Barrel Racing!

The sweat drips off of my forehead, I wait. My horse starts to prance as I hear the soft gravel underneath him.  I start to worry. The next girl goes in, 21.20 I start to get scared.

I hear the crowd roar for the next girl. I look back up and see that the girl has already shown up. I glance up at her time, 20.07. That’s fast! I get a feeling that it’s going to be tough to beat that one.  The announcer’s earsplitting screeching tone comes on over the intercom, “we can all take a quick break so the horses can calm down “.the music starts to play a weird song” You spin my head right round right round, like a record player”. The announcers awful voice comes back on, “Alisha’s on deck, Sammie’s in the hole”. I wonder what will happen when it will be our time to go. I sit and wait a while more.

 I sit up in my saddle. I hear the faint sounds of people talking, dogs barking, and my one little mother hollering. I hear the most amazing sound ever, my own sister that I have not seen or heard from in 10 years, she starts to holler so loud that I hear her like the sound’s sitting right next to me.   I see the crowd stand up, they start to cheer. I can’t believe it. They open the gate, as the rusted gate makes the worst screech   I have ever heard. I walk in; I hear the silence of the crowd. The adrenaline rushes through my body. I look up and kick. We rush around the first barrel; I hear the soft wet dirt squish to the ground, some of it flying up and soaring out of the arena. I look up at the second as we race around it. I hear my mother holler, “kick, Kick, kick! “  I start to feel the wind in my hair.  I sit back and look at the last one, I cannot believe it. As we slide to the last barrel I see the ground moving faster. I move my eyes to the crowd they gasp as my horse trips. He gathers his feet and moves up again, mud flies, and we drift around the barrel.                

The music in the backgrounds still playing” You spin my head right round right round, like a record player”. We head back home as the crowd roars. I hear the sounds of the people drift way as my spurs jingle a little more. My eyes get motion sickness, as they move all around. I see myself looking through his ears. The sound of the faded music now fades more. I observe the mud fly. I look down at my horse as he sweats more than ever. I look up to see some people standing at the rusted gate, just waiting. I start to kick more than ever.  The spurs sound like thuds as it hits the side of him. I hear this sound more than ever. Now I feel the adrenaline rush through every part of my body that I had. I feel like I have lost everything I have worked so hard to do.  The time is flying faster as I start to slow down with the kicking. I hear the crowd start to scream. I feel like I am free right now, I feel no pain rushing through my body. I just feel the freedom of running, and running so fast is what I want to do.   I start to turn home; I watch his back muscle’s move, with a slight twitch in it. I listen to the sound of the ground getting hit like bullets getting fired by a gun. I pull his head to the left, as his body comes to a jog.  He starts to slow back down. And I feel the strength in his body to carry me as fast as he did.  The sound of the music comes back in as I sort of get my mind back. My mother stops screaming, the dogs stop barking, and music is now coming back. I feel that my whole life has been a whole rush. I look up to see my mom almost in tears. Everybody’s shouting and I feel on top of the world. I hear the crowd roar once again. Hurray, yes, ha-ha. I listen to the screeching of not only the rusted gate but the old man’s voice. “Wow! That was a fast one. 19.21 seconds” that’s the fastest one yet”! I walk out of the old gate. It has been one of the greatest times of my life.

The Unknown Disease

It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and the birds were singing. September was right around the corner and everyday now someone came over.  A week ago my sister came over and showed off her new baby boy (Bentley). Now KaRanda was almost up to the door step.

                 I opened the door before she knocked. She looked at me with a smile and said,”that is a beautiful baby colt you have out there”!  “What are you talking about”? I asked. “Come here” she ordered.  We walked out to the dry lot. I glanced at the new baby that was on the ground.  “That horse was not exposed to have her baby until next month” I added to her gaze. She seemed like she had never seen a baby before in her life. I really did not care much, but since it was morning I guess she could help me feed the horses. I ordered her to get the wagon and start feeding the barn, and I would take the outside sense there was more.

