By: Meghan LeFevers

Author’s Note:

          I wrote this book from the relationship that I have had with a certain little fellow for all 5 years of his life and the most enjoyable 5 years of my life.  All of these occurrences in this book are real, except of course for the magic saddle. I hope that the love for this little boy that is in my heart is conveyed thorough my words and pictures.  I have placed a picture on this page so that you could imprint this little boy in your mind as well.  ENJOY!!!

     Once upon a time, in a lush green meadow, there was the beginning of what would make a little boy’s lifetime dream come true!!! The boy’s name was Garrett, and he was only at the tender

age of five.

Garrett had one love in his life: HORSES!!

All Garrett wanted in his five year old life was to be a cowboy, roping and riding all day long.  However, Garrett had a little problem.  He had five siblings, and therefore, he could not get all the things that he dreamed of.

          Garrett had one older brother, two older sisters, and one younger brother.  With so many people in the family, no one could get very much and they quickly learned the task of sharing.  “Man, I wanted to have my soldier party, but my stupid sister Hannah had to break her leg,” Garrett wailed with pain, sadness, and anger from the depths of his soul.  This was not a single occurrence, but it seemed about as regular as a kid getting a cold from school in the winter!  AND IT STUNK LIKE RIPE GARBAGE!!!

 For once, he wanted something that was all his.  No, not just like his bed or his clothes.  He wanted something that he could be SELFISH and GREEDY with.  He knew that to do this though, he would have to forget all the lessons he was taught about sharing.  “Maybe I have a delete button somewhere on my body.  I should ask someone about that,” Garrett speculated as the wheels of his brain were smoking from speed with him thinking about all of the things he wanted most.

          He wanted to have a hunting dog and a fast, orange race car.  He knew that he could not have a horse because he had no where to put it! One day, Garrett got his first chance to try his hand at riding and being a cowboy!  This was at the Country Fair, where there were tons of green meadows for TONS of horses to play in.

          There was one horse that Garrett had his eye on.  This horse was brown and big, and most of all, BEAUTIFUL!!  “What’s this horse’s name?” asked Garrett to the man that was with the horse.  “This is my horse and her name is Priscilla.”

The owner already had Priscilla saddled up and asked Garrett if he wanted to ride.  “Sure,” said Garrett.  His heart was racing as he placed his shiny black and red cowboy boots into the sturdy stirrups of Priscilla’s saddle.  He felt like Roy Rogers in the western movies that he had seen!  Something felt weird, and a tingle went up his whole body.  Stars and whimsical clouds began whirling around him and he realized that the saddle he was sitting on was Magical.  He read in the horn of the saddle a note that said: “Garrett, welcome to the magic saddle.  You have 3 wishes, but you must either be on the saddle or touching the saddle to have them come true.  Choose wisely.”  Oh was Garrett excited; he was so excited that he forgot about the whole ride!  His mind raced to what he could possibly want the most in life!  He knew that he must not tell any of his five siblings or his parents; he wanted this to be his!  First, Garrett knew that he wanted to be a hunter someday, and he wanted his old dog, Abby, to be his hunting dog.  So, he wished for Abby to be young, energetic, and have great hunting skills.

    As he ate some great peanuts, he pondered over what could be his next wish.  He wanted so much to ask for his family up north to move down to Cherryville, and he wanted Meghan to be able to come home from college to spend time with him.  But he knew that this would upset their lives, and that was not a good thing to do!  He decided that his second wish would be the completion of his orange, speedy racecar that he and his dad were building.  That would be AWESOME!

 “One more wish to go,” Garrett thought.  “Better make it a good one.”  What was the one thing he wanted more than anything?  He finally decided that the one thing that he wanted more than anything was to make sure that his family was together forever because he LOVED his two brothers, two sisters, his Momma and his Poppa so much!

“Garrett, time to leave,” his Mom bellowed from her path towards the car.  His task was done, and he raced to the enormous, white van so that he could get home quick to see if his wishes were really completed.  He got home and jumped out of the van before the wheels stopped rolling.  First, he raced to find Abby, and he found her, but she was acting like a whole new dog!  Her size and color had not changed, but she had more energy than a kid that had been drinking Sun Drop all day!   Next, he raced to find the car, and sure enough it was complete too!  When he saw it, his heart skipped a few beats, and the glisten of the fresh paint shown in his eyes.  What a great car that really runs!  He slid into the leather seats and loved the slickness that he felt from them.  His final wish was the one about his family.  “I can’t see if that one worked,” thought Garrett.  “But, I have FAITH that since the rest of my wishes came true so will that one!  I will always have and love my family!”

What a GREAT DAY!  He had got to be a COWBOY, wearing his signature cowboy attire.  He got to make his three wishes and they really worked.  His dog was ready to hunt and his race car was done.  Also, the money that his dad had saved for the car was used to by the whole family a horse and a place to keep it.  This was not even a wish.  Plus, he now knew that no matter what, his family would be together forever and that made his heart HAPPY!!!