The annual Chili Cook-Off Festival is held every year at the local stockyard in the small town of Singleton, Texas.  As tradition goes, when the leaves begin to fall and the cool air blows in, the people of Singleton start gathering their recipes and planning for the big shindig.  The annual Chili Cook-Off Festival isn’t just any normal cook-off.  The locals gather for food, fun, and entertainment.  Music, bull riding, and dancing are just some of the festivities that compose this event.
 
 This year it was Dixie’s sixteenth birthday and it just happened to fall on the day of the festival.  It was also the year she was going to enter the contest for the first time on her own.  She usually entered the contest with her father, but ever since he remarried to the old hag, Betty Jane, he didn’t find his only daughter a priority in his life.  They didn’t spend much time together anymore. Betty Jane tended to take over Dixie’s father’s life ordering him around and consuming all of his time like a selfish pig.  Old Betty Jane didn’t think too much of it because she would leave her two snotty daughters, Missy and Buffy, to preoccupy Dixie.  They lived all together in a large house about 2 miles outside the city limits on a beautiful ten-acre ranch.  Dixie’s father was very well off due to his successful business in farming and agriculture.  It was obvious that Betty Jane and her two daughters were only around for one reason, the money.  Dixie found herself being cheated out of her father’s love as well as his wealth.  After Betty Jane and her daughters arrived, they consumed all they could buying all the clothes, shoes, and jewelry they could get their gold-digging hands on. Dixie didn’t care all that much though; she was just a country girl content with her Wranglers, Justin boots, and cowboy hat.  Dixie did find herself lonely at times.  She didn’t take a liking to her two stepsisters.  They were from West Virginia, and you know what they say about people from West Virginia. They ain’t nothing but backwards!  They didn’t really like Dixie either.  The made fun of her accent, the way she dressed, and especially her hobby of bull riding.
 
 As the time drew near for the annual Chili Cook-Off, Dixie was quick on the draw.  She found the perfect recipe and knew she would be the first place winner.  While Dixie was working diligently in her room, the smallest of the five-bedroom home, Missy and Buffy paid her a visit.

 “What are you working on Ms. Dixie?” asked Missy.

 “Nothing, just looking through a few recipe books,” replied Dixie.

 “Oh, are you planning on making us dinner tonight? Hmmm….what would I like to have…what about stewed lobster and a nice salad?” said Missy eagerly.

 “No! I want prime rib and a baked potato!” cried Buffy.

 Dixie replied with disgust, “I wouldn’t cook for ya’ll if it was the last thing I did.
Actually, I’m getting ready for the Chili Cook-Off this weekend.”

 The two stepsisters gave Dixie a bitter look and stomped off. Dixie gave a little smirk and kept working.
 
 The day had arrived for the festivities and Dixie had her recipe ready and was hard at work in the kitchen.  She began preparing her ingredients and setting everything out, but to her surprise she couldn’t find any of the ingredients that she had bought to make her first prize chili!  She looked everywhere, in the refrigerator, in the cabinets, and under the sink, but there were no ingredients to be found.  What happened to her food?  Where did it go?  Who would have taken this stuff?  She began pondering the situation, and she thought and thought.

 “Ah Hah! I know who did this! My evil stepsisters! Those little snots…I’ll show them!” Dixie proclaimed!

 She set out to find Missy and Buffy.  She looked all over the house, in the rooms, bedrooms, bathroom, on the verandah, and even out at the barn.  No Missy and no Buffy.  Where had they gone with Dixie’s ingredients? It was getting late and the festival was going to start soon! Dixie was so upset and mad that she just wept all the way back to the house.  What was she going to do now?

 All of a sudden, she began to hear “Dixieland Delight” playing. Right before her very eyes appeared her fairy Godmother, completely dressed in a pair of Carhartt overalls and an awesome cowboy hat!  She was beautiful!  Dixie couldn’t believe her eyes.  Was she in heaven?  She had to take a double take.

 “Oh, my sweet Dixie, what is the matter?” asked her Godmother.

 “Who are you?  What is going on here?” replied Dixie with complete confusion.

