You always think you're old enough to do something
She smoked her first cigarette at 14. It was left on a tray by another parent, still lit- she wasn't coming back either, the call seemed urgent. It made sense. Everyone was in a hurry after what happened to the poor little girl who was thrown off her horse. Everyone went inside when the ambulance took her away. Only Sally and her friend's mom, Judy escaped to the stalls. Now it was just Sallly. And the cigarette.
You always think you're old enough to do something
She protested herself mentally. It's probably bad... no one ever said smoking was good. But she thought to herself Why not one? Just to see what it's about- It calmed judy down. Though she was still a little shaken after that phone call, it seemed serious...so did smoking a cigarette. She popped the paper stick in between her lips, just when her mother came through the door. Pale face- not cause of a cigarette, she didn't even acknowledge it. "The girls dead." Her words hung in the barn. Hung in her mind, but Sally's mom was quick to press forward, "Practice is cancelled. Come on let's go home- and get that shit out of your mouth."
The girl didn't even realize the deep breath she let out was full of smoke. It stung her throat, but her mind seemed to clear. The girl was dead. The cigarette smoked. Her mom didn't care. And so she went home.
The second time she smoked was a few months after. The rodeo had closed down, and her father sold their horse. It was barely the next season since the little girl died in a rather tame accident. Her father thought it was probably best too, gave her other hobbies and activities to try, anything else really than horse-riding. Her mom didn't want to stop taking her though.
You always think you're old enough to do something
A few weeks after the incident she was looking at alternative tracks and rodeos. "Come on let's get out the house. "Her mother said it so dryly, "You can't let it stop you from riding, that's not what the poor girl would want" She was waving a pack of cigarettes around, pointing towards the saddle her dad first bought her a few years ago. Her dad wasn't home, Saturdays were usually just Sally and her mom. While dad was away across state lines, travelling for work. Sally stared at the cigarettes. Her mother raised her eyebrows and said, "Come now." and she Walked to the car cigarettes in hand. Sally was hesitant but she supposed her mom knew best. Even if her dad mightve been upset how would he know.
