Pippa and a Mysterious Horse

The morning of her birthday Pippa was woken up by quiet whinnying at her window. She looked out and saw a brown horse tied to a pole right by the porch. Pippa was so curious, she ran out in her nightgown. She carefully approached the horse and slightly patted it on the head.

“What’s your name, horsey?”

“Flynn! Flynn! Flynn!” neighed the horse and smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Flynn!”

Before Pippa had time to talk to the horse some more, her confused parents showed up at the porch.

“Thank you so much for my birthday gift, Mom and Dad!” Pippa was smiling from ear to ear.

Her parents looked at each other and blushed.

“Honey, you know that we can’t really afford a horse, and horse riding is too dangerous anyway” mumbled her Dad staring at the ground. “This horse apparently ran away from home or got lost and ended up here. We will have to find its owners, sadly…”

“But it’s my birthday!” Pippa started crying. “He came here exactly on my birthday! What if he is my birthday miracle?”

“There are no miracles in life. We got you some very nice gifts, and your grandparents will come over tonight. You can feed the horsey, but we will have to let people in town know that he is here. Somebody is missing him right now…” Mom was making total sense, but Pippa was heartbroken and didn’t want to listen.

Pippa wasn’t a very popular girl at school. She seemed too shy, was daydreaming a bit too much, and didn’t have the same interests as other 7-year-old girls. Maybe that’s why she didn’t have any friends in her class. She hated talking about Barbie dolls and princess dresses and singing that annoying “Let It Go” song with other girls. She loved coming home from school and climbing a tree outside with a book and her old cat Turtly. Turtly was her best friend, but unfortunately he couldn’t talk, even though his purring was very relaxing. She was dreaming of riding horses, but instead parents forced her to do ballet, like a real girl, which she had no inclination for.

No one was going to come to her birthday party that night except her nice but boring grandparents. Pippa couldn’t stop crying, and didn’t want to go back to the house to look at her gifts. Her parents got upset at that terrible behavior and went back inside. Pippa wiped her eyes and then noticed that Flynn was looking her right in the eye.

“Don’t cry, Pippa. I came to wish you a happy birthday. I know you are an unusual girl, but I am not your typical horse either. I can talk, but only to people who believe in miracles.”

Pippa startled and almost lost her balance. “You can speak! I have been dreaming of a talking horse like you for so long! Nobody here understands me, Flynn! My parents won’t let me even do what I am interested in! Please, don’t let them give you back!” She hugged him by the neck and buried her face in his mane.

Suddenly Mom came outside, grabbed Pippa by the hand and led her to the house.

“It’s breakfast time. You can miss your dance class for your birthday, but please wear a dress for when your grandparents get here tonight.“

At that moment Dad walked into the kitchen, phone in hand.

“That was easy. I knew that none of the neighbors here own a horse, so I called that animal farm that Pippa has been begging to visit for so long now. They indeed are missing a brown male named Flynn. I offered borrowing a horse trailer from a friend in town and bringing Flynn back. Then Pippa can finally see the farm and ride a horse there, but only once and only for the sake of your birthday, kid, ok?”

Pippa got so excited she jumped up and dropped a bottle of syrup she was pouring over her pancakes.

“Thank you, Dad! I love you!”

She hurried outside to tell Flynn, while Mom gave Dad a disapproving stare and shook her head.

“This is my birthday miracle, horsey! Dad finally agreed to take me to the horse farm and let me ride. It’s the first time ever, ever! I have been asking for years!”

Flynn was shaking his head in agreement and smiling, showing his big white teeth. Back in the kitchen Mom was scolding Dad mercilessly.

“Our daughter doesn’t have any friends and doesn’t even dress like a girl. If you encourage this weird interest of hers, she will completely stop interacting with humans and will always wear pants and come home smelling like manure! I don’t think she will forget about it after the first time!”

“It’s her birthday, and we have to take this darn horse back! What’s the big deal?”

Dad shrugged his shoulders and walked to the car. It was time to borrow that horse trailer to take Flynn back.

“We will have to return you, Flynn.” Pippa sighed and offered him a half apple. “Can I ride you, when we get to the farm?”

Flynn didn’t say anything, just nodded “yes”, but not just because his mouth was full of food. Apparently, Mom was standing right behind Pippa.

“I don’t approve of all this, kid. I am not going to watch you risk your life riding this monster animal. Dad will take you, and I will stay home making cake and dinner for our little family party tonight.” Mom angrily looked at Flynn and walked back to the house.

Pippa and Dad delivered Flynn to the farm at lunchtime. A tall man with a bushy beard met them at the entrance.

“Thank you so much for bringing that naughty boy back home! Just call me Uncle Tom.”

He gave them both a big hug and led Flynn to the stables. Pippa looked around. A bunch of children about her age and slightly older were riding horses and ponies in a large round pen. That was a view she had been always dreaming of, but never had a chance to see. Until that day…

“Hey, everybody! Meet Pippa! This is her birthday, and she is the one who brought our bad boy back! We are going to teach her to ride a horse today!”

Uncle Tom grabbed her by the hand and took her to the pen to introduce to other kids. She felt at home right away, and had never felt as welcome before, because all the children suddenly stopped their horses, got off them and came up to her to say hi and happy birthday.

“Can I please ride Flynn?”

Pippa was very hopeful, but older kids told her he would not be easy to ride for a beginner. Only one of them, the short guy with big blue eyes appropriately nicknamed Owlie, disagreed.

“I will talk to him, and he will behave. You know, Flynn always listens to me.”

Pippa wasn’t even remotely surprised anymore to hear words like this coming out of somebody’s mouth. That birthday was really full of miracles for her.

The boy brought Flynn back to Pippa. Now he was equipped with a saddle and stirrups, so climbing him with the help of Owlie became much easier. He grabbed the reins, and Pippa did her first 3 rounds around the pen.

“You are a natural!” exclaimed Owlie, helping her off the horse, and she immediately knew that it wouldn’t be her last time. The kids all came up to her and cheered. The Dad was staring skeptically at first, while snapping some pictures, but then realized that Pippa was finally in her element. His little girl was suddenly happy and smiling, and talking to other kids. What happened with all her shyness?

He stepped away from the pen and called Mom. “Guess what? She is beaming and talking to other children, and they are all teaching her to ride and take care of horses. We will have to let her do it, no matter if you approve it or not. And I think I will be bringing a dozen of her new friends over for that birthday cake tonight…”

When Pippa and Owlie brought Flynn back to the stable and wished him sweet dreams, he neighed “Good night” back to both of them. That’s how Pippa knew that Owlie was her new best friend, because now they shared a secret that only people who believed in miracles had the right to know.