To Mom and Dad for convincing me to write this story.

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Hi, my name is Kara. I am eleven years old. My parents are divorced. I had been living on a ranch in Texas with my dad. That was before The Call.

I was sitting at the dining table eating cookies and milk. Yum! I heard a yell from the kitchen. I crept up to the door and carefully poked my head in. Mom was on the phone! I hadn't seen my mom in so long! But something was wrong. Dad was mad and was red in the face.

“Well I don’t think she should!” Dad shouted.

He paused. Then he frowned. “Well, you want her to go to a fancy, Eastern school ? We probably can’t afford it!” He sighed.

“I’m sorry. I’ll ask her later.” He put the phone down. He turned around and saw me standing in the doorway. He looked surprised for a moment.

“Dad?” I said quietly. “What’s happening?” He sighed.

“Your mom wants you to go to a new school.” He said softly." “In the east.” He added.

“But Dad!” I complained. ”I want to stay here, with you!” Dad smiled.

“I bet you do hon, but you need a better education”Dad said.

“Plus, you haven’t seen your mom in, what, a year?”

I gave in."Alright, but let me say goodbye to Stormy.” I insisted.

“Ok, I’ll load up the truck.” Dad headed to the garage. I ran to the stables.A friendly nicker greeted me. Stormy, my black Arabian mare, stood in her stall.

I laughed and held out my hand. She snuffled around around my palm and was delighted to find a small sugar cube. I leaned myself across her muscular neck.

“I’ll miss you Stormy.” I whispered.I nuzzled her soft nose and breathed in her aroma of hay. "Bye Blaze! Take care of Stormy!" I patted the flame-colored stallion in the stall next to Stormy. “KARA!” Dad shouted from the truck.”We are leaving!” I hurried over to the garage were Dad's pick-up truck was waiting. I opened the passenger door and slid in.

“Ready?” Dad asked.

“Yep.” I squeaked. Dad lifted my chin so I had to look at his eyes.

“Are you sure?” He asked skeptically.

I pulled away. “Yeah, I’m sure.” We pulled away from the farmhouse. My belongings were in the back, strapped on.We drove in silence. When we reached the airport, Dad hugged me tight.

“Be good for your mother, would you?” He asked me. I looked in his green eyes.

“I will.” I replied. ”Bye Dad!” With that I headed into the airport. Dad had arranged for me to fly east, to the airport

in New York. The flight only took about two or three hours.

I searched the airport for Mom. Then I saw her. Kinda hard not to. She was waving her arms franticly.

“Mom!” I yelled.

“Over here!” Mom shouted. I rushed over to her, toting my suitcase. “Oh, it’s so nice to see you!” Mom said, out of breath. I realized that I looked a LOT like her. It was like looking in a mirror! We both had white-blond hair and bright green eyes. I guess it ran in the family.

“Let’s go home.” Mom said. “I bet you want to unpack.”

We headed outside. New York is nothing like Texas. Busy roads, smoggy air—stubs, cigarette stubs, littered everywhere. We drove home. “Mom?” I asked. “What about school?”

“It is a very nice school.” Mom said. I relaxed a bit. “You’re starting tomorrow.” When we got home, I quickly unpacked and went to bed. The next morning she shook me awake. “Kara, get dressed!” Mom said. “School starts in a couple of minutes!” I quickly got dressed, grabbed a sandwich and headed out the door. When I got to school, the bell rang and everyone lined up, then went inside.

I went to my first class. I sat down at an empty desk. The teacher was talking and I wasn't paying attention until the teacher said, “And we have a new student today!” She looked around. “Kara? Please stand up and tell us where you're from.” I stood up. “Uh, hi, my name is Kara and I’m from Texas.” I sat back down, my face red. Great job Kara! That was SO smooth. “Do you know any Indians?” Laughed a girl in the back of the room. My ears burned. “Can you rope cattle, like in those Wild West movies?” A boy asked. I tried to play along.

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