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  Filly Girls

  CHASING THE DREAM

  Filly Girls

  CHASING THE DREAM

  TOGETHER, FOREVER AND ALWAYS

  By Sarah Voskamp

  Filly Girls: Chasing the Dream

  © 2010 Sarah Voskamp. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published in the United States by BQB Publishing

  (Boutique of Quality Books Publishing)

  www.bqbpublishing.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  978-0-9828689-7-3 (p)

  978-0-9828689-9-7 (e)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2010940953

  Book & cover design by Darlene Swanson • www.van-garde.com

  Illustrations by Steve McGinnis • www.digraphics.info

  Dedication

  I dedicate this story to my dad who helped me along the way; my mom who encourages me to keep going; my friends Ally and Ansley who inspired me, my book; and my characters; and also my older brothers who always say, “Wow, you are doing my essays!”

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 1

  December 25th is a day I will always remember. It was on that day a miracle happened for me. You are probably thinking that I’m talking about the miracle of Christmas. Well, there is that. But this one was different, and my whole life changed. From that day forward, my life as a horseback-riding, twelve-year-old girl would turn out to be much more meaningful. Life as I knew it would never be the same.

  That morning, when I woke up from a surprisingly normal dream, I stretched and thought, Today is the day I have been waiting for since the beginning of January. Christmas!!

  I jumped out of bed, scurried down the stairs, and glimpsed quickly in my stocking. Before I could see anything I heard my mother wake up from a blissful sleep. I can always tell when she’s had a good or bad night’s rest. Not wanting to get caught peeking at my presents, I ran as fast as I could back up the stairs to my room and jumped on my bed. Ouch! I missed the bed and hit the floor, because I didn’t jump far enough. I will have to be a little more careful next time.

  The loud bang when I fell woke up everyone in the house—which wasn’t too many because I am an only child—so we decided to go downstairs and open some gifts. Yay! As we do every Christmas, we opened them in order, one by one, and Mom got to go first. I was so excited, I could hardly wait for my turn. It was so worth the wait, because I got the best gifts ever—everything that was on my list and much more! I received clothes and gift cards, and, most exciting of all, a brand new show outfit, show helmet, chaps, and leather boots! It was turning out to be a great Christmas.

  After our gifts were opened and we were full from the delicious Christmas morning breakfast that my mom made, my best friends Sandra and Felicity called and asked if I wanted to go on a Christmas trail ride. I, of course, said “Yes!” I love to ride, and I have been riding since I was about four. Mom and Dad saw how much I loved horses, so they let me take lessons. I have been riding ever since.

  I quickly grabbed my riding gear out of the closet, threw on my jacket, and zoomed out the door. I ran as fast as I could over to my neighbors to borrow a horse for the ride, like I always do. When I arrived at their barn and opened the big doors, I realized something was different. I backed up a little and saw a big blue ribbon draped across several stalls. That’s weird, I thought. As I looked closer, I spotted a big tag that said,

  Merry Christmas, Ellie!

  XOXOXO

  Ho Ho Ho!

  Love, Mom and Dad

  I couldn’t believe it, so I turned back toward the doors and saw Mom and Dad peeking inside the barn with smiles beaming from ear to ear. They were giggling and laughing as they walked inside and said, “Go on, honey, look around.”

  I walked toward the back of the barn where the big blue ribbon stretched across four stalls. I couldn’t believe what I saw next. Poking out of one of the stalls was a black muzzle. OMG, now I really couldn’t believe it! For Christmas, my parents had given me several stalls in the barn and a horse of my very own. This was the best gift anyone could get! Ever!

  I walked over to the stall and looked into the most beautiful face I have ever seen. There she was—a beautiful filly with a dark brown coat and a black muzzle, mane, and tail. A million thoughts raced through my head all at once: Just wait until I tell my friends. They’ll freak out! Wait, I’m freaking out!

  As I walked closer to the stall to meet my new filly for the first time, I thought, What am I going to name her? I considered several different names—Molly, Lightning, and even Bella. None of them were quite right. Then I heard my next door neighbor say, “It’s a miracle! I bet Ellie never thought something like this would ever happen to her.”

  “PERFECT!” I screamed. “Miracle! That’s what I’m going to name her.” Now that name fit perfectly, because miraculous was just what this felt like to me. I glanced over to see Sandra and Felicity standing with their mouths wide open. Apparently, it felt miraculous to them, too. I couldn’t help but giggle. Almost in a blur, I hugged and thanked my parents, grabbed my friends to come check out my new horse, then saddled and bridled Miracle for the trail ride.

  In the barn, there was other new stuff besides Miracle. I got a new saddle and blanket, new bridle, and all new grooming stuff! When I showed Felicity and Sandra and told them about everything else I had gotten for Christmas, they said I was lucky and that their parents didn’t like to spend money. They were frugal. I still couldn’t believe what a miracle Miracle was.

  As we left on our trail ride, I felt like I was in a dream as Felicity and her horse Babe, Sandra and her horse Dream, and Miracle and I rode into Tree Hill Forest down the trail we always took. But this time, I was on my very own horse.

