[hlsmith]

The children were fidgeting, wide awake on Christmas Eve. The triplets were bored, and uninterested with sleep. Their mother sighed and pondered a way to calm them all.

"Mommy, can you tell me a story?" Christy said as she tugged on her mother's nightgown. She looked down at her three year old daughter and smiled. She picked her up and placed her on her lap. She called Mark and Andrew over as well, to enjoy the story she was about to tell them.

"Once, upon a time there was a pony." She began.
"A pony named what, mommy?" Mark chimed in.
"A pony called Freddy." She smiled. All three children giggled and squirmed when she said the pony's name. They all loved horses, and a story about a pony was the best kind. "Freddy was a light brown pony, with strong black legs, and straight black hair. He had a big white stripe on his face, and two white feet!"
"Two white feet?" Andrew beamed.
"Two white feet!" She giggled."Freddy was funny, and kind, and the best part is, he wasn't afraid of cougars! He was fast and strong, and loved to be ridden. One christmas a little twelve year old girl ran down the stairs to see a small, flat present under the tree."
"That's horrible!" Christy screamed.
"She picked up the package and tore the red wrapping off. Inside the red wrapping were a bunch of papers inside a plastic pouch. The girl's mother sat next to her and flipped the pouch over. On the other side was a picture of a light brown pony with two white feet."
"Freddy!" All of the children shouted at once.
"Yes, but he wasn't called Freddy. He was called DeeJay. When her mother told the girl that the pony was her's, she tried to tell the girl his name. 'His name is-' 'Freddy!', the girl shouted before her mother could finish. The next day, the little brown pony arrived at the little girl's house, and she led him into the shed that her father had made into a stable. She wrapped his feet with blue leg wraps and talked to him. She pet him and stayed inside that shed for an hour talking to her pony."
"A hour?" Mark questioned.
"A whole hour." She continued,"She fed Freddy, and groomed him, and finally went in for dinner. She knew going to bed that night, Freddy was the best pony ever. She rode Freddy every day, and soon the two were best friends. Freddy loved the girl with all his heart. One day when they were riding, a cougar jumped out of a bush and in front of the friends. It wanted to eat the little girl and Freddy!" All three children gasped.
"Freddy reared up on his strong back legs and neighed a loud neigh. And you know what? He scared that cougar right away! Freddy and the girl rode home, knowing they could trust each other even more. And they both live happily ever after. The End."
"Was Freddy your horse, Mommy?" Christy stared at her mother with large green eyes.
"Yes, honey, Freddy was my horse."
"Where's Freddy now?" Andrew prodded. Alex, his twelve year old brother, appeared from the hallway.
"He's dead." he answered before his mother could, "He got sick the day after I was born." His mother nodded and frowned. Three whimpers came from the triplets. Their mother got up out of her chair and walk into the closet.
"I wanted to show you guys this tomorrow, but I owe it to you." She handed the children a picture of a light brown horse with two white feet, "He's Freddy's son. He's yours and his name is-"
"Freddy." All four children whispered as they stared at the spitting image of their mother's horse. There he was, and he was theirs.