Birthday Wish

My baby girl turns 13 today! Hard to believe she's actually going into her teenage years. I still recall mine; feeling unsure, awkward and confused. I want to protect her from anything unpleasant, but it will be impossible. For her birthday this year, she wants to have an overnight trip with her three closest friends. So I booked a cabin at a dude ranch, rented a six passenger van, and we leave tonight. I'm good friends with one of the moms, so we've been working out all the details. We check in at three, unpack and go on a trail ride at four. There's also a creek that is perfect for wading, so we'll blow off some energy before we head back to the cabin for pizza and cake. Everything should be perfect, but you know what they say about best laid plans.

We picked everyone up, and hit the road for a two hour drive. First hiccup came when we stopped at a gas station for drinks and snacks. Beth went to the bathroom, and came out crying and shaking. "Honey, what's wrong?" I asked. "There's a man in there and he touched my arm, I freaked out and ran." I immediately went into mama bear mode, and stormed in there, in which I saw him trying to touch another little girl. I slapped his hand away, and yelled "get your filthy hands off of her, the manager has called the police, and you're going to jail, which is your lucky day, because you would have lost use of your hand for good. Disgusting pedophile!" I stormed out of the bathroom, and the police were there to take sicko away. Beth had calmed down, and we took everything back to the van and were on the way. We played a car game where we looked outside and yelled out cool finds. "A girl is chasing a cow! A house is painted orange! There's about fifty angel statues in that yard!" And the time went pretty fast, and we arrived at out destination. Circle K Ranch. There were about ten cabins among a grove of trees. The main house was first, and we stopped there first, for keys. I went in and met Mel, who was energetic and smiling. "Welcome to our little slice of paradise. There are muffins on your table, and a pitcher of milk and sweet tea. Dylan will be by in an hour for your trail ride. If there is anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask."

We drove on down the gravel road to cabin A. The view was spectacular! The mountains were blue, the trees were lush and green. There was a duck pond, and a long pier out to the lake. Peace and tranquility were all around us, until the girls go out of the van. Then there was babbling and giggling. There was three bedrooms with four beds in two of them, and Pat and I took the room with the two double beds. We had an extra bedroom because all the girls wanted to stick together. It was going to be a loooong night.

At exactly 4 p.m. I heard a horse galloping up to the door. A knock on the door revealed a tall boy about 20 years old. He had sandy blond hair, and some of the greenest eyes I've ever seen. "Hi, I'm Dylan and I'm here for your trail ride." All four girls came piling out of the bedroom, and their mouths hung open. My daughter, Kelsie spoke first. "I'm Kelsie, the birthday girl. Thanks for taking us. I've ridden a horse before but I'm not sure my friends have." Dylan replied, "that's okay, I chose some gentle horses, and I'm here to help. By the way, Happy Birthday!" "Thanks!" I said.

We all walked up to the barn, and he managed to get everyone saddled up, and we headed up the trail. "These are fairly safe trails, but I have to point out that we have seen some wildlife, such as bears or coyote. I do have a shotgun, and know how to use it. I'll keep you safe." I swear I heard four hearts beating a bit faster at that declaration. We rode in mostly silence for about ten minutes, until Dylan pointed out a mother fox and her babies, and got the expected awwwws. I looked off to the left, and saw an anaconda snake coming right at us. I screamed "snake!" and Dylan shot at it and it slithered away. "Our hero" stated Kenzie, and her friends agreed. One of Kensie's friends, Danielle got spooked by a noise and her horse sped away, she was screaming for the horse to stop, but it wasn't listening. Dylan took off after her, and caught hold of the reins and led her back to the group. "That was scary! Can you ride next to me, Dylan?" "Of course" he said and the green-eyed monster showed up in her pals. We finally made it back to the barn without incident, and were walking back when the friends turned on Danielle, mocking her. "Oh nooo, I'm a damsel in distress, please stay right by my side, Dylan baby!' "I didn't say it like that! I was scared!" "Alright girls, that's enough." I piped in. "Lets get our bathing suits on and go play in the lake. When we come back, we'll get pizza."

Everyone changed and walked down to the sandy area by the lake, where all the girls jumped in to cool off, which was needed for several reasons. That part of the lake was only about four feet deep, and the water was clear with a light hint of blue. It was gorgeous! Turns out someone else had the same idea, and if I would have been twenty years younger, yum! He was lean, tanned and muscular, which didn't go unnoticed by the girls. "Hey Dylan" they screamed across the way, and he gave a little wave. After Dylan left, they lost their motivation for swimming, and we walked back to the cabin to dry off. I ordered some pizza, and I took a quick nap while the girls chilled out in the room.

Next thing I knew, I heard a commotion in the living room, apparently the pizza arrived. I walked out, and Dylan was standing there with the pizza, and a big smile. "The delivery man got confused, so I volunteered to bring it." As he started to put it down on the table, I said "Let me pay you for that." Dylan replied "Mel comped it, no worries." I said thank-you and invited him to stay and have a slice. He agreed, and plates and napkins were brought to the table. We were eating, when Dylan started talking. "If you hear noises tonight like grunts, don't worry, we think a Bigfoot may be staying in the area. He won't hurt you but he does make noise. We call him Mr. Big. Because he's about 8 feet tall. One of our ranch hands saw him one night." "OMG!" Beth exclaimed. "How do we get rid of it?" "Some people say if you bang pots and pans together, it will flee." Dylan answered. After pizza was done, we sang happy birthday to Kenzie, and she seemed very happy. We said bye to Dylan, and rode off like a cowboy would.

Pat and I said good night to the girls, and retired to our room. I told Pat she could stay in the other room, since it was empty because I snore, but she said she did too. We went to sleep to girls being girls, which was no easy feat. About 2 in the a.m. we awoke to such a horrendous noise. The girls were screaming and banging anything they could find. "What in the world is going on?" "We heard Bigfoot! He was grunting outside!" Pat and I went outside to investigate, and saw two males running and laughing. "Dylan!" I yelled. "Come back here!" Him and his friend came back with a little smirk on their faces. "What were you trying to do? give us a heart attack?" I'm so sorry, Kane and I just decided to pull a little prank on the girls." They went in and said sorry to the girls, who of course forgave them, and everyone got back to sleep.

Morning came too quickly, but it was a beautiful morning. Breakfast was being served at 8, so I woke everyone up and we headed to the main house. I smelled the coffee and bacon before I could see it. It smelled heavenly. There were 12 of us sitting along the long farmhouse table, and we all tucked in to eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy, and grits. Mel told us there was a fair going on close to there, so we decided to pack, and head to the fair. We said our goodbye's and hugged everyone, and we were off. A few of the girls got Dylan's number so they could text him.

We saw the fair from miles away, there was a huge Ferris wheel. The girls were uber excited. They spent the morning going on rides, and visiting the vendors. We decided to get corn dogs and cotton candy, and then we left for home. The ride home was uneventful, and everyone got home safe. I thanked Pat for helping, and then it was just Kenzie and I. "So" I asked, "Did you enjoy your birthday?" "Yes, Yes, Yes, a million yeses. I had the funnest time ever! Thanks, mom. I love you." Those were the exact words I needed to hear.