened up my bag, it was the same as yesterday. Yum! I pulled out a grapefruit. Flynn snatched it, before I could lift it to my face.
"Sing something!" He ordered. I could tell the Kona was smiling. I glared at Flynn.
"Give me back my food, Flynn!"
"Sing!"
"FLYNN CASTOR GIVE ME BACK MY GRAPEFRUIT RIGHT NOW!" I screamed. He didn't give in. He was stubborn that way.
"You have to sing a song first," he replied sweetly.
"Kona, stop the car!"
"Just sing a song, Leela," Arielle sighed. I unlocked my door and opened it.
"What are you doing?!" Kona almost shouted.
"Jumping," I replied.
"Flynn give her back her food," Kona ordered.
"Bu-"
"Give her back her food, NOW!"
"Fine!" Flynn placed the grapefruit back in the bag. I closed the door and locked it.
"Gracias!" I smiled and peeled the grapefruit. Flynn frowned. "Kona, can you turn on the radio?" I asked.
"Are you going to jump out of the window if I say no?" Kona asked sarcastically.
"Uh...no," I replied as if she had already knew the answer. Kona turned in the radio, but kept the volume low. I sang some songs, but not all of them. Eventually, towards the end of the drive, we were cheerfully sing every song that came on even if we didn't know it. We pulled up to Churchill Downs. I helped Flynn out of the truck. He couldn't do anything, but just wait for us. Kona got the equipment and I got Songbird. Kona tacked up Songbird, while I got dressed in the trailer with the door closed. Jackson pulled up as I hopped on Songbird. They did the same thing. Eventually, Jackson was in his jockey uniform and on his horse. His uniform was blue, like mine, but a lot darker. Bruno led Jackson down to the track and Kona led me. I started to feel nauseous.
"Hey, it's just a practice. It's alright," Kona murmured. I nodded uncertainly and gulped. They led us into the gates and locked the doors behind us. Songbird pawed at the ground and I got in position. Jackson's horse looked spooked and afraid. The doors flew open and Songbird bolted. Jackson's horse, on the other hand, reared up.
"Hey! Come back here!" Jackson shouted. I smiled.
"Sorry, buddy, I have a race to finish!" I called back. Jackson got his horse in control and galloped after me. He was gaining speed. I start my song and Songbird gained speed. Jackson was still catching up, but Songbird was far ahead. By our first turn, I was singing all the notes high and Songbird was on fire. Jackson was starting to slow down. It felt nice. The song kept going in a loop. We crossed the finish line in a full gallop. a few seconds later, Jackson crossed it.
"Not bad," Ricky nodded, then he showed me the time. Two minutes and eight seconds, I was increasing my time, not lowering it.
"What? That can't be right," I frowned.
"You may have beat Jackson, but you had a huge advantage. He lost time getting his horse in control. If that hadn't happened he still would have beat you. Two seconds more from yesterday," Ricky implied. I sighed. Flynn fed Songbird a carrot and pieces of my energy bar. Ricky had a point. After a couple more runs, we eventually drove home, with me falling asleep on Flynn's shoulder and him falling asleep on my head.

QOTC
funniest moment of your life

So we were coming back from Yosemite. I was with my mom and my sister was with my dad. They had taken two cars up. Anyway, on the highway my dad calls up my mom and tells her that there is all this camping supplies on the road and to grab as much as she can. Then he hangs up. My mom thought it was ours so she's cursing and getting completely pissed. I open the door and grab as much as I can. My mom is still cursing and swearing at my dad. It was the funniest thing. "That son of a *beep* *beep* *beep*". After a while, I take a look at the object I grabbed. It doesn't look like it's ours. So my mom calls my dad and she goes all nuclear on him. She practically exploded. That's when my dad says that it wasn't ours. Then in a small voice she's like "oh...well...I'll see at home later and sorry...bye!" She hangs up quick.