The Born Rider

The Born Rider: Chapter 1 - Bedtime Stories

All Rights Belong to the Original Owners

My life used to be pretty simple. I was a wild child who stayed out passed her curfew and snuck out of the house when I got grounded. I sound like a normal teenage girl, right? That's what I used to think until about three months ago. I should have seen beforehand my life was going to turn upside down. Even my own mother tried to warn me about what was going to happen.

My mom would tell me stories at night, stories that I thought were fake, stories that parents tell their kids to try and get them to eat their vegetables. I never thought those stories were true, that they were early warning signs. Now in the present I forget most of the stories, but there is one I will never forget. My mom said it was real, that it had happened, that if it hadn't occurred, both her and I would not be here. The story happened thirty-seven years ago. The story of "The Ghost Rider."

The story goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who worked with his father at a carnival. The boy had dreams of a future outside of the carnival, a future with the young woman he loved. The young woman's parents had decided to move her to her other family far away. The boy promised to meet the young woman the next day at the tree he had carved their names into and they would run away.

Later that day the young man was going through the trash, where he found a note saying that his father was dying of cancer. Soon after he read the note, the young man got his tool box and was getting ready to go take his anger and pain out on fixing the bikes they used in the carnival shows. Before the young man could go outside, his father woke and asked the boy where he was going. The young man replied with a whispered, "Nowhere dad. Nowhere."

About five minutes of working on his favorite bike, Grace, that belonged to his father, he felt a chill and let out a cold breath. Then he heard a voice say his name.

It was an elderly looking man dressed in black from head to toe with a skull cane. The old man said, "I saw you ride today. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed watching you ride. Maybe you would ride for me someday."

Curiosity got to the young man. "You run a show?"

The old man said. "The greatest show on earth."

The young man said as politely as he could, "No thanks."

What the old man said next was a shocker.

"What's wrong? Worried about your dad?"

The young man wanted to scream at the old man, but questioned him instead. "What do you know about that?"

The old man said some more words including: "What if I could cure your father's cancer?"

The rest was blank to the young man as the elderly man said his price: the young man's soul.

The young man snickered, believing the old man believing the old man to be completely out of his mind. The old man took out a contract. 'Almost like the movies,'thought the young man. The old man handed the contract to the young man. As the young man was opening the contract he heard a growl, and, right then, his finger was punctured. He watched in slow motion as a small drop of blood landed on the signature line of the contract.

The next morning the young man woke with a start. Then, he heard his dad say that he felt he was "as healthy as a horse." The young man realized distantly that the crazy old man had said the same thing; however, this thought was easily ignored as today was the day that he would run away with the beautiful young woman he loved.

The young man and his dad were supposed to ride their bikes through a ring of fire that day. Little did the young man's father know that his son wasn't going to ride that day or that his time was almost up.

As the young man was leaving, he let slip to his father that he wanted a better life for himself outside of being trapped in a carnival. Right when the young man was leaving the carnival, he heard a loud crash and gasps of shock and worry and even some laughs.

The young man realized that the noises came from a tent at the very back...the tent where his father was.

The young man left his bike and ran as fast as he could. He saw his only family lying on the ground. The young man ran to his father and reassured him everything would be alright.

The man died in his son's arms a few moments later.

Right when the young man's father let out his last breath, he heard a dark chuckle. The young man looked up and saw a dark, disfigured shadow fading.

A half an hour later the angry young man drove down the gravel road on his bike to where the woman he loved was. The reason the young man was mad was because he had been double crossed. Unfortunately, the young man tipped his bike and was greeted by the elderly man he had made a deal with. The elderly man did something to the young man which made him lose all his feelings.

The young man finally reached his destination: the tree he and his love agreed to meet at. The young man stopped the bike and saw his love waiting, smiling.

The young man, having lost his feelings, left his only love in the shadows of Texas.

Many years later, the young man had grown into a full-grown adult and was interviewed by the woman he left so many years ago. The man convinced the woman he had loved to go on a date that night. Unfortunately, the man couldn't get there because he had to pay his price for the contract he made many years ago with the old man, or, at least, someone he thought was an old man. The man was supposed to be the elderly man's "bounty hunter," and hunt-down escaped people.

My mom told me the man became the Ghost Rider.

The man had hoped his love wouldn't get into the middle of his fight, but she did. One of his bounties used her to get what they wanted. Soon after the man was done collecting his bounty, he was offered the chance to get rid of his curse. The man refused, knowing that, as long as he was the Ghost Rider, he couldn't be with the woman he loved. Soon after the fight, the man left leaving a piece of himself behind with the woman he promised he would return to.

"And they all lived somewhat happily-ever after."

When I asked my mom what she meant by that she said, "You'll understand someday, my beauty."

My story is too complicated to tell right in the middle of it, so let me start from the beginning, from the things that changed my life the most. It all started three months ago.

My name is Allison Dregman.

Welcome to my life.