"Whoa---ahhhhhh!" Pepper Ann screamed as her horse bolted forward. Gripping onto the bridle, she pressed her body against the horse’s neck. Please let it end, please let it end now… she pleaded. Pepper Ann’s best friend, Nicky, pulled her horse to a halt and gasped as Pepper Ann and the horse shot past her.
Pepper Ann raised her head meekly and peeked out from behind the horse’s thick, black mane. This is all Nicky’s fault, she thought angrily. Stupid Nicky made me come to horseback ride with her. It’s all her fault!
Pepper Ann noticed a fence out of the corner of her eye. it was coming right up, and— Oh my God, Pepper Ann thought, he’s going to jump it!
I’m not ready for this—I’m not ready for this! Pepper Ann thought, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt the horse leap. Pepper Ann was flung off the horse. As she flew through the air, Pepper Ann opened her eyes. "Oh—my—God!" she shrieked.
Pepper Ann hit the ground. Nicky stopped her horse just a while away. She dashed towards Pepper Ann’s limp body.
"Ooohhhhh…" Pepper Ann groaned.
"Mommy, what’s for dinner?" A little red-headed girl skipped into the kitchen. Her mother looked up from the sink and sighed.
"I don’t know, honey," she told her daughter, sticking her soapy hands back in the dishwater. The girl, who looked maybe six or seven, pulled on her mother’s apron.
"But, Mommy, I’m hungry now!" she whined, sulking against the counter. Her mother turned around and placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.
The little girl giggled and pulled away from her mother. "Is Auntie Moosie coming for dinner tonight?" the girl asked hopefully.
"I don’t know, Kelly. She said she might. In the meantime, I’ll put some spaghetti in the oven, okay? Is spaghetti good enough for you?" The mother turned back to her dishes. Suddenly she heard the tires of a car squeak. Her daughter sprinted towards the front door and leapt out of it.
"Daddy! daddy!" she heard her daughter’s excited shrieks. The door opened. Her husband, tall, dark, Craig Bean, stood in the doorway.
"Hey, PA. What’s for dinner?" Craig asked his wife. Pepper Ann set down a plate she was drying and replied, "Spaghetti."
"Cool. Hey, Kelly. How was school today?" Craig bent down to his daughter, who grabbed his neck.
"It was great, Daddy." Kelly smiled at her father, who kicked off his boots and pulled a chair out from the table.
There’s nothing more I love than this family, the mother thought happily, glancing at her husband cuddling her daughter. She sighed.