Chapter 4

Soda's Birthday

Disclaimer: I don't own any original characters...

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"Soda! Soda, wake up!" Darry was shaking his little brother awake.

Soda rubbed his eyes. "Darry?"

"Hey little man. It's your birthday, wake up!"

Soda's eyes suddenly burst open. "My birthday! It's my birthday! Darry, am I six now?"

Darry nodded. "I think mom said you were born at 4:30 in the morning, so yeah, you're six now kid."

Soda started jumping up and down on his bed. "I'm six, I'm six!"

Darry laughed, and went out into the living room. "He's awake."

His parents were sitting on various chairs, and Pony was sitting on the floor. When Soda came running in, his father stopped him, and put a present into his hands.

"Just for you." He said.

Soda sat down on the floor, and started ripping off the paper. He pulled out a plaque of a horse, and a coloring book.

"Comes with a pack of brand new crayons." His mother said.

Soda was so excited, he sat down and started coloring right away.

" I got you something too." Darry said.

Soda looked up at Darry.

Darry pulled out something from behind his back.

"What is it?" Soda asked, looking at it.

"It's a picture of a horse." Darry said.

Soda stared at it for awhile.

"His name is Mickey Mouse, and he lives over on the farm near here."

"He's nice." Soda said. "But, what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Well, I talked to the guy that owns him, and he said, that as a present to you, you can come over and ride him anytime you want." Darry said.

Soda's eyes became so wide, that Darry thought they would pop out.

"Really? Kind of like my own horse?" Soda said.

"I guess so."

Soda jumped up, and gave Darry a huge hug.

"Thank you Darry!" He said, squeezing him.

"You're welcome kid." Darry said.

"Mommy, can I go over and ride him now?" Soda said, running over to his mother.

"Goodness, not now Soda, it's not even 9 in the morning yet. Later today, your father can take you over."

"When?" Soda asked. "When?"

"Later, after lunch and cake." His father responded.

"Oh yea, cake!" Soda said, running over to the table.

"Not yet. Slow down Soda." Mrs. Curtis said.

Pony ran over to the table. "Cake. Cake!"

"Nope, no cake for anyone until you've had some breakfast, and lunch." Their mother replied.

Soda was content sitting back down on the floor, and using his new coloring book. Of course, he started coloring a picture of a horse.

"Breakfast guys." Mr. Curtis called from the kitchen. "Something special to drink today too, chocolate milk."

All three boys ran into the kitchen, where Mr. Curtis had poured three glasses of chocolate milk.

Mrs. Curtis looked at her husband disapprovingly. "Chocolate milk for breakfast Darrell?"

Mr. Curtis gave is wife a little look. "Oh come on Grace, it's only for one day. It's Soda's birthday for goodness sake. It's not everyday your son turns six now is it?"

Mrs. Curtis didn't answer, but smirked at her husband. "Just today then." She said, going back to serving breakfast.

As soon as her back was turned, Mr. Curtis winked at his boys.

"You'd better not tell her that I give you that every time she's not home."

Soda winked back at his father. "Don't worry daddy. We won't tell."

After breakfast was over, Soda was jumping around constantly and asking if he could go see the horse. Finally, his mother got so fed up, she told her husband to take him and Darry to go see it.

All the way over in the car, Soda didn't stop talking. Darry got pretty annoying, but just tried to tune him out.

As they pulled up to the farm, Darry saw Mickey Mouse standing in the pen, and pointed him out to Soda.

"There he is, Soda. That's him." Darry said.

Soda got so excited, and almost jumped out of the car after his dad parked. He ran over to the pen and approached the horse carefully.

"Be careful Soda." His father called from behind.

The horse came up to Soda slowly, and sniffed at him. Finally he came close enough for Soda to pet him, and Soda did.

The owner came out and stood beside Mr. Curtis.

"That's amazing. That horse never lets anyone touch him like that. Your kid must have the magic touch."

Mr. Curtis laughed. "Well, he loves horses, that's for sure."

The farmer went over to Soda, and as soon as he came within view, the horse went crazy and started getting anxious.

Soda took his hand out of the pen. "What's wring with him?"

"He doesn't like people too much Soda. But, apparently, he likes you. Maybe you'd like to ride him?" The farmer said.

Soda's eyes got wide again. "Could I?" He asked, excitedly.

"Sure, just approach him really carefully, and then, get up. It shouldn't be that hard."

Soda entered the pen, and the horse immediately came over to him. Soda patted him for awhile, and then, slowly, got up on to him. The horse let him easily, and soon, Soda was trotting around on Mickey Mouse, with a huge smile on his face.

The farmer was over talking to Mr. Curtis again. "I tell ya, that is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. That horse would NEVER let anyone ride him, not even me. Your kid is something special for sure."

Darry walked over to the side of the pen, and watched his brother riding around. He was pleased with himself for thinking of a present so extravagant, and unique.

Soda rode around for at least an hour, and would've kept going, if his father wouldn't have told him that it was time to go home.

Soda said goodbye to Mickey Mouse and to the farmer, and got back into the car.

"Oh daddy. Can we come back here again, and again, and again? Everyday, forever!"

His father laughed. "Well, we'll certainly come back. I don't know about everyday, but we'll see."

Once they got home, their mother had lunch on the table.

"What's the horse like, Soda?" His mother asked.

"He's great! I love him! I rode around on him for a long time, and I fed him a carrot, and he let me pat him." Soda said, eating his lunch.

