The Harvest Festival Wish

It was that time of year again where the country town I lived in we held the annual Harvest Festival. People from all over town and surrounding towns would come and join in on the festivities.

The festival would be held over the week and different events would happen every night.

Monday night is the first night of the harvest festival events. The Harvest Festival always starts off with fireworks and a superstitious wishing fountain light show. Setting the occasion off with a big BANG!

Every day there is markets, and the fete is on with carnival rides. Then there is Saturday night which is the last night is the towns Barn Yard Dance and this year I was thinking of staying home for it. My mother had been in a tizzy since I had informed her, I wasn’t going this year to the Barn Yard dance.

My mother, in her prime was the Barn Yard Queen, which is given to the prettiest dressed and best dancer. Apart from my mother being a looker, she had taken dance lessons when she was younger and had apparently a really good dance partner.

I got to say I had never even though of dancing with someone let alone being in such proximity with someone. Such is life.

Tonight, was the beginning of the Harvest Festival and I was ready to make my wish in the wishing well. I was going to wish that I get the hell out of this backward town!

“Kris have you fed the animals yet?” Mum yelled from downstairs.

“No mum. Ill do it now,” I replied getting up from my desk. I had all my laptop, schoolbooks and textbooks scattered across the fine pine desk. I logged off

I went downstairs, grabbed my converse high tops, and sat on the back step. I undid my converse shoelaces and put the first one on. While undoing my other shoelaces Vic, my black and white boarder colly, excitedly came over to get my attention. Nuzzling into my neck and nudging at my face.

I scuffed up his fur and gave him a good cuddle. I looked into his blue eyes and said, “Hey Boy. How are you doing today? Wanna come help me do the chores? Yeah, you do!”

When he finally calmed down, I put my other shoe on and started to head our old red barn with Vic in toe. When I walked in all the animals raised their heads up as if to greet me.

I walked over to the first barn stall where Hamlet the bore was lazing around. “Good morning Hamlet! How was your sleep?” I asked him as if he could talk back. His ears twitched and he let out a big sigh as if to say fine.

Clunk! Vic was next to me dropping a bucket at my feet and then popped his head up to say hey to Hamlet. He barked and Hamlet put his head up, looked up at Vic and grunted. I grabbed the bucket that was filled with food scraps from my feet and tossed it into Hamlet’s trough. Hamlet sniffed the air and slowly got up and trotted over to the trough to eat. His pink wiggly tail wagged and squirmed as he finished off his breakfast. He bowed his head and went back to his haystack in his stall and laid down.

I went to the next stall where our old chestnut Clydesdale was waiting. “Hey Gypsy, how are you doing this morning?” I said scratching his nose and his ears. I went into the stall and gave Gypsy her fresh food and water. She was silent as usual and after I fed her, I put gypsy out for a run in the paddock before going back up to the house.

I went back to my room for one more scroll on face book before heading out for the day and not to my surprise my face book news feed had been spammed by the Queen Bee of the school. Vote for Gina this year’s Barn Yard Queen! was getting shared by everyone. Sometimes I wish that she would stop show ponying.

I logged off “Enough of you today” I said to myself.

I grabbed my bag and headed out in town so I could be one of the first to throw a coin in the wishing fountain. The sun was shining, and the breeze was cool but not freezing and gusty.

I pulled up at the towns glistening fountain. New water had been put in the fountain and it had been cleaned up as well giving it that newish clean look. I walked over to it and went to throw my coin in. Just like that something came up and barged into me. With an OOMPH! I was in the water fountain, drenched and I had lost my coin.

Sitting there composing myself I heard a horrible laughing. As I looked up Gina was there with her squad pointing and laughing at me.

“Looking for this?” she said holding my coin in her manicured fingertips. Just as I went to stand up to grab it from the ice queens hands she threw it in the fountain next to me.

“Oops! Looks like I just stole your wish. All well I guess I will wish to be Barn Yard Queen again,” She said laughing and walking away with her friends.

As they walked off, I just sat their feeling empty. There was a large lump in my throat and my wish had just been wasted. I know it wasn’t a big deal it’s just a superstition, but it was my wish…

I rode home drenched. In stead of going to the front door and having a million questions rampaged at me by my parents I decided to head to the old barn until I dried off.

I walked in still soaked and plonked myself in the corner of the barn on some straw. All the animals turned their heads towards me and came to their gates to see what was happening.

