• “And here comes Amy Lenard on her horse, Topaz, the youngest riding team ever to enter successfully into the Olympics. Now they come into the ring and salute to the judge. And they are off, starting one of the most difficult jumping courses ever invented to be played out in a real arena. Now they are in the lead already, having got only 25 points in dressage and a clear run in cross country and only need a clear round to win. They are doing extremely well for such a young pair. Topaz is only 11 years old and Amy, 15, trained him herself. And she is going for the Triple Oxer and clears it easily. Now she is on the home stretch and is going for the last jump. 2 metres… one metre….”
    BEEP BEEP BEEP. Amy Lenard groaned and turned over in her bed. She felt a lump next to her and suddenly felt a wetness on her nose. She opened her eyes and saw her Chihuahua, Ginger, on her bed. “Good morning gorgeous” she crooned and sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She looked around her room. It was crowded, but homey. Her computer was up against the window opposite and next to her was her dressing table full of bits and bobs. On her bookshelf familiar faces stared out from frames. Pictures of horses crammed the walls in all the spare wall space. She stood up and sat Ginger gently on the ground. She grabbed a jumper from a draw that was sitting open. She pulled it on and made her way along the hallway to the kitchen. Her mum was behind the bar making breakfast.
    “Morning mum” she said.
    “Morning darling, I’m just making some scrambled eggs”.
    “Mmhm” she said through a mouthful of apple she had grabbed from the table.
    “Morning honey” said her dad from the big oak table, where he was reading the paper.
    She raced outside through the big glass back door and down the wooden steps onto the paved outdoor area, through the two big oak trees and down to the paddock. The previous owners had had sheep, but when the Lenard’s had moved in they had to make a few adjustments to make it right for horses. The paddock was a rectangular fenced meadow that finished on the edge of their property. On the left end of the paddock was a shed that housed all of Topaz’s tack and food. In the left hand bottom corner was a shelter where Topaz could stay if it was windy or rainy. He was grazing peacefully in the paddock, the morning sun glinting off his chestnut coat. Amy took the time to gaze over the view and took a deep breath of horses and hay mixed with the smell of pollen courtesy of the start of spring. She whistled a little tune. When he saw her Topaz trotted over to the fence and nuzzled her. She giggled and gave him a bit of her apple. She finished her apple, scratched him on the nose and gave him a kiss. “I’ll see you later boy, I gotta go to school.” She ran back up to the house and got dressed into her school uniform. She ate her cereal quickly and raced up the driveway to catch the bus. She jumped on and went to sit down next to her friend Alex. She had known Alex since they were babies, their parents were friends; they had gone to uni together. “You look terrible” commented Alex with a smirk.
    “Hi to you too” laughed back Amy.
    “Been chatting to your boyfriend all night?” inquired Alex. Amy just smiled. Her boyfriend Matt and her had been chatting on msn all last night. She had met Matt when he had moved to her school and she had thought he was cute. When they were paired up for science he had asked her out on a date and she had said yes. They had been dating for two months but it felt like forever. It took 20 minutes to get to school but it always flew by. Alex was heaps of fun and they always had stuff to talk about.
    They got to school and she got out and went to her locker to get her books before class. Suddenly everything went dark. She felt something over her eyes. She giggled. “Guess who?” said a familiar voice. “Umm Santa Clause?” she laughed and the hands were taken off to replace a cute face. It was Matt. She gave him a hug. “How are you?” she asked. “What since last night?” They laughed again.
    “So are you excited about your birthday?”
    “So when is it again?” he joked.
    She laughed.
    “I hope you like your present”
    “So what is it?” asked Matt.
    “I’m not telling you!” exclaimed Amy.
    “Why not!” said Matt
    They laughed.
    Suddenly the bell rang. “Oh darn I have to go, I’ve got math’s and Mr Smith is in a bad mood” said Amy.
    “It’s ok I’ll see you later, ok?”
    “Ok” replied Amy.
    She was gathering her books from her locker when she had another visitor. It was one of her best friends Jess who she had known since she had been little. “Hey girl, how ya doing? You look terrible” said Jess with a smirk. “Been busy have you?”
    “If I got $1 for everyone that asked me that I’d be rich!”
    “Cool, you could buy me a new phone mine is stuffed!” giggled Jess.
    “We better go we have maths” reminded Amy.
    “Ugh, don’t remind me!” groaned Jess.
    They laughed and headed off for class.