Goodness gracious, school is... well, kinda fun, and most of my new friends don't believe me when I say I got my very own mare. But when I showed 'em pictures on my phone, me standin' right next to her, strokin' her, what I reckon, reality changes gave me a phone with them photos, they let out a gasp and say they wanna come over and lay eyes on her for real! And now I got 'bout 5 new fantastic friends, all 'round my age. It's kinda peculiar, I'm the only one sportin' a Southern accent, yet nobody's uttered a word 'bout it.
Anyhow, it's the end of school, and I gotta kickstart trainin' Star. She only got a measly two weeks to learn racin' with me on her back. Maybe I can use the app so I can talk to her and she can talk to me through her head or somethin'. t'd sure make trainin' her a whole lot smoother. I also wonder if Jeff's still in there or if she's done transformed into a full-fledged horse now?
On the way home, I told Pa 'bout all my new buddies I made and how they're green with envy 'bout me ownin' a mare. Pa smiled at me and actually asked questions. Goodness gracious, I missed when Dad saw me as his happy, smart child like he does right now, and not a failin' young adult.
After I finished tellin' him 'bout my new best friend named Clyde, Pa said, "Bair!" (His nickname he gave me until I was 13) "I need to ask you somethin' 'bout Star at dinner. It'll make us a lot of money if you agree, but right now in the car ain't a good time." And he looked serious.
And I didn't like it. I loved how Pa looked at me with love in his eyes. Now, I'm 11 again , and I'm fixin' to keep things that way for the next two weeks. I'm gonna be this young. So I said, "Sure, Pa. I'm pretty sure I'll agree with whatever you say thaw."
Finally, we made it back home, and I hopped right outta that big ol' pickup truck. I dashed off towards the stable where Star's waitin', all fired up to commence our trainin'. But somethin' tugged at the back of my T-shirt. When I turned 'round, it was Pa, holdin' on tight, and he says, "You know the rules, son. Homework before anythin' else!"
Well, I was plum dumbfounded. I remember the first time I was 11 and I didn't look or sound like this. Pa was more free with me, and Ma was the hard-ass. But with Ma gone, I reckon Pa's takin' up her mantle now. so I said, "Okay, Pa, runnin' into the house now." Knowin' there ain't no arguin' with him, now or before.
I went to my room and what greeted me was a setup fit for an 11-year-old lad. I saw trophies from shootin' competitions, all the martial arts I do, with Certificates of becomin' a black belt in like 3 of 'em. There was even a parkour medal as well for gettin' to the top of a tower first. I don't remember gettin' any of this with usin' the Chronivac to give my young self all of this, and now I need to give myself memory and knowledge of gettin' all of this, it'll look silly if I get asked somethin' 'bout one of these many things I do and don't know the answer.
So that's what I done. I whipped out my phone and fired up the Chronivac. As I scrolled through my hobbies, I noticed sliders next to each one I'd jotted down, and all them sliders were sittin' at 0%.
Reckon I didn't rightly know didn't what the "0%" meant, but I put all the sliders to the right, watchin' them numbers creep on up to "100%" when I nudged 'em all the way. So, I did that to 'em all and clicked confirm, thinkin' that nothin' bad c bad could come of it?
Well, turns out I was spot on. I now remember every time I got a medal or certificates, and I know all my master's names in martial arts now, and my tutors in parkour and shootin'. It sure rattled me somethin' fierce, havin' all that knowledge thrust upon me outta the blue.
I also got all the memories now knowin' how to do all of it like spin kicks, changin' the oil of the pickup Pa drives, ridin' a horse like Star, to even knowin' how to use a lasso now!
It felt like bein' hit with 1000 memories at once, but I feel fine now. It's been 10 seconds.
And I just remembered I still need to train Star to be the best race horse ever! I jumped into my desk seat and got on with the easy homework I got today, havin' the head of a... 16... or was it 17 or maybe 18-year-old? can't quite recall for sure. But hey, all I wanna do is finish up and see Star!
And that's exactly what I did. Knocked it out in a measly 10 minutes, and soon as I was done, I bolted outta my room, bolted outta the house, and hightailed it straight to the barn. There stood Star, still standin' there, lookin' right at me. She still looked as beautiful as ever. I ran up to her, ran my hands through her coat, feelin' her warm, soft fur, sayin', "God girl, it's so good to see you. School was a hoot and all, but I been thinkin' 'bout how I'm gonna train you. Well, I reckon it'd be easier if I used the Chronivac to maybe be able to talk to you, and you to me? I really need to start today with your race bein' in two weeks! And Pa won't let me stay out here much longer with the sun goin' down and all, so I'm gonna make it so..."