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Overview
Chocolate is an adventurous pony and is the color of chocolate. She gets lost beyond the meadow one day and loses sight of her Mom and her home. Her adventures take her to become the star of a pet zoo, the star of a circus where she performs pony tricks and living a life of luxury with a littlegirl who adores her. Will she find her way home?
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781477289945 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 03/30/2010 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 1 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
| Age Range: | 3 Months to 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Chocolate Pony
By Sanjini Bhakta
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Sanjini BhaktaAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-9761-5
Chapter One
There was a Pony named "Chocolate". Her name was "Chocolate" because she was a chocolate brown color.Chocolate spent everyday grazing the grass in the meadow with her mother. She enjoyed being out in the sunshine, frisking about the meadow and chasing the butterflies and the birds. It was towards the end of summer.
Chocolate was also a very adventurous pony. She would often wander off and explore the woods, the brook and the rolling hills. She would stay close to the meadow and would not wander off for too long. But one day, Chocolate was chasing a pretty dragonfly and found herself on the other side of the brook. She entered a maze of tall trees and then lost sight of the dragonfly. She decided to go back to the meadow to join her mother, before they returned to the stable on the farm.
She walked and walked and walked, but she never reached the meadow. The sun began to sink below the horizon and dusk fell. It started to get dark very quickly and the temperature started to drop. Chocolate shivered every time the wind blew and shuddered in fear at the lightening striking across the sky and the loud thunder.
It began to pour with rain and Chocolate realized she was lost. She was now all alone walking through an apple orchard. The rain continued to fall and Chocolate was getting weary. She missed her mother so much. She sat underneath an apple tree and fell fast asleep.
Chocolate woke up to the sound of a man's voice.
"What are you doing here?" he exclaimed.
Chocolate opened one of her eyes and saw a flood of sunlight at first. Then she opened the other eye and saw an old man kneeling beside her.
"Well who are you?" he asked.
Because Chocolate was a pony, she could not speak to him. She just looked at him with very sad eyes because she had never ever woken up before without her mother by her side.
The old man sold Chocolate to a pet zoo because he was too old to take care of her. In the pet zoo there was a duck named Waddle Duck; an ugly goat named Granny Goat; a fat pig named Jemima and a small, shy lamb named Woolley. Chocolate got to know the animals very quickly and they were all very nice to her. Even the children who came to see and pet them were very nice and were excited to play with the animals. The children especially loved to ride Chocolate and gave her lots of attention. They would grunt at Jemima the pig and thought she was a very funny looking pig because she was so big and pink. They thought Waddle Duck walked funny and that made them laugh. They thought Woolley was cuddly and cute and would pet her soft wool. Woolley did not like the attention because it made her nervous. Granny Goat was ugly and old, so she would mostly sit in a corner and would try to watch all the activities around her. She wore thick glasses and could barely see what was going on because her eyesight was not very good. Then she would take long naps and would wake up when a child occasionally pulled her chin hair.
But the star of the pet zoo was Chocolate and most of the children came to see her. Chocolate loved all the attention but at night before she went to sleep, she would think of her mother and yearn to be back on their farm again. Days and months went by and Chocolate never stopped missing her mother. Autumn had already past and winter was approaching.
Chocolate did have many conversations with Granny Goat because she could communicate with other animals. Granny Goat was the Granny of Wisdom and taught Chocolate not to be afraid of new experiences and places. Granny Goat told Chocolate:
"I am not your mother but consider me to be like your grandmother. You are not alone"
One day, after all the children had gone home; two stout, short men with thick moustaches came to the pet zoo and took Chocolate with them. They spoke with a French accent and looked alike so they must have been identical twins. It was difficult to tell them apart. Chocolate was sold to a circus. It was now winter.
The two French men began to teach Chocolate many pony tricks. She learned how to jump through hoops, to dance and jig to folk music, to catch frisbees and to play the piano with her little hooves. She also performed magic tricks with the twin brothers and would carry red flowers in her mouth and a small basket of hay on her back onto the circus stage. The French brothers would magically make those items disappear from sight. The audience at the circus would gasp in astonishment. The French brothers would sometimes make each other disappear too. Chocolate was very popular at the circus and was loved by the audience who applauded her every night and shouted with glee every time she did a pony trick. She was the star of the show and loved all the attention and applause. But she would retire at night to her bed and before going to sleep she would think of her mother and wish to be back at home with her. She longed to go home.
Then one day, Chocolate was performing a pony trick. She was going to jump through the hoop but missed and fell to her knees. She was in pain and was taken off the stage. The doctor examined her and said that she could not be a circus pony anymore. Chocolate would still be able to walk and run normally but she would not be able to perform the complicated tricks because of an injured tendon which would take some time to heal.
The circus had no need of a pony who could not perform any tricks, so they sold Chocolate to a wealthy man who had a little daughter named Adelaide. He gave Adelaide Chocolate for her fifth birthday gift which was in the Spring. Adelaide was ecstatic and shouted for joy! "My very own pony!" she screeched.
Adelaide had a cherub looking face with big eyes and golden brown locks of hair. She had a pretty dress to wear for every day of the year. She had three hundred and sixty-five dresses for three hundred and sixty-five days of the year! During the leap year she had one more dress for three hundred and sixty-six days of the year.
Adelaide played with Chocolate everyday and showered her with lots of love and attention. Chocolate began to love her very much but she still missed her mother and her home.
Months passed by and even though Chocolate lived in luxury and was well taken care of, she wondered if she would ever return home or see her mother ever again. This brought tears to her eyes.
One morning, Adelaide came into Chocolate's stable and was crying loudly, tears rolling down her cheeks. She flung her arms around Chocolate but her father came in and pulled Chocolate onto a cart and took her away. Adelaide's father had filed for bankruptcy and lost all his wealth and so they had to sell their house, furniture, cars and of course Chocolate.
Chocolate was taken to an auction and had many people bid for her. She was a very popular pony and everyone wanted her. Chocolate was scared of her future and felt terribly alone and sad. Finally, a farmer bought her and carried her away in his truck. Chocolate was tired and was so very, very sad. She fell asleep into the silent summer night.
She barely woke up when the truck stopped and the farmer carried her off. She was still half asleep when he took her into a stable. The farmer laid Chocolate down next to another animal but she couldn't see clearly at first in the dark. Suddenly she realized that she was next to her mother.
She cried for joy and amazement! Her mother nuzzled next to her with surprise and happiness. Chocolate nestled next to her mother all night. She told her mother how much she had missed her and about the pet zoo, the circus and Adelaide.
Her mother gasped:
"You were actually in the circus? Wow!"
"Yes", exclaimed Chocolate excitedly, "The audience clapped at my pony tricks and I was the star of the show. It was so much fun!"
It was a one year adventure she would never forget but she was so glad to be home. From then on, Chocolate never wandered off by herself. She made sure she stayed close to her mother. She was home!
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Chocolate Pony by Sanjini Bhakta Copyright © 2010 by Sanjini Bhakta. Excerpted by permission.
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