Chapter Eight

The days passed slowly, and I kept getting more and more bored by the second. I got my hair cut and grandma let me buy make-up. I was in love with eye liner. Is this what it felt like to be a normal teenager?

I spoke to my mother on the phone three times since I came here almost three weeks ago. The phone conversations were nice I suppose. I never mentioned my father in fear my mother would jump on the first plane here to scream at me and drag me back to the city.

"Hello, Katherine." She'd said.

I would always say, "Hello mother, how is trip coming along." I'd always get the same reply.

"Fine, fine. Have you finished Wuthering Heights yet?" We'd always proceed to talk about that horrible book. Life was starting to drag…

I spent time with the donkeys, telling them about my reoccurring dream about the donkey named Wesley. I never got to finish the dream though; it always ended with that seemingly dead forest that was actually full of life. The trees so completely green, as was the grass. I always saw a little chipmunk; it smiled at me with its tiny little teeth.

I loved those donkeys.

The day my birthday came I woke up especially early at six in the morning. I found my grandmother in the kitchen making what appeared to be a cake.

"Morning." I said sleepily, rubbing pulling my red hair on top of my head into a sloppy bun.

"What are you doing up so early?" She asked. "You shouldn't be waking up for another five hours!"

"Sorry, grandma didn't mean to throw off your schedule. I just kind of figured maybe my dad would be coming over to wish me a happy birthday? He said he'd see me soon." I explained.

She nodded her head in response adding, "Okay maybe it is good you're up so early. Do you want anything to eat?"

"French toast?" I asked batting my eye lashes.

"Awe… how could I resist those eyes? They're your grandfathers you know."

I nodded my head.

After I finished my perfectly awesome breakfast my grandmother announced my mother sent me a birthday gift in the mail. She tossed the UPS package on the table claiming she had not opened it.

I unsealed the tape and found several books and a personalized note.

Read the first three on this list before you return so we can talk about them when you get home.

Enjoy,

Mother

What a nice gift for your only daughter on her fifteenth birthday—homework.

My grandma told me the exact same thing.

"I also have a gift for you." She informed me, peaking my curiosity. I wanted to be humble and gracious and tell her she didn't have to buy me anything but I really didn't want to say those things. I wanted to be greedy and receive at least one nice gift for my birthday.

She led me outside to the donkey's barn—I'd never been in it before, I always stay out by the fence—and led me to a pin that held a single donkey.

The animal was the generic donkey color but had interesting patterns on its face. It was so cute with its big eye lashes and giant mouth.

"Is it mine?" I shouted.

"Yes." She answered and went on to explain, "Obviously you can't take it home with you but when you visit you can ride her." My smile was so wide my cheeks began to ache. I jumped up and hugged her.

"Thank-you!"

"What are you going to name her?"

"Polly!"

"Why Polly? That's a name for a parrot…"

I shrugged my shoulders, and thanked my grandma again.

"Okay well I guess I'll leave you two alone I have to finish your cake."

I spent an hour talking to Polly, telling her all about my life and the past few days glad that I finally had someone to listen to me—even if they couldn't reply. I went inside to change at noon and eat some macaroni before taking Polly out of the barn to ride her.

I was just getting a saddle put on top of her back when the crunch of gravel made me stop to see my father's car coming down the drive way.

"Dad!" I screamed in utter joy of seeing him on my birthday.

His sad expression made me do a double take though; something was wrong.