ANOTHER part of a story

This is a story called the unicorn hunt. (oh, and don't worry. None will die. At the end, they will be friends with the unicorns.)

Chapter One

Becky Crow awkwardly sat on the comfortable taxi seat; she’d never been treated so well. She’d spent her whole life living on a dirty, muddy, revolting pig farm, with nothing but two brothers, a mother and a father. Her room was the size of a pig itself, with its tiny bed and broken window. Her brother, Thomas, was responsible for that damage.

            So with her pig-room and that shattered window, Becky was entering TAUHH. Those five letters stood for The Annual Unicorn Horn Hunt. Becky had never really considered entering the hunt, until last summer when she learned from her aunt how to identify plants and fruits. She had started out with telling pumpkins and squash apart and, over the summer, learned how to look at any green thing with a stem, and pronounce its name perfectly.

            Becky knew from her mouse-sized television, that TAUHH always needed one hunter, one navigator, one animal-scarer-offer and one identifier. That would be her! She could just imagine a big pink banner with bubble letters written across that were saying BECKY CROW, THE GREATEST IDENTIFIER EVER! Well, she might have that banner or she might not. Getting into TAUHH was very hard; people from across the country came to win the amazing prize. Two thousand dollars, a free visit to the famous museum in which the horns would rest, and a twenty-minute period of being on television is what Becky hoped she’d win. She knew four lucky children would win it; she wanted to be one of them.

            “Only ten minutes until we’ll be there,” Grunted the taxi man. Becky nodded her head.

            “Sir, how much do you think it will cost?” Becky feebly asked him. She had borrowed her parent’s money to ride on the taxi. If she didn’t have enough, she didn’t want to mess with this guy. The taxi driver just grunted and blew his nose.

            “Sir? Did you hear me?” Becky asked him, wiping bits of mucus off her overalls. She wondered if she should have worn a dress, or something more proper. But, she reconsidered it; then her dress would be snotty and full of green gunk.

            “Yeah, lady, I heard ya. It’ll cost ’bout forty bucks when we get to… to wherever that stinking place is called.” Spat the taxi man. Becky felt what was in her pocket: one pencil, one eraser, one piece of chewed up gum and a bunch of money in a rubber band. She took out the bundle of cash and counted the money as the taxi zoomed over a bump. She had fifty-five dollars.

            “Phew,” Sighed Becky. She sat back on the fuzzy, gray seat, relaxed, and looked out the window. Tons of children who were about her age (eleven years old) were tugging their parent’s sleeves and whining to get to TAUHH.

            “I don’t have to get dragged to TAUHH. I can ride in a fancy taxi.” Becky teased the children, mumbling every word so they couldn’t hear.

            “We’re here, so pay me the juicy money! No waitin’, I’m gonna make a couple hundred dollars today!” Suddenly grunted the taxi man, his mouth full of hamburger. Becky jolted her head away from the window. She reached into her pocket, gave the taxi driver forty dollars and jumped out of the car. The taxi driver noisily kissed the dollars and put them in a compartment with a lock on it. Then he angrily pushed the gas pedal and zoomed away. Becky coughed and gagged as the stinky gasoline filled her lungs.

            She then looked up, up, up at the towering stone building that stood in front of her. It had two sets of stairs leading up to its massive oak door. 

            “Oh, golly.” Muttered Becky. She started fidgeting and shuffling with her sweaty hands.

            A lot of people stopped and stared at her. To them she was a muddy, ugly pig in overalls that were obviously hand-me-downs.

            “Hi guys.” Becky prompted. The kids shook their heads and kept walking.

            “This is not going so well,” Grumbled Becky.

            “Um, excuse me?” A plump, rosy girl tapped Becky’s shoulder politely. Becky turned around to find a surprisingly friendly girl.

            “Yeah?” Becky answered her.

            “Are you going to TAUHH?”

            “Yep.”

            “Well, just so you know, it starts in about twenty minutes.” The rosy girl said, pointing to the large church clock.

            “Oh, golly! Um, er, are you entering to?” Becky asked her, rushing to the door. The girl caught up with her.

            “Yeah! My name is Matilda. But everyone calls me Millie. What about you?” Millie asked Becky, smiling into her big, brown eyes.

            “I’m Becky.” Becky shyly answered, pushing the heavy door. They stopped talking and walked to the front desk. After the line had cleared, it was their turn. Becky found a lean, wrinkly lady with huge, red, pinched lips. She had glasses on a chain on the tip of her pointed nose. 

            “Are you here for TAUHH?” Snapped the old woman. Becky nodded.

            “Name?” asked the woman.

            “Becky, Miss.” Becky answered.

            “Age?” Snapped the woman.

            “Eleven.” Becky shyly croaked.

            “Age?” Yelled the woman, not hearing Becky’s quiet earlier response.

            “Eleven.” Becky said sharply. The woman nodded and ripped a piece of paper from a file.

            “Go to room 42 and find a desk. Fill this out. Then go to room 43 and talk to the manager there. He’ll tell you what to do.” The woman shoved the paper into Becky’s sweaty palms and gave her a pencil.

            “I’ve already got a pencil.” Becky said, patting her pocket and handed the woman her pencil back.

            “Alright, then. Now scram.” Snapped the woman like a turtle and pushed Becky away.

            “Bye!” Becky called to Millie as she walked down the wide corridor. It had velvet rugs and chandeliers on the ceiling. With her oily finger, she gently rubbed the glass; she had never been in such a fancy, garnished place.

            Becky found a wide oak door with golden numbers on it saying: Room 42. She quietly slipped in and found at least five hundred desks in the quiet room. It too, was garnished with velvet and chandeliers. 

            Becky found an empty seat at the end of the room. She made sure both the seats were empty; she wanted Millie to sit with her.

            Becky picked up the sheet and took out her pencil and separate eraser. She started with writing her name and age at the top. She started to read.