In a land of myth and a time of magic, the future of Gerbley Farm rests on the shoulders of a young girl. Her name, Mackie Gerbley.
Mackie lived on her family farm with her dad, Tom O’Connor Gerbley, her mother, Sheila Gerbley, and her dog, Jersey. Mackie is a jumpy person who is always looking for adventure. Her red hair flamed, and freckles shone like speckled sand on a beach. There were always adventures living on a farm, but to her, they weren’t so exciting. Mackie would pray for bone thrilling, spine chilling, making-history adventure. Little did she know…
“C’mon Mackie, get out of bed!” yelled Sheila for the 40th time today. “We have to go feed the animals!”
“I don’t want to get out of bed,” Mackie complained.
“Come downstairs and eat breakfast right now, or else I will bring in the new chicks without you,” Sheila yelled teasingly.
“Oh! That’s right. It’s pickup day for the new baby chicks!” Mackie said to herself as she got out of bed and ran downstairs to eat breakfast. “Where’s the cereal mom?”
“No cereal today. You will have eggs for breakfast,” Sheila said. “If you don’t hurry up, I will pick up the chicks. You know that we are supposed to be there in half an hour.”
“Ugggh. You know I hate eggs. Why do you make me eat them?” complained Mackie.
“Then why in the world are we raising chickens?” Sheila remarked sarcastically.
“Uh, for you and dad, obviously,” Mackie said while frying herself an egg.
“Just hurry up. I will leave in five minutes whether you are ready or not,” Sheila told her. “And figure out if your dad is making barbecue for lunch please.”
Mackie gobbled down her egg and ran up the stairs to brush her teeth and get dressed. She ran back downstairs and found her dad outside watering the crops.
“Hey, Dad!” Mackie said exhausted and out of breath.
“Hey, pumpkin! Did you go for a morning run?” Farmer O’connor asked.
“You wish,” Mackie said with a small giggle, “Anyways, Mom was wondering if you wanted to make barbecue for lunch.”
“You know I’ll take any chance to barbecue,” Mackie’s dad couldn’t help but smile whenever he knew he would get to barbecue.
“Mackie! Where are you?” Mackie’s mom yelled from inside the house. “I’m going to go pick up the chicks!”
“Coming, Mom!” Mackie yelled.
Mackie ran to the car. She and her mom made their way to the chick pickup when she suddenly realized something.
“Mom, we forgot to feed the animals!” Mackie said in worry.
“Relax porcupine, I fed them while you were sleeping,” Sheila assured Mackie.
“Oh, thanks, mom!” Mackie said gleefully. “Ahhh, I’m so excited to meet the new chicks. They are going to be so cute.”
Mackie and her mom drive to the place where they were going to pick up the chicks.
“We’re here!” Sheila said in a happy tone.
“Aww, I’m so excited,” Mackie said as she jumped in her seat.
“Calm down, Mackie. The chicks won’t run away,” Sheila chuckled.
Mackie and Sheila walked into the big barn where they met the owner.
“Hi!” Mackie exclaimed.
“Hi, you must be Sheila Gerbley with the order of 25 chicks for Gerbley Farm,” the owner said.
“Yes, that’s me,” Sheila said in awe, ” The chicks are so cute!”
“Can we take them home already?” Mackie complained.
“Yes, bring them to the car and wait for me. I will pay him and come,” Sheila chimed.
Mackie and her mom arrived back home and put the chicks in their new home. Jersey, the farm dog barked in excitement.
“Hi, Jersey,” Mackie cooed.
“Hey guys! Back already?” Mackie’s dad asked.
“Yup, and the chicks are in their new home,” Mackie stated. “Mmm, what is that smell? Wait……”
“It’s barbecue time!” Mackie and her dad exclaimed together.
They sat down to eat the delicious barbecue that Farmer O’connor made.
“Thanks dad, it’s great,” Mackie beamed.
“You really outdid yourself this time Tom,” Sheila complimented.
The Gerbley family finished eating lunch, and it was time to show Mackie’s dad the baby chicks.
“They are so cute,” Mackie’s dad said.
“I know, right?” Mackie agreed.
“We should probably add some more dry straw and hay to the coop,” Farmer O’connor mentioned. “Pumpkin, do you mind going and getting some more?”
“Of, course. Consider it done,” Mackie said as she made her way to the barn.
The afternoon passed as Farmer O’connor tended to his crops, while Mackie and her mom cared for the animals. After the farm work, they went inside to take a shower and eat dinner.
“Goodnight, pumpkin,” Mackie’s dad said as he kissed her forehead.
“Goodnight, porcupine,” Mackie’s mom said she turned off the bedroom lights.
For some reason, Mackie wasn’t able to sleep until she came to the realization that the outside candles were on!
“Uh, oh,” Mackie whispered to herself as she went outside to put them out. “UH, OH!”
Mackie came out to see that the candles had started a fire! She ran inside and wrote a note saying that she would be home soon. She grabbed her jacket and ran out without a plan. All she knew was that she had to retrieve the water and earth element. She would have to combine them to make the ground wet. She started her journey and came across something while looking for the earth or water element.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” Mackie quavered.
There was a soft rustle coming from the bushes, the wind was howling, and it was pitch dark. She started to hear growling.
“A wolf!” Mackie thought to herself.
She froze in her tracks as she heard the animal growl. It jumped out of the bushes right at Mackie.
“AHHHH!” Mackie screamed in terror.
To Mackie’s surprise, the animal didn’t rip her into tiny bits and pieces, instead it licked her and barked happily.
“Wha–JERSEY!” Mackie gleed. “Awww, hey buddy.”
Jersey licked her face and sat in her lap. But it was time for her to finish her adventure.
“Okay, Jersey. Let’s go and find the elements,” Mackie said.
Thirty minutes passed before Mackie saw a small glow coming from the bushes.
“That’s it,” Mackie thought to herself. “I found something.”
She wandered in the direction of the light only to find the air element. She wished for the air element to help her, but it only made it worse. The wind blew making the fire spread faster. She knew she had to find the other elements quickly.
“C’mon, Jersey, we will have to run,” Mackie stated.
Another 15 minutes of running later, there was another glow from the bushes. She had to go through a maze to get to it.
“This is going to take a while,” Mackie thought.
She ran towards the light, finding many dead ends.
“Here it is, Jersey. The earth element!” Mackie smiled but knew her journey wasn’t over.
She grabbed the stone and put it in her pocket. She continued to run in search of the water element.
“What was that?” Mackie inquired, “Oh my god, it’s a lion!”
“You must know me,” the lion responded to Mackie’s shriek.
“You can talk,” Mackie gasped, “and no, I don’t know you.”
“Me? You don’t know me? You don’t know the king of the jungle?” the lion asked.
“If you are the king of the jungle, can you tell me where I can find the water element?” Mackie asked.
“Oh, so it was you who was foolish enough to set my home on fire,” the lion said. “Well, if you want the element, you have to solve my riddle.”
“Ok, what other option do I have?” Mackie asked
“None other,” the lion snapped. “Here is your riddle. What disappears as soon as you say its name?”
Mackie thought hard until she thought she had the answer.
“Is it silence?” Mackie asked.
“Correct,” the lion said as he handed over the water element.
Mackie merged the water and earth elements, stopping the fire. She completed her task and returned home like nothing happened.
