I wake up at 5am and clamber out of bed, I yawn as I begin to walk down the stairs to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen I set about lighting the open fire which for now is our only source of warm water, I line the bottom of the fire grate with old bits of paper and then I pile a few dry wood logs on top, I then light the paper with a match.

I watch the small flame as it marches its way towards the first of the logs, I look at the log pile and realise that we are running low which means a trip onto one of the trails on foot to fell a couple of trees to make sure that we have enough wood just in case the gas people don't manage to get the house reconnected.

As I watch the first of the logs slowly ignite I feel a soft but powerful paw upon my right shoulder, I turn my head to the right and find Tyler standing there with a gentle smile on his muzzle.

“Kind of reminds me of the farm I grew up on hon, the water we used had to be drawn from a well outside which was hell in the winter, and then we had to heat it up over an open fire just like this one if we needed hot water, we would bathe in front of the fire in a tin bath, we were so far off the beaten track that the utilities never got round to getting us connected with gas, water and electricity, though just before I left home we did replace the well with a pumping station which was run by a diesel powered generator... Good times indeed"

I smile at Tyler as he finishes his story, I too know of the times before the ranch was connected to the utilities, but now it would have all the modern conveniences such as central heating, running water and mains electricity, the latter of which is now working. I also know that today I need to get quite a bit of grocery shopping done as we can't live on pizzas and Chinese take outs for ever.

After five minutes the fire is now roaring away and providing its much needed heat, I have also put the large water kettle on top of the flame suspended from a steel rack to boil the water needed for the first cup of coffee of the morning for four very sore and very tired ranch workers.

After an hour we are all sat around the kitchen table mulling over the days chores while we drink our coffee, I know for a fact that there is an old tractor in one of the barns, if only I could get it working again it would save me having to walk down the trails to cut down and drag back the trees. As if reading my mind Makeria clears his throat and asks a question.

“Okay boss, I noticed yesterday that we have a tractor sat doing nothing in the west barn, if you want I can see if I can get some life out of it, I mean it would make things so much easier"

I nod my head and reply.

“I know that it hasn't run for about four years, but if you can get it running then you will have made a friend in me"

Makeria lets out a soft chuckle as he heads up stairs to get dressed for the day, Taylor follows suit shortly after, as for me and Tyler well we just sit at the table both deep in thought, suddenly the silence is broken as Tyler speaks.

“So Christian, I guess we had better get dressed too unless we want to go into town in just the fur that we were born with"

I let out a sigh as I realise that Tyler has a point, but to get dressed means that I will have to extract myself from the heat of the fire, but I know that I have to lead by example and so with a throaty groan I stand from my seat and collect all the breakfast things and put them into the kitchen sink, I pour the rest of the water from the kettle into the sink and wash the dishes.

With that chore done I head upstairs to get dressed, as I walk past Taylor's room I hear him sobbing a little, I gently push the door to his room open and I see him lying on his bed, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Taylor, what is wrong?"

He quickly sniffs back his tears and dries his eyes on his shirt sleeve.

“Well sir, I don't want to upset you or anything but I'm bored and I miss my iPod and laptop"

I nod gently and head into my room, I pick up my phone and head back into Taylor's room.

“Give your stepdad time to wake up and then give him a call, I will go and collect some of your stuff and bring it back here"

He shivers a little at the thought of me, who he sees as a country bumpkin, messing around with his tech stuff, I notice the shiver and know exactly what is meant by it.

“Hey, I may look like a hick Horse but I'm no stranger to gadgets, at home I have my very own entertainment system, complete with 50 inch plasma screen, top of the line Desktop PC and a Hi-Fi system that will blow your iPod into the next century"

I giggle a little as I leave his room and then head to mine to get dressed. After ten minutes I am dressed and I head down to the kitchen, once there I pick up my truck keys and walk out to the ageing lump of metal, I unlock the driver's door and climb into the cab, I put the key in the ignition and turn it, my ears are met with the sickening sound of a flat battery, I sigh and drop my head against the steering wheel, I then hear Tyler's voice at my side.

“Head butting the steering wheel might work in Back To The Future, but in real life I'm afraid it just hurts your head, let me go ask Makeria for his keys and we can take his pick-up"

I sigh and nod a little, I'm hoping that I can cut a few corners with getting the ranch back in order, then maybe I can pension my old rust bucket off and get a half decent truck to replace it. My thoughts are broken by the sound of Tyler coming back with Makeria's keys, he unlocks the cab and we both get in, the truck starts with the first turn of the key.

