Dream Horse by Bonnie Bryant Page A

kit, Phil found some dry branches, twigs, and leaves. It was enough to start a meager fire. As soon as he had a small flame going, he added more dry branches. It wasn’t much of a fire, but it would do for now. Quickly he gathered more wood from the forest floor and kept it near the little fire. He sat down next to it and ate his first granola bar. It tasted dry and uninteresting—not nearly as good as it would have been if he had had a glass of water to go with it, or better yet, a soda. Maybe some juice. It would be even nicer if he had a hamburger to go with it—one with a slice of cheese and some bacon. Oh, and some fries, too.
    Within a few minutes, Phil had worked himself up an imaginary dinner of huge proportions, delicious, juicy,and totally unavailable. He took the last bite of his granola bar and chewed slowly. The hamburger would have to wait.
    Phil had brought his parachute along, wondering if it might come in handy. It became a pillow, insulating him against the ridged rocks. Phil put his head back and looked up at the stars—so many, so far away, so alone, just like Phil.
    He closed his eyes. The tension, worry, and exhaustion of the day overtook him. Within a minute, he was asleep. Then he was dreaming. He dreamed of food and a comfortable bed. He dreamed that he was at home, that nothing bad had ever happened to him. Then he dreamed that he was taking a shower, a cold one, noisy and unpleasant. There was a roar and a bright light and the water kept pelting at him. He reached for the spigot and twisted frantically, but the flow didn’t stop.
    Phil woke up from his nightmare—only to find it wasn’t a nightmare. It was reality. Although the sky had been clear when he had dozed off, now it was covered with clouds. He was in the middle of a fierce rainstorm, complete with lightning. The little fire was drenched and doused.
    A jagged bolt of lightning raced through the sky. Phil knew he was in danger of getting struck, standing alone on the rocky outcrop. He had to get away from there.Then he remembered Uncle Michael. How was he doing in the tree in the rain?
    Phil grabbed the remains of his food and his matches and headed back into the woods. He left the parachute because it was heavy with water from the rain. He searched his memory, hoping he would be able to find the blazes he’d made on the trees so he could return to the crash site in the dark. In the cold. In the rain.

T HE PHONE NEXT TO Lisa’s bed rang. She and Carole both jumped at the same second, and Lisa knew that they both had exactly the same thought. Phil. They’d found him. Everything was okay. They didn’t have to worry anymore.
    But that wasn’t it.
    “Hi, Lisa? It’s Stevie. Why did you guys leave?”
    Lisa clutched the telephone hard. She’d known Stevie was going to call her. What she hadn’t known was what she would say. On the other hand, this was a fairly straightforward question. She could answer it.
    “Carole and I stayed with you for a while, but youwere sound asleep, and it’s like you really need the sleep, so we left right before dinner.”
    “Oh, I guess I woke up a little while after that. Mom gave me some soup. I guess she thinks I’m really sick or something. She only ever gives me soup when she thinks that. I guess I’ve been a little weird lately, huh?”
    “A little,” Lisa admitted. “But the doctor says you’re getting better.”
    “If he thinks that, he ought to take a look at my dreams!” said Stevie.
    “What do you mean by that?” Lisa asked.
    “It was another horse dream,” Stevie said. “And this time it was about a blind horse. Maybe I just dreamt that because you told me about that mare you looked at. Blondie, right?”
    “Uh, right,” said Lisa. “Uh, wait a sec. Carole is here. She’s spending the night. Let me get her to pick up an extension, okay?”
    Lisa covered the phone and whispered to Carole that Stevie had had another dream. “You’ve got to hear it, too.”
    Carole ran