Stuck in Neutral New Ending

Crackle, Crackle, Crackle… I went into a really big seizure. In my seizure I was with my dad we were having fun together we were running around playing football with my brother Paul. For once I felt like my dad actually loved me and wanted me to be a live and be a kid. Ally was there also she was sitting on the grass talking to Cindy.

            When I came out of my seizure my dad wasn’t there. I didn’t know where he went if he left me there by myself I knew my baby sitter had left. “What do I do?”  I asked myself. I’m all alone in my house with nobody that I know of here with me.

            The next morning there was still nobody here, no one came in to check on me. I thought maybe my baby sitter would come back. I remember my mom saying that she would be home later in the evening. I lay there hope maybe someone would come in and check on me, I feeling hungry. These are the times that I absolutely wish I didn’t have my disability.

            After about 3 hours of laying there with nobody coming in to get me or even check on me I began to lose all hope. Maybe he really left me here to be by myself all weekend with no body to help me. If he really wanted me to be dead why would he kill me a fast and easy none painful way?

            Finally I think hear somebody in the other room, actually it was the TV. I waited maybe someone would come in and get me. I listen for a minute it was the TV they had the news playing. They were talking about the man who killed his son that my dad wrote the story about; they said he got out of prison. I got a uncomfortable feeling inside of me.  I looked over at my door way and there was a man standing there. I didn’t recognize this man he looked very different but kind of familiar. I kept looking at him. When all of a sudden he said to me “ Hi Shawn, my name is Mr. Detraux. Your dad told me about your disability and told me I should come visit you”.

            After a minute he came and sat on the side of my crib and talked to me. He grab the pillow that dad had when he was sitting by me last night. I felt sick; I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was worried that he was going to kill me. After he talked to me for a minute I saw him grab the pillow really tight and put it on my face. That was the last thing I remember until I hear my mom screaming, he takes the pillow off my face Paul comes running in and starts beating the guy up and Cindy called the cops.  After the cops got there and did all their stuff my mom picked me up and sat down with me and just held me as I fell asleep. I remember her telling me that she would never leave me alone again.

Mystery of the Horse Named Canyon

Hi my name is Harley Ann, and I love to rodeo! Rodeo is I and my best friend Tannin Marie’s favorite thing to do. I have the best horse in the world her name is Canyon! Tannin and I have one of the biggest rodeos in the state of Utah coming up really soon, so we have been working our horses really hard on the barrels and poles!

            My rodeo is on the 24 of July in Salt Lake City. I was so excited! My horse was doing great on the barrels, and getting really good times when we practiced. I was kind of concerned with the poles, but I knew that we would get them down just fine. We would just have to work on them a little bit harder!

            It was getting closer and closer to rodeo day. My timings were getting better and better every day and my poles were definitely improving. I was so impressed with the improvement Canyon was making! I just kept getting more and more excited every day.  Tannin and I talked about it every time we were with each other!

Three days before the rodeo Canyon started acting weird. She would move her butt from side to side, and prance in place. Then she would stop and act as if she was going to lie down. With in minutes my saddle would come loose some how. Knowing the thought of my saddle sliding completely off Canyon through me off guard.  As I sat there and stared at Canyon she acted as if it were my fault. Luckily I wasn’t injured while falling off Canyon, even though I was a little angry with her. How could this possibly happen? A saddle coming un-cinched and literally falling right off.  So I put the saddle on once again and began to ride her. Nothing had happened!

As the next day rolled around my thoughts from the day before was stinging my brain. I let her have a day off of practice; for thought maybe she tired from practicing so much lately. I wanted her to be well rested for our big day. I really wanted a good time and run on the barrels. The poles I did just for fun and for more practicing.

            The day before the rodeo I decided to refresh Canyon’s memory by the running the barrels and poles. She was acting a little better, but something still wasn’t right. I unsaddled her and put her away for the night.

