"How was she over the weekend?" I ask Bree as we walk through the forest behind her house to get to the shed where Gold has been living for the past two and a half weeks. I pull my backpack closer to me, trying to to get it ripped on any of the branches.
"She's the size of a full grown lion now, even though when I did research it said that it takes way longer than that for a lion cub to grow to it's full size," Bree says, pushing some of the lower tree branches out of her way. We make it to the shed and walk inside, not seeing Gold anywhere.
"She's probably out hunting," I say. Bree nods and we sit down in the shed, talking out Gold and her abnormal rate of growing. Soon an hour passes by and there's still no sign of Gold, who normally gets here a couple minutes after we do.
"We should go look for her" Bree says, standing up and brushing the dirt off her skirt. She holds a hand out to me and I grab it, letting her pull me up off the ground. I take the bag with me but otherwise we leave all the rest of our stuff in the shed, besides our phones.
We walk out and further into the woods, following the trail of footprints down to a stream where they stop. I shake my head and realize that Gold has to be an expert hunter by now, she knows all the tricks. We walk across the stream on a tree that fell over and keep walking.
"Is your bracelet warm or is it just mine?" Bree asks me. I look over at her before gaping down at my bracelet, which is getting warmer by the second. I look up and see that there is no sunlight because of the clouds, and even then the bands haven't gotten hot before.
"That's weird," I mumble. Bree nods and we keep walking forward, the bracelets getting hotter as we do. They don't get to an unbearably hot heat but they noticeably get warmer the farther from the shed, and into the woods, we get.
"I have a theory. Let's turn around for a bit," I say to Bree. She nods and we walk back towards the stream. I feel the band around my wrist cool down after a while before it starts getting colder. I look up at Bree and she nods. We turn back around and go in the other direction, and the bands start to hear up again.
"It's like a game of hot and cold," she whispers. I nod and we keep walking. We make it to a clearing and the bands go back to a normal temperature almost immediately. I look over at Bree and she shrugs, looking around the clearing.
"Oh! There's Gold!" She says, pointing over at where Gold is basking in the sun. We walk over to Gold and pet her while she left her head up to lick our hands. Bree was not lying when she said that Gold has gotten larger over the weekend, she's now the size of a full grown lion.
"The bracelets are like trackers that can help us figure out where Gold is. Is that even possible?" I ask Bree. She responds saying that she has no idea, looking down at her bracelet in awe. I check the time on my phone and curse.
"It's already four thirty and I promised my mom I would be home by five," I groan. We get up off the ground and quickly start walking back towards the shed. Gold trots beside us, happily sniffing the trees and anything else she comes in contact with.
Gold walks over and nudges the bag in my pocket. I stop and take it out, opening it up for her to look in. She puts her snout in the bag and pulls out a miniature saddle. She sets it on the ground and I look over at Bree, confused.
Gold roars and the saddle starts growing. Me and Bree back up and watch in awe as the saddle becomes bigger. It stops growing after a minute and I can clearly see two seats on the saddle. Gold lays down on the floor and nudges the saddle with her nose.
"She can give us a ride home?" Bree says shrugging after we get over the awe of the rapidly growing saddle. I nod and take the saddle off the ground, strapping it onto Gold. I sit on the front saddle and Beer sits down behind me.
"Take us to the woods near my house," I say to Gold. She starts running and the trees move past us as fast as if we were in a race car. She makes it to the woods near my house in no time and I jump off, letting her behind the ears and thanking her.
Bree moves forward and sits in the front saddle, staring at me from where she's sitting on top of Gold. I wave to her and she waves back before telling Gold to take her home. Gold licks my hand and then takes off, going back to the shed.
The waning light reflects on Bree's soft brown skin, enveloping her in a soft, angelic glow. I smile and wave at her, seeing her smile back at me as Gold runs through the trees. She's absolutely stunning as she rides on the back of Gold towards her house. 
I realize what I thought of her and I shake my head, denying the fact that I just thought she is cute. I shake my head and look back at them, seeing that they're farther away.
I watch them until they're out of eyesight and then walk back to my house. I realize I forgot my backpack but I decide to just text Bree to bring it to me in the morning, as I didn't have any homework today. I make it to the front porch and open the door, walking inside.
"Where's your backpack?" My mom says, walking out of the kitchen to come see me. I close the door and sit down, taking my shoes off. I set them on the shoe rack and stand up, turning to where my mom is watching me.
" I forgot it at Bree's house. I don't have any homework though so she'll just bring it to me tomorrow, " I tell her. She nods and walks back to the kitchen, yelling back that she's making chicken and gravy. I smile and walk to the downstairs bathroom to wash up before walking into the kitchen to eat.