  We rode quite a while just chatting and having a great time like always. For me, though, it was the best ride I had ever taken, because I had my very own Miracle.

  When we returned to the barn, we washed and groomed our horses. Miracle especially liked the curry comb. As we groomed and chatted, we were so excited about Miracle and Christmas that we decided to have a slumber party that night When we finished up in the barn, we ran to ask our parents’ permission and started planning our Christmas sleepover.

  It really shouldn’t be called a sleepover, because we didn’t sleep much at all. We were too excited about Christmas, the gifts we had gotten, and, of course, about my Christmas Miracle.

  When morning came, Felicity and Sandra were asleep, but I was still too excited. I decided to check my email and maybe grab some breakfast. When I saw my email, I forgot all about breakfast because I got a note that said the happiest thing in the world:

  Hi Ellie,

  We would like to invite you to the Georgia State Equestrian Show. Because of your riding experience, you are able to compete in the English or Western Riding Division, whichever you prefer. If you place in the top five, you can proceed to the national competition. If you place in the top three at the national competition, you will qualify for the world competition. This is a big opportunity, and we would be honored for you to compete.

  I was so excited, I ran upstairs and woke up Sandra and Felicity to share the news. They got so excited that they decided to check their emails, too, and saw that they had both received a similar email. We all screamed in happiness.

  “Yay! Yay! Yay! Y
ay! Yay! Yay!”

  None of us could believe it. We had been hoping for this, for like, forever. We continued to read the invitation and saw that the event was being held in Atlanta six weeks from now. It was signed, “Robin Whayhuter.” I knew I had heard Robin’s name before, but it took me a moment to place it.

  Then I remembered that she was my old trainer who had moved to Australia a few years ago. She had wanted to stay and help me continue improving as a rider, but she got married and had to go.

  “Is something wrong?” Sandra asked when she saw the strange look on my face.

  “No, not really. I was just remembering where I heard that name before.” Then I told my friends where I knew Robin from.

  We were all so excited that we immediately started training for the show. We had tons of stuff to do and we only had six weeks, so we ran to tell our families the big news and to ask our parents if we could attend. Then, we started to make our big plans.

  Even though the show was not far from my home in Cumming, Georgia, we all decided to go early. Felicity, Sandra, and I were going to share a room next to our parents at a five-star hotel not far from the arena. After our parents made the reservations, we found out that our room would be #354, which was supposed to be a lucky room. We had heard that if you stayed there, you would definitely win the show. So we were all really excited that it was our room. I just hoped it was true!

  After all our plans were set, I decided to write a note back to Robin. It said:

  Hi Robin,

  Thank you so much for the invitation to the show. I will definitely be there. Sounds like so much fun. I can’t wait! See ya there.

  Sincerely,

  Ellie Kerhage

  P.S. I am staying in the lucky room!

  Sandra, Felicity, and I all worked every hour we could to get ourselves and our horses ready for the show. We were so tired at night that we didn’t even talk much on the phone or watch any television. I think we shocked our parents. There was no way anyone else was going to win this competition but us!

  I knew the competition at the show would be intense, so it was hard to find me anywhere but the practice ring. I felt like I needed to be practicing day and night. In fact, if mom hadn’t made me, I wouldn’t have gotten much sleep in the weeks before the big day. I had to practice, practice, practice, and take advantage of the six weeks before the show.

  All I could do was eat, sleep, and talk or think about the show. Yet at night, every nightmare or dream I had was about something random, never the show. It was like when I fell asleep, I stopped thinking about the show or even winning. That was weird! Maybe it was a signal that the show was going to be good or maybe I was going to be voted the best and be pinned No. 1. I couldn’t wait.

  I was so focused on the show that I almost forgot that I had to take care of Miracle’s stalls, replace her hay, and feed and groom her. Felicity and Sandra helped me, so it didn’t take very long, even though there were four stalls.

  I wanted to hire people to help, but mom thought quite differently—she thought I should do it all by myself. She said it made me more responsible, but I decided to go with my idea about hiring people.

  I thought Jeremy, a friend of mine, would be a good stall cleaner. I also needed a trainer, groomer, and maybe some other people, too. Soon, I would have a barn full of horses, trainers, and everything! I would make these extreme “Miracle” weeks. I was actually still in a state of disbelief. Was Miracle a real miracle? Well, she was to me!

  It turned out that Mom got her way, and I ended up doing all the stuff myself. But that was okay because I knew that after I won the state, national, and world championships, I would have lots of people to help take care of all my horses. But I knew that Miracle would always be my favorite.

  Chapter 2

  It was Thursday—the day before we were leaving for the show—and I had been packing and repacking all day. Every time I turned around, I would pack something new. The fifth time I repacked my bag, I included a diary. I planned to write in it every day. When I told Felicity and Sandra about it, they decided to pack one also. I wanted to make sure I would remember every moment of the show!

  Just as I was finally finished packing, I realized I had forgotten to pack my lucky ring that my great-grandma had given me when I was a baby. How dare I forget something so important! I ran to get it and stuffed it in my bag. I couldn’t leave that behind, or I would have no chance of winning. I was so glad I remembered it before we left, because I don’t think Mom and Dad would have been too thrilled to turn around and come back for it.