            It was the morning of the rodeo, and I was getting my saddle and the rest of the tack put in the horse trailer. After everything was loaded up, I had checked to make sure I didn’t forget anything. I grabbed my lead rope and headed out to the pasture to catch Canyon. As I loaded her in the trailer I yelled for my mom to hurry up.

            When we arrived to the rodeo there were people everywhere! It was really hard to find a good place to park due to so many people being there. I got Canyon out and tied her to the trailer to get her saddled up! Once saddled up I headed over to the sign in table! I was almost done signing in when they called over the announcers stand, “Anyone with a buckskin horse that has a bright green saddle pad on will you please come remove your horse from the arena. It’s disturbing the practice of other participants!” I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I was so embarrassed! I had made sure she was tied up tight the trailer before I left! After I went and got Canyon out of the area and got back to the trailer it was almost time to start the barrel racing! When we got over by the gate they were just finishing up the bull riders. In fact the last one up was the kid that I have had the biggest crush on! 

            When it was our turn I could tell Canyon was excited and oh was I ever excited! They opened the gate to let me in and we took off running. Right as we got passed the gate I felt my saddle sliding off. I tried yanking it back on, but I just slid right off with it. 

When I woke up I was in the ambulance and didn’t know what had happened or why I was there. I asked them what was going on. They told me that I had fallen off my horse along with the saddle. It took me a minute to think about it. I knew I had tightened my saddle up tight so it didn’t come loose. Nothing made sense to me at all.

            Once they released me from the hospital my parents and I headed home. When we got there I couldn’t stop thinking about going and getting back on. When I told my mom I was going to go get back on she looked at me like I was stupid and told me no. I told my mom that I thought something was wrong with Canyon, and I thought that maybe she had some kind of magical power to undo the cinch and dump me and the saddle off. My mom said not to worry about it that she would be just fine, and that what I was thinking was all in my head.

            The next morning came real early when my mom came and woke me up at 6 AM to go ride. She got on Canyon and I got on Pal. Before she got on she made sure the cinch was tight and everything was done up correctly on the saddle. I was on the Pal watching her ride and oh man did I ever want to get on Canyon and show my mom what was going on! When my mom kicked Canyon and they started to walk Canyon started to make those weird movements like the first time that I fell off. I told my mom, “hold on some how cause your about to get dumped!” But obviously that was too late. “CA-THUD!” My mother hit the ground and she was not happy. “I told you there was something strange happening with her mom.”

            Later on that night when my dad got home he asked me how I was feeling I simply said “alright I guess.” Then my mom and I told my dad we needed to talk to him about my horse. After we told him what had happened he got up and walked outside. I didn’t think he believed us.

            When I walked outside he was getting on Canyon. He had already put the saddle on and he was about to get on. I went out and sat on the fence so I could watch him. He got on and started walking. Within minutes the same thing happened he fell off along with the saddle. He looked concerned but again he put the saddle and got back on. Yet the same thing happened, he fell off! This had happened a couple more times until I think he gave up!

            Later on that night when he came in side we all sat down to talk about it. My dad told me that Canyon had to be making this happen. But how I thought to my self? She is just a horse not a human! He also said that we need to find out how to fix it or we would have to get ride of her. And when he says get ride of her I think he means kill her! I couldn’t let this happen this was the best horses I could ask for.

            A couple days had gone by and I had done a lot of researching about this weird thing that was happening. I was listening on the news and it wasn’t just my horse that was doing it. There were horses everywhere. Owners were selling and killing there horses they didn’t know what to do about it! I surely didn’t want to kill my horse or have to give it away, but what do you do with a horse that you can’t ride and can now barely touch?

            A week had gone by nothing had changed. Actually it had gotten worse! I wanted to cry at the thought of not have Canyon anymore! She was the best horse ever. We had the greatest times together; in fact I have some of my best memories with that horse!

            At the end of the week my mom, dad and I came up with a conclusion. We were going to keep her, and use her as a broodmare. That way she would still be with us, and we would never have to sell her. Also we wanted her sweet personality traits passed down to her babies. Canyon and I were companions, and were best friends. You cant find many of them around these days.