Crash

65: My first Rodeo

Lyra-

As soon as we stepped out of Nathan's big, black, jacked up, silver rimmed truck, the smell of sweat, beer and funnel cake washed over me.

Nathan grinned and grabbed my hand, leading me towards the gates. The others caught up with us. From here, I could see an enormous Ferris wheel and other rides that people screamed joyfully on.

"Bands for two adults and a roll of tickets," Nathan said to the ticket man.

"Y'all twenty one?" The guy asked. We pulled out our IDs and showed him. He handed us two pink bands that would let us into a beer tent. Then he gave Nathan a little roll of tickets.

"Thanks," Nathan grinned and took my hand again.

The middle of the day proved to be hot and humid. I began to appreciate my short shorts a little more.

"I'm going to go sign up for bull riding and barrel racing," Nathan smiled at me.

"Barrel racing? Don't you need a horse for that?" I chuckled.

"Dads bringing Copper later. Competitions don't start for another two hours. I don't want Copper out in the heat," He shrugged and pulled me through the crowd.

There was a very large pen that had panels, making it an enormous corral. Bleachers were on two sides, stacked high. The thing that worried me was the many smaller, more narrow pens that lined the sides. Big, hulking animals I remembered well banged around in them while men wagered bets and observed them.

We came to a shiny trailer that had a man under a shade behind a fold up table.

"Leon my man! I'm here to take my prize!" Nathan shouted, making the man look up.

Leon grinned and glanced at me, "My boy it looks like you've already got a prize."

My cheeks heated up. Everyone was so polite and loved to point me out for some reason. Nathan brought me to his side and smiled lovingly at me, "That is entirely true."

I smiled, slightly embarrassed and wanted to try to hide. Leon laughed, "Well little missy, what's your name?"

I looked up and went into business mode, stretching out my hand for him to shake, "I'm Lyra Kellie."

He froze mid hand shake, "The Lyra Kellie? The one on the news?"

"I suppose," I chuckled.

He shook my hand more enthusiastically, "Dear lord, you've got angels watching over you, I swear."

"Well, them and Nathan," I chuckled and retracted my hand.

"What happened?" He sat down in his chair and gazed up at me. Nathan chuckled beside me "Oh you'll hear it from Celia this evening. I wanna show her around her first rodeo so can I sign up?"

"Sure. You do every year. Buck has taken advantage of your absence though," Leon pushed a clip board towards us.

There was a commotion near the corral and we all turned to look. A man was obviously test riding or something. The bull charged out of its cell and tramped through the dust. It tossed it's head and threw itself and its rider into the air.

I watched the animal thrash and buck, slinging its rider around like a rag doll. He whooped and hollered with one hand in the air, obviously enjoying himself. Eventually, the man was tossed off like a flea. Some people in funny outfits chased the bull back into its own corral and the man stood up, shaking dirt off him.

That didn't look near as scary as I thought it would be. What they did in Spain was far worse. Matter of fact, I wanted to try.

"Nathan, can I bull ride?" I asked excitedly, "It looks fun."