                After we finished feeding the horses, I walked up to the barn to do a fast look around. The news said wild horses were running around with some kind of disease or something. All the horses looked really good and all were eating just fine too. I asked KaRanda to walk down and get the mare and her new baby. As for I would get the stall cleaned and ready for her. Most of the nice horses were outside though; I really enjoyed it when feeding time came because it was so close to the hay stack. She walked up with the baby wobbling beside her. “Right in here”! I shouted! I closed the gate, closing her in. The mare was not enthused about it the whole boxed up thing but her baby did not care too much. I watched the baby nurse for a while, and then headed back up to the house.  I knew nothing much was going to happen because the only horses in the barn at that time were a really expensive stallion and now the two new ones.

                 In the house was so much cooler than outside I never really liked the cold but when I came down to the hot or cold in the middle of summer than I would choose the cold. I grabbed a glass of cold water and gave it to her. She looked at me with the weirdest look on her face ever. “Oh right” I said with a grin. She can’t stand not tasting anything when it’s in her mouth. “So what do you want to do today”? I asked. “Well can we ride horses today”? She said with a happy look up on her face. “Yeah, let’s do that”! I smiled as we both started for the door. We raced to get down to the dry lot where the two horses that we would ride would be. I pulled the halter up around Patsy and she did the same to Peppy. I walked her out the gate as KaRanda followed. We trotted the horses up to the barn, tied them up, and saddled them. “This bit is a training bit.  It’s very painful so don’t pull to hard on it, ok?” “ok” she smiled. We got on and started to ride away.

                 “Look! Look! The deer! Wow” I said shouting so loud that all the deer heard me and started to run. “Come on” I screamed chasing them up the hill. We both ran up a tall hill. Then all the sudden we stopped. “Look, what’s happening”! She screamed. I jumped off the tall horse. It was strange. All the deer were all stopped at the top of the hill. They looked at us and snorted. What was happening? I wondered. Could this be what the news was talking about? But who would know? I looked at KaRanda and she did not even look alive. Her eyes were black and her hands froze.” KaRanda!” her body slouched! And all of a sudden, out of nowhere her body fell to the ground. I ran over to her and picked her heavy head. “KaRanda” I whispered, “are you okay?” Her eyes were blacker than coal. I watched the animals gather and run down the hill. I lifted her up and cradled her. I laid her up over the back of the horse. I then got up and held on to her. We walked down the hill and started to the house.

I was watching the angered animals gathering. Running with the deer was Peppy. My other horse but at that moment I did not care. I stopped on the way to the house to pull her closer. Finally when we got to the house I slid off and then pulled her off. I open the door with the hand that I was not using and laid her down on the soft family couch. I ran outside pulling everything off and opening the gate that leads to the pasture. Just a few minutes later I opened the door. Closing it behind me I was scared. KaRanda was not lying on the couch anymore; rather, she was standing on it. Her eyes were opened but this time they were red, beat red. She started to scream. I ran towards her. She ran towards me. I fell to the ground hitting my head. I looked up and there she was standing over me with her fist in the air I knew she was stronger than me and I was going to die!

 I tried to move away. She keeps trying to hit me. Lucky for me she kept hitting the floor. I grabbed her leg as she fell. I got up and ran to the back door. I jumped out and on the ground. She was right behind me. I watched every horse that we owned gather and then the dogs and now the deer, something was taking over them. I turned around and then it hit me. This all started when the new baby came. I knew it was something to do with it. I turned around and there she was, but this time it was not just her fist it was a knife. She came after me as fast as lightning. She stabbed me right in the lower stomach. 

December 12, 2011. There was snow on the ground. Looking up at the cycling, I knew I was in the hospital. I glanced around finding a nurse, “nurse! Nurse!” I screamed. She walked up asking me how I was. “I’m okay” I said. “But where am I”? “You’re in the hospital; you’ve been here a little more than a year”. “Where’s KaRanda”?  I asked. “Oh the girl that was with you” yes, she died last year, along with all the animals that was at your house, I’m so so sorry by the way”. My brother came in the room. He grabbed my hand and said,” You’ve been in coma, do you remember anything”? “Yes I do, I remember KaRanda trying to kill me, why”? He said “They said it had to do with the new colt we got that year”.  “Can I go home now please”?