“Stupid rain,” I murmur to myself, it’s always raining here in Seattle. The weather outside is dreary. Little rain drops hit the enormous window that I sit beside, my feet tucked underneath my body. The flowers seem to wilt under my gaze. My horse, Rosalina, and I won’t get to practice today. Plus, there is a competition in three days.
“Fiona, I’m going to see Rosalina.” Fiona looks up at me from her book of coupons as I grab my rain coat and head for the door.
“What about dinner? Angelina, I mean your mom, is looking forward to seeing you after her trip to Cambodia....” Her voice reaches me as I close the door, making her last phrase a muffled sound. I head toward the barn, pretending like I don’t hear her. Fiona is my personal maid, hired by my mother when I was a baby. A poor old hag looking for money, I have really out grown her. She has resorted to couponing to save herself a few bucks.
As I enter the barn, I see the horses lined up in their stalls. Some have their heads poking out of the stalls while others are either sleeping or eating. I walk all the way down to the back of the barn, wondering why Daddy won’t move Rosalina to the front of the barn; it would save me so much time. I shouldn’t have to walk this far.
Rosalina’s beautiful brown eyes stare out at me. I walk up to her and she nuzzles me, looking for a treat. I pull a sugar cube out of my pocket, putting it in front of Rosalina; she gobbles it out of my flat hand. She loves sugar even more than I do.
“Caleb!” I yell out, “You were supposed to have Rosalina tacked up and ready for me to ride!” Caleb is the stable hand that works full time at the barn. He is 14, same as me, and comes from a lowly family on the opposite side of town. Mom found him wondering around the streets and offered him the job; he took it on the spot.

“I didn’t tack her up because it’s raining,” he responded.
“Get her ready, we have a competition in three days!” I tell Caleb, trying to let him know how important this upcoming event is.
“You shouldn’t ride in the rain,” he tried to lecture me. “It is very dangerous, both for you and you horse.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Caleb,” I snap back, “get her tacked up.” I watch as he runs off, thinking about what he said. No, I would ride; I only have three days left. Caleb fetches Rosalina from her stall and walks her around to stretch out her legs. Her tan body looks sleek and ready to practice. Caleb put the saddle on her and I jump on to Rosalina.
“What about a helmet,” Caleb said, trying yet again to tell me what to do; that is not his job!
“I don’t need one. Go do something and make yourself useful,” I tell him as I kicked Rosalina. She bolts forward and the rain feels like little needles hitting my face. My hair whips around in the air. It tangles up and blocks my vision. But Rosalina keeps running, as if it wasn’t raining. She is starting to slow down and I can tell that she is getting tired.
There is a flash of lightning and a loud thundering boom that rumbles across the land. Rosalina totally freaks out. She rears up on her hind legs out of shear fear. As if in slow motion, I feel myself starting to fall. The ground is becoming closer and closer. I try to extend my arms in front of my face to protect my head. I hit the ground with a loud thud… and all goes dark.
My eyelids flutter open. The sky is blue, bright blue. I turn my head. It hurts. What has happened? My head hurts so badly. I turn and see a dazzling red flower sprouting out of the grass. Wait. Why did I wake up on the ground? Why is my head throbbing? Is this a dream? If so, I’m going back to sleep; and I do. The world drifts off as I try to remember how I got here.
“Who is she,” somebody asks. Again, I open my eyes. Yet this time, instead of seeing the blue sky, I see two, dirty little faces. Who are they? Who am I? They look scared and unsure. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, you’re bleeding a lot, it looks like you hit your head,” the older one said.
I reach my hand slowly up and touch the sore spot on my head. I look at my hand and see blood. The world starts spinning. How did this happen? I can’t remember a thing. I look at the two kids staring down at me. They are probably just as scared as I am.
“Who are you?!” I asked them. Seeing their perplexed faces, I ask them again, “What are your names?”
“I’m Lily,” The older one said.” And this is my little sister, LuLu”
“Nice to meet you,” I reply. They giggle as I try to stand up. Once I have finally caught my balance, they each grab one of my hands and start to lead me towards a house on the top of a small knoll.
“What’s your name?” LuLu asks me.
“I don’t know.” I say, trying to remember.
“If you don’t have a name, I will call you Katie.” LuLu replies.
“This is our house,” Lily explains, moving her hand in a gesture towards the house. It has no paint on it. An amazing smell reaches my nose as a step into their quaint home. A big dog comes running toward me and I back away.
“That’s Buddy,” Lily says. Buddy puts his front paws on my shoulders and licks my face.
“I think he likes you,” LuLu laughs. As we walk into the kitchen, I see a short, slender lady standing at the stove. She looks up at the sound of footsteps.
“I didn’t know we were having company,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Mama, this is Katie,” Lily said as she grabs three cookies off of a tray and hands one to each of us.
“Well, we are just about to eat dinner if you would like to join us,” Mama pulls a big pot out of the oven. The source of the amazing smell that hit me at the door is a rich beef stew.
“Yes!” I reply licking my lips.
“What about your manners?” Lily asks, “Say thank you.”
“Thank you, Mama,” I reply. Mama gives me a warm smile in return. We sit down at the table and I start shoving food into my mouth. It tastes wonderful. I can’t even remember the last time I ate a decent meal. I use my hands to shovel as much food as possible into my mouth. The heat of the meal doesn’t even bother me.
“Katie,” LuLu says, “use a fork.”
“What’s a fork?” I ask, totally and utterly confused by now.
“This is a fork,” she holds up a small object with four points sticking out of the top. I try the entire meal to master using a fork but get very dirty in the process. They ask me if I want to take a bath and they lead me to a bathtub. All of my memories come flooding back to me. Rosalina, the thunder storm, falling; I now remember every second of it. I stand up immediately, my head spinning with renewed thoughts of my prior life and the ever present headache that has stayed with me since the fall. This sudden movement makes my head feel like it was hit with an enormous brick.
“I have to get home,” I step out of the tub, still dripping wet. After draping a towel around my body, I walk into the kitchen where everyone is gathered. They are all tasting one of Mama’s homemade recipes for banana bread. They must be pretty surprised because this usually talkative family is completely quiet.
“My name is Stella and I live on 1948 East Pine Street. I was thrown off of my horse and I must have hit my head.” I say, hands on hips.
“Why didn’t you know anything when we found you?” LuLu asked.
“When I hit my head, I probably had a small concussion and forgot everything,” I try to explain to her, “Being in the water reminded me of home and all of my memories became clear again.”
“We will try to get you home as soon as possible,” Mama says.
“Thank you for your hospitality, I really appreciate everything you guys have done for me,” I thank them. We all pile into their rusty car and drive for about 15 minutes before we reach the enormous mansion that I call home. Lily and LuLu look astonished as they view their surroundings. When we pull up to the house, we see police cars in the driveway. They are probably here for me, I think as I jump out of the car as soon as it stops. I run up to the door with Lily and LuLu right behind me. I swing the door open and everyone stares with intense surprise. I am home.

***

It is one year later and now I go on the trips with my mother to Cambodia and other places that I can be of help. We build wells in Africa and give animals to people in Asia. For Christmas, instead of asking for a new phone, I ask for money to send a girl to school in a developing nation. My mother gave Lily, LuLu, and Mama a reward for their help at my request. People say that I have changed for the better, that I am kind. I used to be an only child but I convinced my mother to adopt a child in need of a home. She was five months old when we got her and now she is almost 11 months. I thank Rosalina for the change because if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have become the person that I am today.