Trapped With Tears and Cats

Gail's small hand gripped the the straw filled basket tightly.

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Gail thought repeatedly to herself.

It's like dad said. There are so many barn animals with me that if anything scary comes they will let me know.

A large flood light invaded the darkness of the barnyard as Gail bravely continued her way to the barn.

She stood in front of the chicken stall door and gently closed it. She hurriedly ran into the barn and sighed with relief. She had made it down in one piece.

Gail ventured to the nest boxes and collected the eggs.

She then walked to the feed room. Her family had one rogue chicken who preferred to lay her eggs in there.

Gail firmly shut the door behind her so she could reach the eggs.

Once she had safely secured each egg into the basket, Gail reached for the door handle and tried to tug the door open. Dismayed she tried again.

Gail set the basket on the floor and grasped the door handle with both hands, twisting and turning it and pulling with all her might.

"Oh no! What am I going to do?" she cried.

Gail remembered her father mentioning that the door had been getting stuck lately.

She was stuck! There was no way out!

Now I'm going to be out here all night! It's cold and I'm scared!

The seven year old had to do this terrible nightly chore daily. She could always hear the coyote packs howling from the surrounding hills, sending shivers down her spine. But to be stuck out here with no way out?

Gail sat down on a feed bin and burried her face in her arms. She began crying and shaking from fear.

She tried to calm herself down a bit and looked over at that dumb ole' door.

In came her calico cat Emily, through the cat door. Gail wiped the tears away from her face with the back of her hand and reached down to pick up her cat.

She smiled as she coaxed Emily into purring. The vibrating sound emanating from the cat's throat tickled her hand.

Gail sat there for awhile before setting the cat down. She was glad the cat had calmed her down and gave her time to clear her mind so she could think.

Okay, she had to get out. But how? The window! Yes, she would open the window and climb out.

Gail crossed the room to the window and tried to open it. No matter what she did it wouldn't budge. The edges of the window were rusted together, keeping her from moving it.

Great, now THAT was stuck! Now she was REALLY stuck here! Gail went back to sit down and sighed.

Now what? She thought.

Then an idea hit her. What if she broke the window open? No, that would be stupid. Would her dad be mad if she broke it?

Gail sat there for what seemed like forever. She thought that her parents would've noticed her absence by now. She had been gone for at least twenty minutes to do something that only took three.

She glanced over to the wooden saddle stands. Gail suddenly shot up from her seat, her mind was made up. She went over to the stands and yanked a leg off of it. She raised it above her head and aimed for the window a few feet away from her.

She lowered it, re-thinking her impulsive plan. Should she really do this? Yes, she had to. For some reason her parents weren't coming and she must get out!

Gail raised the wooden leg again and hefted it towards the small window.

CRASH!

Glass shattered everywhere, luckily Gail jumped out of the way, un-harmed. She snatched up the egg basket and carfully picked her path to the window.

Cold air blew in her face as she stood on a bin to reach the window. Gail stuck one leg through then the other so she was sitting half outside half inside. She jumped down five feet to the ground and took off running to the house.

She shakily opened the front door and was suprised to see her parents calmly relaxed sitting in the livingroom.

Gail burst into tears, and began blubbering about what happened.

"We're so sorry, Gail." Her mother said. "We had no idea."

"We just thought you were playing with the kittens like you sometimes do." her father said. "But, I was starting to worry and I was almost about to come down and get you."

Gail smiled back up at her parents, "It's okay, I just glad I'm okay."

The next morning her parents inspected the broken window. Shards of glass lay all over the ground and some still stuck in the window.

"Gail, how did you ever get out of that window? There is glass still in it?" Her mom asked befuddled.

"I have no idea." Gail shrugged.

Her dad came over and placed his hand on Gail's shoulder.

He smiled. "Well, you must of had an angel watching over you."