The farm was beautiful when they arrived. Anna could smell the animals, the fresh air, and… something else she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was just the great outdoors she smelled. She was born and raised in the city, but often felt like she should have been born and raised in the country or wilds somewhere. Fantasy stories that took place in forests and the countryside often appealed to her more than stories about cities. She loved camping, though she wasn’t keen on having to walk to smelly bathrooms half a mile away when the urge struck, especially when it was late at night. Still, the day trips to lakes and for hikes were always fun, as were the night hikes and stargazing opportunities.
Today, she had
just arrived at the farm with her Aunt and Uncle, two cousins, her sister, and
her brother. Why were they here? No one told her. She was only told they were
going on a trip and they would stay the night at a family friend’s house. Anna had
no idea who anyone was here. Well, she didn’t know the owners. But they seemed
nice enough and she didn’t really need to know more than that. Her aunt and uncle
knew them, and she trusted her aunt and uncle.
For the
first couple of hours, the farm was fun. There were chicks to watch and pet.
There were animals in the pasture, horses running about to admire. Ample things
for an eight-year-old girl to look at and admire. She wandered about, looking
around and enjoying the time to be without the crowd of her family and just
explore the farm. The house was boring with no television or radio inside. The
adults were talking, and her oldest cousin and sister were being “too cool” by
hanging out on their own. Her younger cousin and brother were playing and being
loud, so Anna was forced to be on her own.
Eventually,
even that became boring. Once you see one baby chick, you’ve seen them all. The
hens were busy laying eggs, and the rooster wasn’t letting anyone near the henhouse.
The dog ran around, following whoever fed it or seemed most interesting. The
horses stopped galloping around and grazed in the pasture. The cows smelled. They
were going to be here the rest of the day and overnight. What was Anna going to
do with all that time?
It suddenly
occurred to her that while she was exploring the farm, her sister, uncle, brother,
and cousins had disappeared. She frowned, wondering where everyone went. Why
hadn’t anyone come to get her? What were they all doing? She searched the house
and her aunt informed her that everyone hitched a ride on the truck to go check
on some stray cows. If I hurried, I could find them on the road.
Anna was
not much of a runner. She was overweight and running was not her sport.
Swimming was more her speed. She could outswim anyone! But running? Ugh. She
started to run, following the road, then ended up walking. After fifteen
minutes, she wondered if she had been tricked. Where was everyone?
She found them,
finally, on the side of the road. The truck was parked, everyone was out and
her sister… Her sister was on a horse!! Anna hurried over to where her sister
was and demanded, “What are you doing?”
Rachel
looked at Anna like she had grown antlers. “I’m riding a horse,” Rachel stated
obviously.
Anna gaped.
“Yes, but how? Why? Have you ridden a horse before?”
Rachel
shook her head, “No, but I asked if I could ride one and it’s not so hard. I
just sit here, gently guide him and he mostly knows where to go. Watch this!”
She nudged the horse with her knees, and he began to walk. Rachel guided him
towards a muddy area and just when Anna expected the horse to stomp through the
mud, he leapt over it! Rachel squealed in delight and turned the horse, guiding
him back to the muddy area. Once more, the horse leapt over it with ease.
Anna
applauded. He was so graceful! Rachel was so lucky to be on the horse! She
wanted to ride him, too! It didn’t look so hard. Of course, Rachel was thirteen
and always got to do things first. Still, Anna wasn’t going to give up and she
found her uncle and asked if she could ride the horse, too!
He
consulted his friend, the horse’s owner, and they felt the horse could accommodate
two riders. This was not at all what Anna meant. She wanted to ride him alone.
She wasn’t going to argue about it, though. She would take what she could get.
Maybe Rachel would get tired and want off and then she could have the horse to
herself.
Her uncle
and his friend helped Anna get onto the horse, behind her sister. She was given
instructions to hang onto her sister and to not move about too much. Rachel was
sitting on the saddle and had her feet in the stirrups. Anna had to leave her legs
to dangle over the sides of the horse and the back of the saddle was in her
way. It was not as comfortable as she had assumed it would be. Also, Rachel was
in charge of the horse. Still.
Being
little sometimes annoyed Anna. She wanted to be able to do all the cool things
her sister did. She wanted to have neat friends who called all the time and
came over to get her for fun stuff. She wanted to be able to ride and control a
horse all by herself. Maybe, once she got back to the farm, someone would let
her ride a horse all by herself, too! After all, someone had to spend a few
minutes teaching Rachel, right?
She held
onto her sister and asked, “Can you make him jump the puddle again?”
Rachel was
a big know-it-all and said, “Sure!” Of course, she could do it!
Anna held
on as Rachel made the horse jump the mud puddle. It was exciting! Thrilling! “Again!
Again!” And Rachel made the horse turn and jump again. Three times they jumped
the mud puddle. But something went wrong on the fourth jump. Anna began to tip
to the side, her balance off. She was hanging onto her sister, sliding off,
slowly, towards the ground.
Anna was
suddenly terrified she would fall into the mud or, worse, get hurt. She began
to scream for help. Rachel was telling her to let go. Finally, her uncle and
his friend came running over. They pulled her off the horse and Rachel rode it
a few feet away.
“Anna!” her
uncle scolded her. “Never, ever hang off a horse like that! He might have
kicked you off!”
His friend
replied, harshly, “Next time, just let go.”
Anna knew
that the fall would have only been a couple feet at best. She would have been
muddy, maybe sore, but what if the horse had kicked her off? That would have
been humiliating and, even worse, painful! She could only nod at the angry
adults. She was so embarrassed. She stood there for a few minutes, unsure what
to do or say and, finally, told her sister that she was heading back to the
house. She was not going to tell the adults. They were probably glad to be rid
of her anyways. And she certainly was not going to ask to ride a horse all by
herself now. No way.
She walked
back to the house on the farm, feeling sorry for herself, kicking herself for
not having the patience to wait until they got to the farm to ask to ride the
horse there. She even took time to mentally berate and blame her sister for the
whole thing. After all, if Rachel had not made the horse jump so much, Anna
wouldn’t have nearly fallen off the horse!
She knew it
wasn’t really anyone’s fault, but Anna just couldn’t get her courage back up to
ask an adult to teach her to ride any of the horses after that. They left incredibly
early the next morning to continue with their trip and Anna knew she’d missed
her chance.
- Andrea Miller (02/18/2021)