National Adult Literacy Database

August 11, 2003

This week, we have a story written by Audrey Large, from Duncan, BC. Audrey had a rough time growing up as a kid with no father and with a mother who worked. Now Audrey goes to school. She lives on a farm outside of Duncan, where she has rabbits and chickens, as well as three dogs and one cat. She has fun living on the farm.

My Life in Shawnigan Lake

by Audrey Large

My name is Audrey Large. This story is about me when l was growing up in Shawnigan Lake. That is on Vancouver Island.

In the year 1962 we sold our house in Victoria. Then we moved to Shawnigan Lake to our summer home. When we moved we had to get a sheet of plywood to put our furniture on. There was too much snow. It was up to the frame of the windows. Then we got all the furniture down from the top of the road. Then my mother got on the top of the roof to take the snow off. Then my mother fell off the roof. Then she landed on the snow bank. She was laughing so hard that she was crying and laughing. It was fun. My mother didn't hurt herself.

Then l found some wood to start the fire to get the house warmed up. It was very cold in the house. We got everything straightened out in the house and it was getting warm in the house too.

In the year 1965 we had our first Christmas in our house. I went to get a Christmas tree. It was pine. It smells nice. It was a big tree too. Then Christmas came l was in bed sleeping. My mother put something under the tree and my big brother did too. It was a saddle and a bridle with a blanket and a bag of feed for the horse and a truck load of hay with some clover, and a water bucket, brush, comb, and tar for their hoofs so they won't crack.

Then morning came. l was still in bed sleeping. Then l heard a noise. It sounded like a neigh. It sounded like a horse! It is a horse! She was a Christmas gift from my oldest big brother. He wanted the baby colt for himself and the big horse was mine. It is a mother horse and her baby colt!

She was a mess. She was skin and bones. The farmer had about 300 horses and he was starving them. It wasn't very nice what he did to the horses by starving them. That was so cruel to do that. He should be shot for being cruel to animals.

She was a palomino. She has a white mane and a white face. She has a white tail too. She was eighteen hands high. That is big for a horse. Her name is Blondie. She was a good horse. The baby has got a white face and three white hoofs. The baby colt his name is Shane. That is what we gave him. He was a wild and crazy baby horse.

There was a lot of snow on the ground. My mother wanted to go on a sled ride. I got a rope and tied it to the horn of the saddle and away we go.

My mother had some skis on her shoes. My mother said, "Let's go faster!" That is what my mother said to me. My mother was doing really good skiing. She was going from side to side just like she was really skiing. She was getting snow in her face. She was laughing and spitting the snow out of her mouth. The moon was so bright that you could see the outline of your body in the snow.

When my mother went to work I stayed home to take care of my horse and her baby. I went for a ride behind the barn. There was a trail that would take you behind the Shawnigan Lake Boys' School to ride with your horse. It is a nice trail to ride. There is a nice little creek running through the forest and the birds are singing a song. The sun is out. It is warm and the snow is shining like stars and twinkling in the snow. It was a nice day to go on a ride on your Christmas gift the horse. The baby was doing good keeping up with his mother. The baby was jumping and kicking, bucking and snorting. That is what baby colts do.

[This story was taken with permission, from the Reading and Writing Centre website, Malaspina University-College, Cowichan Campus at : http://literacy.cc.mala.bc.ca/]