I looked up through my watery eyes at them.

“Don’t look at me,” I said and put my head on my knees hunched up in a ball. Not to long of crying a fluffy wiggly waggley animal came up to me. After seeing I wasn’t paying attention to him he bundled himself up to me. Cuddling into me for comfort. My eyes darted to him for a minute, and I watched him hang his head on my arm and looking at me with his big blue eyes.

“She is such a horrible person Vic. I just can’t wait till I’m out of this town far away from her,” I said to him. He could not understand me, but I knew he knew I was hurting. “She took my wish! My wish!” I said I sobbed again and he snuggled in more.

Later that day I finally went inside and upstairs to my room. Everyone was getting ready for the first night of the Harvest Festival.

“I’m not going tonight unless Vic is going!” I demanded.

My mother looked my father who shrugged. “Sure, but he’s your responsibility,” Dad said putting on his coat.

We arrived at the Towns fountain and everyone was surrounding it. Chatting away talking about their wishes and hoping for good fortune on the crops this season.

I held on to Vic’s lead and stood there nervously when suddenly Vic darted forward ripping the lead from my hand. He ran through the crowd and near the water fountain. When I got to him, he finally stopped and looked as if he had thrown something in. when I got to the fountain he turned back around and say next to me as if nothing had happened.

A squeal came from the crowd shortly afterwards. Gina screeching about losing her purse that had her wish coins in it.

My family headed home after the fireworks. I was proud of Vic as I covered his fluffy ears, and he sat their enjoying the festivities.

When I awoke the next day, I felt better than yesterday. I was going to stay far away from the festivities and far away from Gina. I went down stairs, had breakfast and went out to the old barn to see the animals.

I sat on the back step and put my shoes on. To my surprise Vic didn’t come to greet me on the back step. I had no idea where he was and it was unusual for him to just run off.

I walked down to the barn and maybe he was there.

I opened the barn door and everything was quiet… too quiet even Gypsy didn’t poke her head out of the stable to greet me.

I walked into the barn and had an eerie feeling all of a sudden I was pinned to the ground by something big and what looked like scruffy. Covering my mouth while I was screaming.

“Don’t scream! It’s me, It’s me! I’m excited! Are you excited?! Today is going to be a great day and we can do so many things like chase balls only I can catch them with these and not my face!” The boy said excitedly. His big blue eyes looked at me brightly and there was something familiar in them.

“Vic,” I whispered gob smacked. I stared at him up and down. His scruffy mop hair flopped around his face.

“Yeah! yeah! it’s me! We can be human friends now and understand each other!” He said bouncing around like a little kid.

“What happened to you?” I asked.

“You mean what happened to us?” He replied.

“Us?” I asked.

A human snort came from one of the stalls and I turned around to check it out. Leaning against the post was a beefed-up kid with brown who was covered in dust.

“We woke up like this and I say I look positively wonderful,” the kid said.

“Hamlet?” I asked.

“Well don’t be daft looking at me in awe. Where is my food? I’m starved,” was his reply.

“Then that means. Gypsy?! Where’s Gypsy?” I asked Vic walking around the barn.

A tall slender girl with long brown hair and I stripe of white came in through the door barn door behind us.

“Gypsy?” I looked at her curiously. She stretched out in an odd position.

“Yes, Kris did you want something?” The girl said very sultry and harmonic.

“How did this happen?” I said as my mind went blank.

“I stole that horrible girl’s purse and made lots of wishes. Isn’t it great?!” Vic said enthusiastically almost knocking me over in a cuddle. I couldn’t believe it my dog that was now a human stole a purse full of coins and a whole heap of wishes. Sheer panic ran through me. Have I gone insane? Do I need a trip to the looney bin? What do I tell my parents? Will they think I’d gone mad?

“What did you wish for Vic?” I asked.

“I wished that we helped you defeat the troublesome girl in the barn yard dance,” Vic replied sheepishly. It was the first time Vic the Human went calm and kind of shy. As what he said sank in, I realised he wasn’t kidding, he did make that wish. How were they supposed to help me do that? And why would the wishing well change them into humans? What in god’s name was I going to do now?

“How are you guys going to help me defeat Gina?” I asked out loud.

“Well if you must know I am one of the best Fox Trotters around,” Hamlet said from the stall looking at his nails.

Yeah my very limited social life was done for...