The sun peeked into the window casting soft, warm rays across the carpet to the figure nestled snugly under her covers in bed. Summer was officially here. School was finally out for the next few months which meant sleeping in was totally an option for the high school girl. It was something she was going to take full advantage of but two things were against her this specific saturday. First the sun. As lovely as it was when she was awake she hated it’s wake-up call as it shone on her face. With a grumble she shifted in bed and pulled the covers up over her head. That though, was the cue for her ‘special’ wake-up call.

“Happy Birthday Darling!”

Chailee practically lept out of bed in surprise. She did not like being scared like that. “Mom! That wasn’t nice!”

Tanya chuckled at her daughter’s face as it went from complete shock to aggravated. “Oh, it’s not every day my little girl turns 15! Come on. Get dressed, I’ve got breakfast ready for you downstairs.” Tanya smiled and winked at Chay before slipping out of the room just as quietly as she came in.

With a sigh Chailee rubbed her face with a hand before smoothing her hair down a bit. “Well. I guess I am up now.” She glanced at her clock and groaned a bit. “8 am. Really mom? I was out on patrol until 4…” Pushing the covers off of herself Chay shifted out of bed, promising herself a nap would occur in the near future. Rummaging around in her drawers she pulled out a soft green cotton summer dress and laid it on her bed before heading off to the bathroom.

A half an hour later Chailee was walking down the stairs to the sweet aroma of breakfast. Her hair hung limply down her back in wet ringlets but she didn’t care. As she saw breakfast she instantly forgave her mother for waking her so early. Sitting there on the table was a giant stack of pancakes with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.

“Happy Birthday, Bright Star.” Mark got up from reading his paper at the table and gave Chay a hug and a kiss on the top of her head.


“Thanks, Dad!” Chay smiled happily. The sleepiness having been at least temporarily banished thanks to her shower.

“Your Father gets a thank you for wishing you Happy Birthday and I don’t” Chays mother put a few more fresh pancakes on the stack as she smiled teasingly.

“That’s because dad didn’t scare me half to death this morning.” Chay countered as she and her father moved to take their seats at the table where Chay didn’t waste any time in getting herself a heaping plate of food. “I’ll forgive you though since breakfast looks amazing. Thanks Mom!”

Chailee quickly dug into her pancakes. Each bite was just blissful and she savored it all. In fact, she ate so many of them she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day. It was worth the pain of an overstuffed tummy though. She had absolutely no regrets on her choice. With her last bite eaten her mom wasted no time in taking the empty plate away and before she realized what was going on a wrapped box replaced the location of the plate.

It was wrapped in delicate floral wrapping paper with a pink ribbon tied around it neatly. With a large smile Chailee wasted no time in opening the gift. she carefully undid the ribbon, deciding it would look lovely tied up in her hair for the day. The wrapping paper though was not treated so gently and was soon ripped apart to reveal a basic white box. Excitement built up in the now 15 year old as she opened up the box to reveal a beautiful pink and cream dress. Pulling it out chailee admired the cream lace detail that was along the neckline, hem, and made the straps of the dress while the pink in the rest of the dress happened to match the ribbon of the box perfectly. “Oh...wow...It’s so pretty! thank you so much!” Chailee beamed as she rushed over to give her mother a kiss on the cheek. She moved towards her father to thank him also when she saw he was holding out another present for her. This one was small, fit in the palm of his hand, and was wrapped in gold wrapping paper.

“I decided to get you my own gift this year.” He smiled and winked at his daughter as Chailee gently took the gift.

Unwrapping the paper revealed a small black box which Chailee opened to find a delicate gold bangle bracelet with a blue gem star in the middle of it. “Oh…” Chailee didn’t know what to say as she stared at the bracelet. “It’s..Dad...you didn’t have to get me something like this.”

Mark looked adoringly at his daughter. His -only- daughter. “I don’t get to spoil you too often. I hope you like it.”

“Oh dad, I love it!” She gave him a fierce hug and kissed him on the cheek before pulling away to slip the bracelet on. “It fits perfectly too!”

“Well I am glad.” Mark chuckled. “You have some time before your competition later today. Why don’t you head on out to spend time with some of your friends. Just give me a call so I can pick you up and get yo over to the stable to get Willow?

“Ohhh! Geez I almost forgot about the competition. Yea. I’ll pack everything up and throw it in the car before I go.” Chailee hurried out of the kitchen before skidding to a stop and hurrying back to grab the box with her new dress in it. “Thank you again!”

Both of her parents smiled. “You’re welcome. Now get going or you won’t be able to go out.” Chailee’s mom warned.

“Right!” Grinning ear to ear Chailee hurried back upstairs to her room to pack for her competition and change into her new dress. She took a moment to tie her pink ribbon into her hair as well in a low ponytail. The mass of hair hadn’t completely dried yet but it wouldn’t take long with how the sun was shining outside.

Tossing a few texts to friends Chailee double checked herself in the mirror before rushing downstairs and out of the house. Pausing only a moment to throw her dufflebag into the back seat of the car and making her way to the park where she made plans to meet with everyone. All the while the smile on her face never waned.

It was already shaping up to be a fantastic 15th Birthday!

Word count: 1133