 “Why I’m your fairy Godmother, and I’m here to help you win first place prize at the annual Chili Cook-Off!” she replied.

 Dixie was struck with pure amazement.  She couldn’t believe this was actually happening to her.

 She asked her Godmother, “How’s this gonna happen? I don’t have anything to cook with, everything has been taken.”

 “Oh, you don’t have to worry my sweet Dixie. We’ll fix that!” consoled her Godmother.

 Here again “Dixieland Delight” begins to mysteriously play, and with a quick rope and “Sally Ho!” from her Godmother, Dixie is suddenly presented with the most amazing pot of chili in the South!

 “Wow!” cried Dixie, “This is great! I’m sure to win now! But, Fairy Godmother, it’s gotten so late. How will I get there and what will I wear?”

 “Oh, not to worry; I’ve got it all planned for you,” replied her Godmother.
With another quick rope and “Sally Ho!” there appeared a beautiful John Deere tractor awaiting her presence! Dixie was so excited! She looked down and to her surprise, she had instantly changed into the newest pair of Justin boots, complete with a pair of Wranglers and brand new cowboy hat! Dixie was ready to ride! Dixie saddled up on the John Deere and took off riding into the sunset.

 “Now remember, sweet Dixie, don’t be home too late. After midnight, everything will turn back into its original becoming,” promised her Fairy Godmother.

 And with that, Dixie was gone! She arrived shortly and quickly registered her prize pot of chili. She was so excited; she could hardly wait for the tasting.  As she was talking to the judges, she noticed her snotty-nosed stepsisters in the corner.  She knew it!  They had made chili with her ingredients, and to top it all off, they were moving in on the cowboy she has had her eyes on for quite a while now.  She was enraged with anger! She immediately had a plan.  She would win her cowboy and the Chili Cook-Off and show them who was top cowgirl in this town! Determination was Dixie’s middle name by the way, and with that, she darted over to her cowboy, took him by the arm and pulled him out to the dance floor.  Of course, her them song, “Dixieland Delight” came over the speakers and Dixie and her cowboy clogged the night away.  In the meantime, Missy and Buffy were left sitting with the bulls in the pin that smelled of manure.  Needless to say, they were not the life of the party anymore. Dixie’s night couldn’t have gone any better. She won the cowboy of her dreams and, of course, her chili was first prize!
 
 Dixie was head over heals and ready to two-step the night away, till she looked up at the clock that hung sideways on the wall of the barn.

 “Oh dear!” she cried.

 It was five minutes till twelve; she had to “Sally Ho!” on home before it was all over! She dashed for the John Deere tractor, leaving her cowboy behind. She left only one trace of evidence for her search.  Dixie drove home as fast as she could, making it just in time for her John Deere to turn back into the old Snapper lawn mower that it was.  She had done it!  She was so proud of herself, but there was one draw back.  She had to leave the cowboy of her dreams at the festival with her gold-digging, back-stabbing, snotty stepsisters! But she could do nothing, only wait patiently and hope for the best.

 The next morning, she was weeping crocodile tears in her small bedroom.  She was so sad that she had left her cowboy.  What was she to do?  Coincidentally, she heard galloping and footsteps.  There was someone at the ranch, but who was it at this time of day?  She listened carefully to the voices downstairs. To her surprise, it was her cowboy!  He found her cowboy hat and wanted to return it to his newfound love. She dashed into the great room to find her stepsisters talking to him.

 “Do you know where my sweet Dixie is?” asked the cowboy.

 Missy and Buffy just snickered and pretended not to know whom he was even talking about.  Dixie flew in just in time. Her cowboy turned around and with a kick of his boots, ran over to her.

 “There you are! I’ve been looking all over this town for you!” said the cowboy.

 Dixie replied, “Thank you so much for returning, I thought I lost you forever!”

 Her cowboy reassured her, “Of course not, sweet Dixie. We are forever!”

 Dixie and her cowboy rode off into the morning sun together as “Dixieland Delight” serenaded their departure. Dixie turned around to her stepsisters and said,

 “That’ll teach ya to mess with Texas!”

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