We head into town and the local grocery store, I collect a shopping cart and we both begin our tour of duty. Tyler takes the lead with regards to picking the food, after all it is him that will be cooking it and by the end of the tour the large shopping cart is practically full. We head to the checkout and start the task of paying for the goods, each beep of the scanner is emptying my bank account a little more. Once the last item is put through the scanner the teller rings up the final total, $203.29, I let out a small sigh as I hand over my credit card, the teller processes the transaction and hands me back my card.

“Y'all have a good day now and come back soon"

A single flick of my ears is the only response I give. Tyler and I walk back to the pick-up with our arms loaded full with the bags of groceries, we load them all into the back bed of the truck and head home, I check my watch and see 10:58am on the display. We pull up outside the house and see two utilities trucks and one purring tractor.

Tyler helps me to fill the cupboards and refrigerator with the groceries just as the two utility guys meet us in the kitchen.

“Okay guys, your gas and water are back in full supply, if you will just sign our work orders to say that the work is complete then we'll get out from under your paws"

I sign the work sheet and the two guys head out to their trucks and they are soon away, I am now like a kid on Christmas Day, I first walk to the stove and light one of the gas rings, with a wuff it lights first time, I then turn it off and head to the kitchen sink, I turn on the tap and my ears are greeted with the rattling sound of pipes as the water makes its first journey through the taps in a while, but after two minutes the water is running freely, oh the joys of having all three utilities working again.

I turn off the tap and head outside into the court yard where the tractor is standing, a very oily Makeria is making a few last adjustments to the engine, and he then gives a very satisfied sigh as he wipes his hand paws on an oily rag.

“Well boss, it was a bitch to fix and get running, but I worked my magic and finally got it purring like a kitten, if I were you I would take it for a run and build the charge back up in the battery, as for your truck the news isn't quite so rosy, the starter motor is bolloc..... I mean shot, there is more oil on the dirt than is in the sump, as for the radiator well that is so holey it goes to church on Sunday, the final nail in the trucks coffin is the fact that the battery is no longer holding its charge, in short the truck is scrap"

Great, I take one step forward and take three back, now I have no choice but to look for another truck, it is then that Makeria comes to my rescue again.

“I do have a friend in the auto trade that owes me a favour or two; maybe he can fix you up with another truck? I'll tell ya what, I'll take a shower and then we can head out to his lot and we can see what we can come up with"

I sigh and nod gently; I can't be without my truck so I just hope that I can get one for a decent price. While Makeria goes and takes a shower I decide to take the tractor for a run, at least it seems that I can have one piece of machinery that is up to the task. I climb up the steps and into the tractors cab, the controls all become familiar to me again and I put it in gear and head out onto one of the trails.

As I drive along the trail it suddenly hits me, that my nearest neighbour is that of old Ned Strensham, a Border Collie that has a farm three miles away, all the land for as far as the eye can see belongs to my ranch, all the way up to Ned's Eastern border, if the grounds were ever to be bought by a developer I would be one very wealthy Equine, you could build a small town on the grounds and I would still have a sizable plot.

I take the tractor about a mile out and then turn around and head back towards the ranch knowing that by the time I return Makeria will be close to finishing getting ready, as I drive back I think about the borders and I know that I'm going to have to get a huge amount of barbed wire to repair any fences that may have been breached.

That task is for another day though and I clear my thoughts as I drive back into the ranch court yard, I pull the tractor into its parking garage and shut down the engine. I clamber down from the cab and head out towards the ranch house where I am met by Makeria.

“So boss, did I do a good job with ole' Bessy?"

I tilt my head a little as I try to work out what Makeria is referring to; he sees my confusion and gives out a gentle laugh.

“I'm talking about ole' Bessy the tractor"

The light of realisation dawns upon me and I snicker a little.

“Oh so you have taken to naming machinery now huh? Well in answer to your question 'Ole' Bessy' is performing well; you did a wonderful job on her"

Makeria muzzle breaks out into a smile and his Folf tail wags like mad, we then head towards his truck and then into town to see his friend, and hopefully my new set of wheels. We pull into a car lot that sells both new and used trucks and cars, my eyes glaze over as I look at all of the gleaming metal, my eyes suddenly lock on to a brand new Ford Lightning, oh gods I would so love to sit my ass behind the wheel of that truck, but I know it is just a pipe dream.

Makeria sees me staring open muzzled at the truck and gives a gentle giggle.

“I said I would see about getting you a discount I didn't say that I was a miracle worker"

I sigh a little and start scanning the rest of the trucks with my Equine eyes, suddenly we are met by a huge and strapping Rottweiler, and he begins to go into his sales pitch and then suddenly catches sight of Makeria.

