A Light In The Dark.

• Laura-grace Olive, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2020

The trees around me are exquisite! I think to myself. The beautiful purple silky petals rain from the blossom trees. The luscious green grass surrounds me. The house that I pass people call junk house, and now I know why. The tin roof caved in and the brown rotted stilts go right through the floor. The yellow paint peeled on the walls leaving only patches of colour left on them. It is clearly abandoned. I look through the smashed window see a little face. I slow my horse so I can take a closer look. It was a little girl. I can see the horror in her eyes. She has brown freckles, pale pink lips and beautiful deep blue ocean eyes. She looks about 4 years old. I keep riding and try to forget what I just saw.

The next day I rode past the “Junk House” from a distance and stared through the smashed filthy window. The little girl is still there peering through the glass back at me. Her pale pink lips are quivering with fear. Then she vanishes. I hear a loud high pitched screech. Then I see a brown rusty half-rotted door open. The little girl is standing at the door. She has brown long hair dirty hair. She is wearing a torn shirt that looks like it was once pink. “You can come and pat my horse if you want” I softly say to her. She slowly walks over, her head hanging low. “What is your name?” I quietly ask.
“Brielle” She whispers. “Help me,” she quivers.

I ask her “what is wrong?” Her eyes start to fill up tears and she collapses to the floor. “My parents they.... they umm.” Struggling to say it out loud. “They abandoned me.” She whispers. My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach. My vision blurs, tears roll down my cheek. I wrap my hands around her in a tight bear hug. “Would you like to come to my house for the night?” I ask in a calm voice.
“Yes please,” she replies.

I help her onto my horse and I walk beside them. “I call the police when we get home and tell them that she was abandoned by her parents. They say that they are aware that she was abandoned and have been trying to track Brielle down for a week now. They say that the parents are in jail for abandoning a child and that Brielle will be put in a temporary foster home.

2 years Later...
Brielle lives with me now. She lives with her little sister Rose and her dad Patrick.
She has a little white pony called Basil. Basil means brave young girl in French. She has the most beautiful smile in the world. Riding past that junk house 2 years ago changed one little girl's world, and that is the most rewarding thing in the world.