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Good Old Days Gianna P.
A tiny animal ran in front of me, and as if in slow motion, I felt myself fall. I landed on a huge log in my way. CRUNCH. Wincing in pain, I tried to sit up but only found darkness and pain, a whole bucket load of pain.
I trembled with fear knowing that I have to ride again or I would never ride again, I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block the terrifying image of me being trampled to death. I bit my lip hard and swung my leg over the large animal. The second my butt hit its back I swung my leg back over dismounting, as my legs hit the ground they trembled and I fell to the ground. Blood rushed from my lip like a river. Quickly I jumped on my feet, pressing my shirt against my lips to slow the bleeding, and ran trying to put as much distance from me and the animal as possible. I ran all the way to our small cottage that was miles away, not stopping or looking back once. My lungs burned and my vision blurred, when I finally collapsed at the doorstep. I sat on the doorstep trying to regain my breath.
The leaves danced in the autumn breeze, begging someone to play with them. I sighed, shaking my head sadly knowing that I had at least tried, and trying is better than nothing. As if the leaves knew I couldn't do it they drifted away thinking at least they tried as well. With my boots that weighed a ton, it took me forever to stand up. I looked up into the dimming sky and breathed heavily rubbing my hands together to keep me warm.
It was starting to get dark and I knew I would have to go help with the chores. None of my family knew I was scared of those huge killing beasts, but they guessed it. It's not like they would understand, they all loved my parent’s business. All 4 of my siblings loved working them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, all of them except me. If they knew they would all be disgusted with me if I told them so I just kept my mouth shut.
I was the one who was supposed to keep running the business after they died. That is why I tried to act like I cared, not that I did, I was always the first one to volunteer to sweep, mow the lawn, or anything that did not include those killing beasts. A lot of the time I was forced to walk them or feed them but I wasn't really scared of them, I was scared of riding them ever since I had my accident.
A year ago I was the typical ranch girl, rode all the time, and spent the rest of my time hanging out with them. I spent all my extra time preparing for the for the end of year rodeo, it was like a week before the rodeo, and I had finished practicing and I went over a log, it was a good size log and there was a yapping dog that spooked my horse, I fell on the log, rewarding me a long ride to the hospital. In the end, I had broken both my wrists, twisted my ankle, and broken three ribs.
I knew one day I would have to get back on and ride to face my fears, but today was not the day, and neither would tomorrow, more a month from now, even a year from now, or maybe never.
Weeks passed and I still haven't gotten the courage to ride. I woke up early in the morning, quickly got dressed, and went out to do the chores. The day went by with a flash and the sun was starting to set when my sister called me.
“Tess can you give me a hand here” my seven-year-old sister yelled.
“Of course, “ I said walking slowly trying not to show any fear. My sister had her own stubborn pony that would not standstill. He was the only one that I actually liked. “What do you need?” I asked
“I need you to cowgirl-up and teach him how to behave,” she said
No, anything but that, there is no way that she could expect me to just hop on him and pretend like everything was okay. What had my father said a hundred times? Oh yeah that if you are scared you can’t let anyone know, you have to keep your mask up and not trust anyone because there is a good chance that they could use it to blackmail you.
Remembering my father's words reluctantly, I swung my leg over his short back. It would be like a 2-foot fall if my sister's pony was in that mood. Of course, knowing my luck he was. The second I was on him he took off bucking. I could sit on any horse's back, that is why I used to be my family's daredevil. In fact, now that I faced my fear, I remembered how much I missed doing this all the time. Without riding it felt like half of me was missing. When I was finished I told my sister,
“You owe me a favor now and do you know what that is?” she gulped.
“No,” she said nervously, I smiled
“Can you please go tack up Dacoda? We are going on a trail ride.” A smile lit up her face. I knew how much she had missed going on trail rides with me. Ten minutes later she came back with a fully tacked-up Dacoda. I mounted and together we rode into the sunset laughing, remembering the good old days.
The End
© All Rights Reserved
I trembled with fear knowing that I have to ride again or I would never ride again, I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block the terrifying image of me being trampled to death. I bit my lip hard and swung my leg over the large animal. The second my butt hit its back I swung my leg back over dismounting, as my legs hit the ground they trembled and I fell to the ground. Blood rushed from my lip like a river. Quickly I jumped on my feet, pressing my shirt against my lips to slow the bleeding, and ran trying to put as much distance from me and the animal as possible. I ran all the way to our small cottage that was miles away, not stopping or looking back once. My lungs burned and my vision blurred, when I finally collapsed at the doorstep. I sat on the doorstep trying to regain my breath.
The leaves danced in the autumn breeze, begging someone to play with them. I sighed, shaking my head sadly knowing that I had at least tried, and trying is better than nothing. As if the leaves knew I couldn't do it they drifted away thinking at least they tried as well. With my boots that weighed a ton, it took me forever to stand up. I looked up into the dimming sky and breathed heavily rubbing my hands together to keep me warm.
It was starting to get dark and I knew I would have to go help with the chores. None of my family knew I was scared of those huge killing beasts, but they guessed it. It's not like they would understand, they all loved my parent’s business. All 4 of my siblings loved working them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, all of them except me. If they knew they would all be disgusted with me if I told them so I just kept my mouth shut.
I was the one who was supposed to keep running the business after they died. That is why I tried to act like I cared, not that I did, I was always the first one to volunteer to sweep, mow the lawn, or anything that did not include those killing beasts. A lot of the time I was forced to walk them or feed them but I wasn't really scared of them, I was scared of riding them ever since I had my accident.
A year ago I was the typical ranch girl, rode all the time, and spent the rest of my time hanging out with them. I spent all my extra time preparing for the for the end of year rodeo, it was like a week before the rodeo, and I had finished practicing and I went over a log, it was a good size log and there was a yapping dog that spooked my horse, I fell on the log, rewarding me a long ride to the hospital. In the end, I had broken both my wrists, twisted my ankle, and broken three ribs.
I knew one day I would have to get back on and ride to face my fears, but today was not the day, and neither would tomorrow, more a month from now, even a year from now, or maybe never.
Weeks passed and I still haven't gotten the courage to ride. I woke up early in the morning, quickly got dressed, and went out to do the chores. The day went by with a flash and the sun was starting to set when my sister called me.
“Tess can you give me a hand here” my seven-year-old sister yelled.
“Of course, “ I said walking slowly trying not to show any fear. My sister had her own stubborn pony that would not standstill. He was the only one that I actually liked. “What do you need?” I asked
“I need you to cowgirl-up and teach him how to behave,” she said
No, anything but that, there is no way that she could expect me to just hop on him and pretend like everything was okay. What had my father said a hundred times? Oh yeah that if you are scared you can’t let anyone know, you have to keep your mask up and not trust anyone because there is a good chance that they could use it to blackmail you.
Remembering my father's words reluctantly, I swung my leg over his short back. It would be like a 2-foot fall if my sister's pony was in that mood. Of course, knowing my luck he was. The second I was on him he took off bucking. I could sit on any horse's back, that is why I used to be my family's daredevil. In fact, now that I faced my fear, I remembered how much I missed doing this all the time. Without riding it felt like half of me was missing. When I was finished I told my sister,
“You owe me a favor now and do you know what that is?” she gulped.
“No,” she said nervously, I smiled
“Can you please go tack up Dacoda? We are going on a trail ride.” A smile lit up her face. I knew how much she had missed going on trail rides with me. Ten minutes later she came back with a fully tacked-up Dacoda. I mounted and together we rode into the sunset laughing, remembering the good old days.
The End
© All Rights Reserved