“Well for the love of biscuits Makeria Stein as I live and breathe, what the hell are you doing here?"

The cheery Rottweiler offers his paw to Makeria who takes it in his own paw and shakes readily.

“Well Mel, this is Mr Christian Miles, he is the owner of what used to be O'Neil's ranch and my new boss, and well his old truck finally went to the GMC graveyard, even I couldn't breathe any life back into it, so I was kinda wondering if you had anything that you wanted to get rid of because as he is starting out with the ranch he doesn't have that much in the way of disposable cash"

My eyes wonder back to the Lightning again and I space out and begin to drool. Makeria lets out a hearty belly laugh as both he and the Rottweiler follow my line of sight, the Rottweiler then rumbles a little.

“Your boss has expensive taste Makeria, but he does also have an obvious eye for quality"

Makeria makes his reply.

“Oh tell me about it Mel, since his eyes locked onto that truck it has been pretty much impossible to get him away from it. Unfortunately I don't think his budget will stretch that far"

The Rottweiler looks at me with a thoughtful face and then comes to a decision.

“Makeria, as I remember it I owe you a fair few favours in return for when you helped me through my...depression, as it is, I have had that truck on the stand for the past twelve months, oh sure people like your boss have looked at it many times but have never gone any further. I really need to get rid of it now because it is just costing me money every time I have to wash and wax it, or every time I put fuel in it to take it on a test drive"

The Rottweiler now stands in front of me blocking my view of the truck.

“Here is what I'm going to do, I'm going to walk back into my office and collect the keys for the Lightning, I will then take you on a test run in it, and then when we return, I will do something that will really hurt me, I will slash the $6,000 price tag and you can take the keys in your hands as long as you part with $1,500"

My ears jump at what the Rottweiler is telling me, before he changes his mind I agree to his terms, he then rushes off to grab the keys and is back standing in front of me two minutes later.

“Right guys; let's do this before my accountant gets me around the throat"

We head out on the test run and I can't believe it, I'm actually behind the wheel of my dream truck, and I know that before the end of the day I will make it mine. The Rottweiler pulls over at the side of the road and gets out of the driver's seat.

“Okay Mr Miles it's your turn, drive us back to the lot and we can begin to make your dreams come true"

I quickly slide over to the driver's side while the Rottweiler gets into the back seat with Makeria. I hear the two friends talking as I begin the ride back to the lot.

“Well Makeria, if your boss buys this truck I think we can say that a few of my debts to you have been cleared"

The Folf nods his head a little.

“Mel, you will have repaid all of the favours by the end of the day, I can't thank you enough for what you are about to do"

We arrive back at the lot and exit the truck, Mel tells one of his mechanics to brim the tank and give the truck a valet before it gets handed over to its new owner. As we walk back into the Rottweiler's office I see the truck being driven into the garage area where it will be prepared for me.

It takes an hour for all of the paperwork to be completed and for me to hand over the arranged $1,500, Mel lets out a deep sigh as he hands me the keys.

“Please take care of the truck, if it is looked after right it will last you for a good few years, not bad for $1,500"

I take the keys in my right hand and offer my left hand to the dog, he takes it in his paw and we shake to seal the deal, Makeria then hugs the Rottweiler tightly.

“Mel, remember, you have my cell number, don't be a stranger, call me"

With that both Makeria and I leave the office and head back out onto the lot. In the middle of the lot facing towards the road is a freshly washed and waxed Ford Lightning truck, its fuel tank brimmed to the top, Makeria walks back to his own truck while I make my way towards my new acquisition. I open the driver's door and get into the driver's seat, the spare key which the mechanic used to prepare the truck is resting on the dash board, I take the key and place it in my pocket.

Using the keys that Mel had given me, I fire up the engine and allow it to purr for a few seconds as I try to get my head around the fact that I now have a new truck. Once I have calmed myself a little I look out of the windscreen and notice that Makeria has already begun the journey back to the ranch, and so I put the truck into gear and follow suit.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I arrive back at the ranch to find that Tyler is in the kitchen preparing a huge and lavish meal; I place my hoofed hand on his left shoulder.

“What is the big occasion hon?"

I soon kick myself when I get the answer.

“Chris hon, please don't tell me that you have forgotten what day it is today?"

I rack my brains and then suddenly it hits me, with all the excitement of the new truck and everything I had completely forgotten the fact that it is Thanks Giving. Well it seems that today is just going to get better and better, first there is my new truck, and now I get to spend Thanks Giving with two new friends and hopefully one new boyfriend.

Though I do not celebrate Thanks Giving, I would like to wish all those that do a belated happy Thanks Giving.