Tied On by Diana DeRay

Tied On

By Diana DeRay

When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk.

He trots the air, the earth sings when he

touches it.

William Shakespeare-

CHAPTER 1

Bang. Bang. Bang. The noise shatters the quiet peace of my dream

land and I slowly open my eyes and began to stretch my sore aching

muscles. The noise, a product of the horse in the next stall shoving

his nose around in his empty feed bucket, demanding to be fed. I'm

hoping Jeff gets here soon to feed, but I'm awake now, so I might as

well get up.

Sitting up in bed I slide my feet to the floor and notice a hole

in my sock. Sticking my big toe through it I can't help but wonder

what my mother would think of me now. I was a mystery to my mother.

She never quite knew what to make of me. I didn't fit into her

carefully structured world that her and my sister inhabited. I wasn't

impressed by financial status, degrees, or the latest fashion. I was

a disappointment in her eyes, where as my sister was the perfect

daughter. I wasn't ugly, but I certainly wouldn't be considered

beautiful. I didn't get a scholarship to the university or have a

boyfriend from the right sort of family. But my sister did, all of it

and more.

I think my mother gave up on me and was probably a bit relieved

when I left home, no longer an eyesore to be avoided. No this way she

could write me off, putting the blame squarely on my shoulders, for

shunning her world to inhabit the racetrack one I adored.

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a jockey, and

for as long as I can remember everyone has been telling me I can't do

it. Well I had tried it their way, I enrolled in community college

and feigned an interest in fashion, but my love, my true love,

continued to call out to me. And so tired of the charade I followed

my heart and that's how I ended up here. Living my dream.

I got a job galloping racehorses for Don Copper at the private

training track on his ranch in Alamogordo, New Mexico and eventually

earned my jockey's license. I work six days a week with one day off

in the middle of the week. I'm up at 5:30 in the morning and on my

first horse by 6:00 and usually done by 11:30. Since I live right at

the barn in a little studio apartment, I help with evening chores as

well. On race days I get to ride the horses in the races, which is by

far my favorite part of the job. My absolute dream come true!