May Story Contest

Blazes in the Night
By: Kalsey
Age: 10

The sound of the alarm clock boomed through the house. Jamie, Dad, and Mom woke up to feed their ten horses. The stable is next door to the house built on 217 acres of land. The rocks crunched beneath their feet as they walked down the drive.
“Jamie, you take in Rum Raisin, Twister, Kit Kat, and Solar,” Mom told Jamie. “ Sean, you take Buttercup, Twizzler, and Moonlight in. And I’ll take Song, Allie, and Bow in.”
Jamie grabbed Rum Raisin’s light blue lead shank and opened up the gate. Rum Raisin got settled in his stall, the third on the left.
“There you go Rummy,” Jamie said as she took Rum Raisin’s halter off and hung it on the hook outside of his stall. Meanwhile Mom and Dad had taken in Buttercup, Twizzler, and Song.
“I still have to take in  3 horses” Jamie thought to herself. She grabbed Twister’s red lead shank and brought him into the fourth stall on the right.
I can take Kit Kat and Solar in together she thought again. So she grabbed Kit Kat’s bright green lead shank and Solar’s bright orange lead shank.
When all the horses were in their stalls they headed to the feed room which was across the aisle from the Tack Room. The chalkboard read:

Rum Raisin=3/4 of a cup=3rd stall left=front left field
Twister=11/2 cups=4th stall right=front right
Kit Kat=3/4 of a cup=1st stall left=middle left
Solar=11/4 cups=1st stall right=middle left
Buttercup=13/4 cups=5th stall right=back left
Twizzler=11/4 cups=4th stall left=back left
Moonlight=1 cup=3rd stall right=middle right
Song=3/4 of a cup=2nd left=middle right
Allie=3/4 of a cup=2nd right=front left
Bow=13/4 cups=5th left=front right

They gave the horses all of their required feed.
“Mom do you want me to do water or hay?”
“Which do you like better?” Mom asked Jamie.
“Hay.”
“OK, then your father will help you if you throw the hay down. I’ll do waters,” Mom answered.
Jamie climbed up to the hayloft and grabbed hay bales.
“Dad you need to get a bucket with water, just ask Mom to fill it up.” They needed a bucket of water for the hay because Twister, Buttercup, and Solar have allergies and when they have dry hay they start coughing so they wet the hay.
“Start throwing down hay, Jamie,” Dad told Jamie.

The next day Jamie’s brother, Devin had to take in the hay before it rained.
“Devin, make sure you bring the hay in before it rains, got it?” Mom asked Devin.
“Yeah Mom.”
Down at the barn he was texting to his friends when he says,
“Shoot Mom is gonna kill me.”
It had started raining outside and he ran to the hayloft and brought up all of the hay.
At 1:00p.m. his friends came over and they had to bring a lantern up to the hay loft. His friends didn’t like horses.
When they left Dad and Mom came home.
“What’d you do all day?” Mom asked Devin.
“Derek and Joe came over. Jamie went for a ride with Rum Raisin.”

That night they heard screaming coming from the barn. Jamie, Mom, Dad, and Devin all ran out. That was when they saw blazes of light coming from the barn. Dad ran inside and called 911.
“Hello,” the operator said.
“Hi my name is Sean Carter and there is a fire down at Breezy Hill Stable and my daughter, son, and wife are down trying to get the horses out.”
“Do you know where it is?”
“I think in the hay loft.”
“Alright someone will be there.”
“Thank you.”

Outside, Rum Raisin had a couple of burns around his hooves and Buttercup had banged her leg against her stall. Otherwise everyone was safe.
“Mom , Dad, Jamie I have something to tell all of you. I forgot to take in the hay before it rained. I am so sorry.” Just then the firetruck arrived and sprayed out the fire.
One of the firemen game over and said, “I found this lantern up in the hay loft.”
“Oh, I must of forgotten it up there when Derek, Joe, and I went up there to hang out.”
“Devin, Hay catches on fire when it dries out in a warm place,” Jamie told her brother.
Luckily everyone was alright and the barn was safe. Though the vet had to come to check out Rum Raisin and Buttercup.