  The night before we had to leave, I wrote in my diary:

  Dear Diary,

  Today I went to school, and then to my riding lessons and worked with Miracle to get ready for the show. Then I went over and hung out with Sandra and Felicity for a while. Today was fun except for the school part. We leave tomorrow for the big horse show, and I am so excited. I don’t think I will be able to sleep!

  Ellie

  Because we were leaving the next morning,

  I went to bed earlier than usual and tried to get at least a little sleep. It didn’t work.

  The next morning, I jumped out of bed, got ready, and rolled my suitcase to the car.

  I almost fainted—it was so heavy! We pulled out of the driveway at 10:00 a.m., and I was sound asleep when we arrived in Atlanta a little less than an hour later.

  My mother carried me into the hotel and tucked me in bed so I could continue resting. I was so disoriented when I woke up and stretched that I thought I would bang my head on the roof of the car.

  I finally realized we were already at the hotel and said, “So we’re here finally. I can win now.”

  My mom smiled and responded, “Not exactly. You still have five days until the show.” I just mumbled at her and nodded as I realized all of the things I had to do before I could win.

  First things first, I had to practice and get myself and Miracle familiar with the arena. I was only allowed a half-hour each morning and a half-hour each late afternoon. I hoped that Miracle and I could get enough practice with the limited time we had. But I had faith in us! Later that day at my assigned time, I walked to the arena to practice, practice, practice. The only problem was Miracle wouldn’t move— that’s right, I was here for a competition and my horse wouldn’t move. Great! But after a lot of coaxing, she started to feel comfortable and not frightened at all.

  Now it was down to business. Miracle was a very good horse, and it didn’t take long before we had memorized the pattern and all of the jumps we would have to take in the show. I hoped my buddies would be able to memorize their patterns too.

  Dear Diary,

  It’s Tuesday, and we’ve been here since last Friday. I’ve been so busy practicing, I haven’t had much time to write. But the practice is paying off. Miracle got used to the pattern very quickly, and she’s a natural jumper. I memorized the pattern for the show, and my practice days are over. The show starts tomorrow! Ellie

  I hadn’t written in my diary in a long time, but Tuesday was nearly over and it was my last practice day. After practice, I had to braid Miracle’s tail and mane, and groom her. That shouldn’t have been hard, but it was. As a matter of fact, it was extremely hard because Miracle wouldn’t stand still for anything. I think she was nervous, but we got through it. I can get through anything.

  Sorry. I was thinking about myself—I caught myself in the act. Code red. What I meant to say was WE can get through anything, Miracle and I.

  When I finished cleaning and perking Miracle up a bit, I roamed around town with Felicity and Sandra. We found a horse store that had exquisite show outfits, saddles, and other cool horse gear. I begged Mom to buy me everything. She kept saying “no,” but finally gave in. I really didn’t need anything because I had just received lots of new gear for Christmas, but I thought a new outfit and saddle would help my chances of winning the show. Mom was always really cool when I needed her help with something really important.

/>   When I got back to the hotel, I saw Felicity’s diary sitting out. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I peeked inside and stopped on a page that I couldn’t help but read. It said:

  This is Felicity. I want to tell you who I have a crush on. He’s a very special guy whose name is . . . Jeremy. He is so cute and sweet. He is also the same guy Ellie wants as her stall cleaner. I love him. I can’t help it. Don’t tell ANYONE. FELICITY

  I turned around and you would never guess who was there. Felicity! Uh-oh, spaghetti-o. What was I going to do?

  I thought if I could explain everything, it would be okay. But I was way off. I was off by a mile, maybe even more. She was angry and said, “I’m not going to talk to you until after I win the show.” Then she stomped off down the hotel hallway.

  Okay, I thought a little boastfully, I guess that’ll be never. But I really wondered how I was going to win if I knew she was mad at me and wouldn’t talk to me ever again. I knew I would be distracted, and I was worried. I had to try and make it right. She was, after all, one of my best friends. Then I remembered my lucky charm: my great-grandma’s ring. It was the key to my success, whether it was trouble with a best friend or winning a horse show.

  But then it was time for dinner, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about what I was going to do to make it right with Felicity. My parents and I were going to eat at the best place in town—Maggiano’s—so I had food on my mind.

  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and watched a few movies. I fell asleep pretty early, about 9:00 p.m. I was really tired and the show was the next day, so I needed my sleep. I’ll figure out what to do about Felicity tomorrow.

  That evening, my Mom and Dad met some of the other parents to enjoy “some grownup time.” That’s when they found out the bad news, but they decided not to tell us girls until the morning.

  Totally unaware that my world was going to come crashing down in the morning, that night I dreamed about the show. I dreamed that Miracle, Dream, and Babe tied for first in the state competition and also at the national competition. Then, at the world competition, guess who was voted first place? It was a tie! Babe, Dream, and Miracle—again! Can you believe it was all three of us again? But that was just a dream, and, in reality, it would never happen. It could be really close, but it would never be an exact tie for first place. Even if I wished really hard, which I did.