"Well, I'm glad you like him. It was very nice of your brother to get you that for a present."

Soda leaned over and hugged Darry. "Yes, thank you Darry. It's awesome!"

Darry smiled. He knew that the horse had been a good choice, and his brother finally had something to put all of that energy into, instead of bouncing around the house all day. He was sure his parents would be thankful for that too.

Mrs. Curtis brought out the cake, and Soda got excited all over again. Pony did too. They ate cake until they couldn't eat anymore. Which was pretty much when their mother said that was it.

After lunch, Soda wanted to go back to see the horse, but his mother said, no more for today. He'd have to find something else to do.

Soda looked around the house, for something to do, or play, or even make, but his search came up empty. Finally, he resorted to bugging Darry, and to see if HE knew anything he could do. Darry didn't want to be bothered with his brother, so he told him to go outside and run around the house 10 times, then come back.

Soda actually did that. By the time he was done, he had burnt off a lot of energy. Much to Darry's dismay, however, he was still hyper.

"What else can I do Darry?" He asked.

Darry sighed. "Go ask mom. I'm busy."

Soda ran downstairs and found his mother. "Mommy, I'm bored. What can I do?"

His mother sighed. "Well, go ask your father."

Soda sighed, and ran out to find his father. "Daddy, I'm bored. What can I do?"

His father turned around. "Have you already asked your mother?"

Soda nodded.

"And your brother?" His father asked.

Soda nodded again.

"Well, maybe you can go play with Pony."

Soda left and ran in to find his little brother. He found him sitting inside, drawing.

"Hey Pony. What are you doing?"

"Drawing." Pony replied, not looking up.

"Can I draw with you?" Soda asked.

"Yeah." Pony said, still not looking up.

Soda sat down and picked up a piece of paper and a pencil. He started to draw a horse, and soon, he had horses drawn all over his paper. Pony looked down at his brother's drawings.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing at one of the horses.

"It's a horse. I was trying to draw Mickey Mouse, but I'm not that good."

Suddenly, he heard his mother's voice from the kitchen. "Soda, your friends are here!" She called.

Soda jumped up. "Oh yeah!" He ran out into the kitchen.

Pony shrugged and went back to his drawing.

Hen Soda reached the kitchen, Alyssa, Steve and Johnny were all there.

"Hey guys." He said.

They followed him up to his room, and Darry heard the noise and peered out his door.

"Oh no." He thought as he saw them going into Soda's room. "There goes my peace and quiet for the day."

Once inside Soda's room, they played with every toy that Soda had. Johnny even got into it, and soon he was laughing and playing right along with the rest of them.

Soon, Soda had an idea. Wouldn't it be fun, if they spied on Darry, and tried to see what he was doing.

They snuck over to the door of his room, and peered through the keyhole. They couldn't see much of anything, so Soda decided to try something else. He knocked on the door, and pushed his friends back into his room.

Darry came to the door and looked out. He didn't see anyone, but he decided to go downstairs and get something to eat. As soon as he was down the stairs, Soda and his friends went into his room, and hid in various places.
When Darry came back up the stairs, and into his room, they all jumped out and screamed.

Darry jumped, but soon regained his composure, and pushed them all out of his room, closed the door and locked it.

Soda and his friends were having a laughing fit on the floor outside the door, and soon, they went downstairs to see if they could have some cake.

Mrs. Curtis gave them all a slice and sent them to the table to eat. Once they were finished, they went into the living room to give soda his presents.

Johnny didn't have a lot of money, but he still was able to give him a chocolate bar.

Soda was very grateful for the present, even though it wasn't as big as the others. He never judged his friends on the amount of money they had, and thought it was very thoughtful for Johnny to give him anything at all.

Steve's present made everyone laugh. Steve had gotten him an alarm. But not just any alarm.

"You can set it outside someone's door, and when they walk out, it will go off and scare them." He explained.

Alyssa's present was the last, and to Soda the most special. Although he hung around with Steve and Johnny a lot at school, Alyssa was, he considered, his best friend, whatever that means to a six year old, and he was looking forward to her present most of all. He wasn't disappointed.

Alyssa had bought him something that he loved. It wasn't expensive, and it wasn't big, but it was thoughtful, and very unique. When he opened the package, inside sat a picture of the four of them, in a homemade frame that Alyssa had made. Alyssa had gotten her dad to take the picture of the four friends on the last day of school, and when she had gotten the picture developed, she had sat to work making a pretty frame for it.

"Took me pretty near all afternoon to make it." She said, after Soda had thanked her.

After all the presents were opened, Mrs. Curtis said that Johnny and Steve had to go home. Alyssa could stay, because her father was going to be home later and asked if she could stay there until he got back.

After Steve and Johnny left, Alyssa and Soda went upstairs and tried out the alarm on Darry. It worked ,and when he stepped out, it went off, and he chased Soda and Alyssa into Soda's room, and then, he went back to his own room, closed the door and locked it again.

The two of them played for about another hour, before Mrs. Curtis came upstairs to tell Alyssa that her father was there to take her home.
Soda said goodbye to her, and went in to sit on the couch.

"Did you have a good birthday, Soda?" His mother asked.

"Yeah, it was great." Soda said, laying his head on his mother's shoulder. After about 10 minutes, his mother looked down to see that he was asleep. She got his father to carry him up to his room, and on to his bed.

When his father left the room, he looked back, and saw a huge smile on Soda's face, even though he was asleep, and it stayed there all night.

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I'll update again soon. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Please R&R!

Jess