The Rodeo
                

We are facing the fence; you’re antsy, prancing like you're standing on hot coals. I can feel each muscle as you move; your pounding heart is moving my legs; you're making me nervous. Then I kiss to you and let you go. You’re moving with such speed and grace; I feel like I’m floating on air, as if we are one. You have wings, and we are flying.
We have been together for two years now. Just like everyone else, we fight sometimes, but we truly do love each other. People say he is my everything, he means everything, I don’t know what I’d do without him. I feel the same way about you. You’re gorgeous, you’re everything I ever wanted: big and kind, very tall, fifteen hands tall, and twelve hundred pounds. You’re my addiction. You’re my horse.
Dell is what I call you, well most of the time when I’m not mad at you. But mostly it's just Dell. We run together. Barrels and poles that is; we also just walk sometimes. Or we can really fly down the arena chasing after that rank steer we are so desperate to catch. Yes, that’s right. We rodeo. We are member of the Missouri Family Rodeo Association, to be exact. We have been running there every other Saturday since February.
We don’t always do the best, but we certainly aren’t the worst either. We practice everyday; I see the look on your face when I come outside. I know what you’re thinking, “Great, here she comes again…..” I can see the expression on your face. I know if you could talk you’d say, “Why do we have to practice all the time? We ain’t gonna win anyway!” But this Saturday will be different.
   I go outside, packing all my junk I always think I need, but I never even use it. I catch your eye; you know what today is: rodeo day. You actually let me catch you and patiently stand while I brush and saddle you. Dad hollers at me, “Sis, we need to go!” I load you in the trailer, and then we are off.
On the long drive there I listen to my music. I try to clear my head, but there is a thought that seems to hang in my mind a lot longer than I want it to. The thought of having a wreck with Dell lingers in my mind. For those who don’t know, barrel racing isn’t any sissy sport. We have serious wrecks and fall just as much as bull riders. Your horse could fall down, fall on you, or break a leg, break your leg. Anything is possible. When you’re going 35 miles an hour, bad things can happen; it’s every barrel racer’s fear. I mean, let’s face it, if barrel racing were easy, they’d call it football.
We finally arrive. We are early; I’m glad because that way I can get a feel for the arena and see what would be our best approach to winning. After warming up, I leave Dell tied to the trailer in the shade. Now we have to wait. The wait kills me every time. I get to feeling nervous, and Dell can feel my energy. Then he gets nervous, too. I have to calm down. I check on him frequently, too frequently, actually. I try to keep myself busy to keep my mind off being nervous.
Finally, the time comes for me to mount up. I put on your leg gear, gently slide the bridle on your head, and smoothly climb on your back. We trot a couple of circles to stretch; you know what time it is. We slowly make our way to the gate to sit and watch the younger girls run. I’m first in the 15-19. I hate being first.
Mr. Trenton Takker calls my name. “Alright, Miss Stacy, it's your time to shine!” he booms over the speaker. “Piper is a Cass County cowgirl, now a senior at Pinedale High School.” He tells everyone, not like they don’t already know. He tells them that every time I run, but that’s alright. I walk into the arena and turn facing the bucking shoots. I gather my reins, take a deep breath, and softly whisper, “Now.”
I touch you with my spur, and you spin around with great speed. We race to the first barrel. I check you back, and before I know it, we are turning the second barrel. We are flying to the third and final turn. I check you back to slow us down.  I get ready to have you turn, But you’re already turning. You hit the barrel with your shoulder. The barrel falls over tripping you. I know what’s coming. I hold my breath and catch a look at Trenton while a tear runs down my cheek. You fall and do a sommersalt with me still on your back. You fall on your side, letting out a loud and painful groan. I’m trapped under you. I look up and see Trenton running my direction, Dad is yelling or crying I can’t tell, Kenny is holding my head tightly, quietly talking to me. I like Kenny; he is nice, he opens the gate for me, rakes my barrels, and gets my hat for me when I lose it. I look at him in his big blue eyes. My voice cracks, but I manage a, “Hi Kenny.” More tears come. He starts crying too; the world around me goes black.
I wake up and at first I have no idea where I am. I look around. My dad is holding my mom. She is crying. My brother is sitting on an ugly couch in the corner. Trenton is here, too. He and my brother are quietly whispering about something. I can tell it's serious. My eyes keep wandering around the care room. Then it hits me, I’m in a hospital.
I try to sit up, but my legs won’t move. I clear my throat, and everyone rushes to me. Mom is still crying. I look at all their faces with a confused expression. I ask mom, “What happened to me?” She looks at me and shakes her head. She starts crying even harder, and Dad takes her outside my room. My brother goes back to his corner. Trenton is still sitting on my bed. He looks at me with watery eyes, “I will always be your best friend no matter what, and if you ever need anything, tell me” he manages to barely say. “Piper…. The doctor said…” my brother storms out of the room, but Trenton just ignores him. He starts again, “Piper, the doctor said you won’t ever be able to walk again.” Trenton starts to cry. I’ve never seen him cry before. “Jack and Hannah are on their way. They will be here as soon as they can.” He chokes, he starts to leave and then all of the sudden something in me snaps. “Wait!!” I scream. “Where is Dell?!” Trenton begins to cry even harder, “Piper, I’m so sorry I know how much he meant to you, but Dell is dead. He broke his neck when you two fell; it killed him instantly.” I begin to scream, I can’t stop screaming. When I have nothing left it turns to a muffled sob. Trenton has been standing there the whole time just staring at the floor. He finally moves over to that ugly couch in the corner and falls asleep.
I always thought those stories were just a bad dream, a fragment of the imagination meant to scare you. Those nightmares that I had heard of but never thought much about, because of course they would never happen to me. Mom had always said to be careful, and I was. I had been riding since before I could walk. It’s like a second nature to me. But now I’m lying in a hospital bed, and I’ll never walk again. But most importantly, I lost the only thing that made my life worth living. Dell was the love of my life, but more than anything, he was my best friend. I loved him, and he loved me. That can never be replaced.
  Now I’m just another one of those horror stories that everyone hears about. Now everything is slowly fading. Now I am truly nothing.