I'd like to thank HellHades for reviewing. I really appreciate it.

BTW, I don't mean to offend any Australians out there. I don't mean anything by it.
"So can I actually get on the horse now?" Aunt Leonora stared at me.

"Do you think you can?" I nodded. She shrugged.

"Fine. Let's have you ride Brandy, since she's the mildest." She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Brandy!"

The mocha-colored horse trotted into the old barn and nuzzled my aunt's blonde hair. She laughed and stroked its velvet nose. I shook my head. Aunt Leo was great with animals. It was almost sickeningly sweet at times.

"Aunt Leo," I muttered. She nodded, and I realized she was already putting on the horse's saddle. She patted old Brandy again, and smirked at me.

"Well," she sneered. "Go ahead and mount."

She obviously didn't think I would be able to do it. Well, I would prove her wrong. I took a deep breath, and tried to hoist myself up. I failed. I took another deep breath. Then-

"OW!" Next thing I knew my aunt was standing over me.

"Next time, try not to fall off the other side of the saddle, you dumbnut." I wrinkled my nose at her but said nothing.

"Can you stand?" I started to.

"I think so- ow!" I cried again, and crumpled. "My ankle hurts." She sighed.

"Okay. Come on, careful." She pulled me up, and helped me hop all the way back to the house.

Once she had wrapped my ankle tightly with some gauze, and helped me sit down on one of the stools in the kitchen, the phone rang. She snatched it up.

"Hello?" She paused. "This is she. Really? What's up?" She paled visibly, and sat down. "Is she alright?" She gasped, and I could see unshed tears.

"No.........Yes, I'll tell her. Mm-hmm." She slammed the phone into the receiver.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly. She turned to me, not even bothering to stop the tears now.

"Destiny, before I tell you this, you have to understand something. There is no way we could have stopped this."

"Okay," I said, nodding. I could feel bad news coming.

"Des. Sweetie. This morning," She paused, and took a deep breath. "This morning, your mother was killed."
No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.
"How? I finally managed to croak. She can't look me in the eye.

"Someone robbed her, raped her, and then set the house on fire. I'm so sorry, sweetie.

I finally started wailing, like a baby. She hugged me tightly, and we both just cried over the death of a miraculous woman.
Changing Pov:

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Destiny hasn't been out of her room for a week now. I feel so bad for the poor girl. Her father died in a car accident when she was younger, and now this. I'm the only family she has left! And I'm not exactly an expert on child raising. I'm used to being 'cool Aunt Leo', not a parental figure. Poor child, and my poor sister. Nicole never did anything wrong. She didn't deserve to die.

I sighed to myself. Today would be a lllloooonnnng day, and it wasn't likely that I'd have company.
"Aunt Leo?"

I must have jumped a mile in the air. I turned around and saw a bright-eyed, radiant young girl. She was grinning like when she first arrived. I shook my head inwardly as I realized this. She was in denial, perhaps?

"Destiny, are you alright?" I asked cautiously. She nodded.

"Yeah." She paused, apparently trying to sort out her words. "I'm not upset anymore. It was Mama's time, you know? I'm not upset because she died. I'm just gonna miss her."

"You're wise beyond your years, Destiny," I said gravely. She shrugged.

"I doubt it. It's just logic." I shook my head, and glanced outside.

"It's raining," I commented. My niece nodded.

"No shit, Sherlock!"

"Watch your mouth!" I warned her. She grinned at me, and saluted.

"Yes ma'am!" In spite of myself, I chuckled. She chuckled too.

"Well, get ready and we'll head out to the mall."

"For shopping?!"

"What else?" She cheered, and tore off to her room.

"Destiny, aren't you ready yet?" I demanded, knocking on her door for the tenth time.

"Almost."

"What's taking so long?"

"My hair!"

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure." I opened the door and found her standing in front of the large mahogany vanity, furiously making tiny braids in her chestnut hair. I raised an eyebrow.

"Des, here," I said, pulling each braid out with one gentle tug. I divided her hair into eight sections, and braided each. After finishing that, which only took a few minutes, I pulled all the braids into a ponytail. I patted her hair affectionately.

"You like?" I asked. She nodded.

"I like," she said. I grinned at her, brushing my own hair out of my good eye. She frowned at that.

"Aunt Leo, we need to do something with your hair too," she insisted. I shook my head.

"No, that's okay," I said slowly, setting down her brush and taking a step backwards. She clamped onto my arm.

"But you've got such gorgeous blonde hair! It's thick, long, and it's got natural highlights. But you just let it lie there, not even attempting to do anything with it," she scolded. I sighed.

"Fine. But something simple. We gotta get to the mall before it closes." She nodded, something of an evil smile on her face.

"Don't worry. It won't take long......" she said, the evil smile growing wider. I squeaked.
Not too shabby, I said to myself. She had pulled my hair into a tight braid, so tight my hair must have shrunk an inch in length. She then put on a cheery red bandana, and I liked it.

The phone rang. I rolled my eyes and picked it up.

"Hello?" A recording sounded on the other line.

"YOU HAVE A VETRENARIAN APPOINTMENT AT....Four thirty p.m. ON....Saturday, March 22. PLEASE BE PROMPT, AS WE ARE EXTREMELY BUSY. THANK YOU." Click.

"Dammit!" I cried, looking at the clock. "It's three forty- five! I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Des asked. I frowned.

"We have a vet's appointment for the dogs. We'll have to load them up in the truck, take them, drop them off, then head to the mall. Is that okay?" To my relief, she nodded.

"It's fine," she assured me. I smiled briefly at her, then led her out to my Ford.

Since I had so many dogs, a long time ago I had installed a cage-like thingy in the back of my truck. It kept my dogs from jumping out of the truck, and it had this safety-proofing where it would unhook and open if there was a sharp jerk or extreme heat, like a fire.

I whistled. My dogs came crowding out of the barn and lined up in an orderly fashion. I smirked. My dogs were so well behaved. I helped all eight into the back, then locked the cage and started up the truck.
"Damn rain," I muttered a few minutes later. Destiny glanced at me.

"I like the rain," she said. I shrugged.

"Yeah, you're cold blooded. NOT like that," I added, seeing her get defensive. "I just mean you like the cold months better. I prefer the heat, myself. I was thrilled on 100 degree days when I was younger." I sighed. "Yep, I'll take the sun and dry any day, except if there's a lighting storm."

"Speak of the devil," Destiny grunted. I glanced at the sky and muttered a much worse word.

We were almost there. I was having a nice time with my niece, despite the rain. Then it happened.

A drunk man was swerving around the road ahead of us. He smashed into an eighteen-wheeler, which swerved itself and hit us. We tipped over, and off of the very, very steep hill we were on. We both screamed, and the last thing I remember thinking was about my family, and how now I only had Des.
Whaddya think? Good, bad......? Tell me!