Mary Frances O'Brien was an ambitious

 A dog named Scout

Page 1.

Mary Frances O'Brien was an ambitious High School senior with a bright future and a desire to succeed. She was beautiful, intelligent and popular in school with a passion for science and mathematics. With a 4.5 grade point average she had already been accepted by a number of prestigious universities making her family extremely proud. She worked part-time as an assistant manager at a nearby pharmacy after school and used the money to pay for her first car. It was a 1965 Red Volkswagen Bug recently restored as an Auto Shop project at her school. Mary downplayed her position at the pharmacy pointing out to her parents that she and the owner were the only employees as well as the owner being a close family friend.  Life in Mary's eye's was a gift from God in her world and she cherished her family and friends never allowing the sometimes harsh negative realities of the world to overtake her loving spirit. She was an old fashion girl of sorts for a young woman not yet eighteen and her mother often commented that Mary was an old soul at heart. This relationship often brought mother and daughter closer together when life’s many challenges meant the most. Mary was an only child, however; her two dearest friend's a horse named “Cinder” and a golden retriever named “Scout” made up for that. At almost 10 years old Scout still had the spirit of a puppy and shared all of Mary's deepest secrets, losses and greatest triumphs.

Scout just wasn't a family pet but a loved and adored member of the O'Brien family. He was Mary's best friend and the center of her life through thick and thin. They grew up together with pictures of their adventures hanging in just about every room of their home. There was one of Scout when he was six months old surly not enjoying one of his first visits to the Veterinarian for something more than vaccinations. On this occasion he received four sutures just above his left eyebrow after an encounter with a neighbors pig who refused to play ball? And there was another when Scout brought an uninjured baby skunk into the kitchen and dropped it into his water bowl and immediately returned with another. But the best was two summers ago when on one particular Sunday afternoon Scout drug a fallen tree branch into the living room with a large hornets nest attached to it. Mary's Dad was attacked and stung by several angry hornets during his favorite football game. To make matters worse he was accidentally sprayed in the face with hornet spray when Mary's Mom came to the rescue on full auto? 

Cinder on the other hand was Mary's anchor to nature and a horse she and her father rescued from Nevada almost 9 years ago. Cinder was one of those “Chestnut Mare Beware” type of horses but Mary knew different and so did Cinder. Cinder was fearless but did have her moments but she bonded to Mary and accepted Scout as one of her own.  Everyday after school and before work both Mary and Scout cared for Cinder on the families fifty acre ranch just a mile south of town. Often the trio rode the property together with Cinder at times allowing Scout a ride on her back while sitting right in front of Mary. Sometimes Scout would run ahead of them chasing ground squirrels which he could never catch but he did alert Cinder of their hazardous leg breaking mounds and dens. Together on some lazy summer days they watched the slow moving clouds drift across a pale blue sky or spend many a late evening under a silvery moon lit night eating S'mores cooked over a camp fire and watching the stars. They were more than just a girl with a horse and a dog, they were what was good about life in this world.