Turning Things Around

•••Chapter 2••• Gwen

        When the ambulance came and took her away, I was so sad. Was she dead or alive? Our mother came running out of the house when she got our dad's call. She was out of breath by the time she got to the field. Vivian, a champion horseback rider, her talents. All wasted on a piece of mud. Our mother broke into my thoughts. 

        "Gwendolyn." she whispers. I look up, a dazed expression on my face. I am in the stable, grooming Lucy, and my mother is standing just under the roof of the stable so she won't get rained on. "We need to talk. Inside." She says. I follow her in without saying anything.

        "Do you remember when you and Vivian were little and we made you wigs? Because you both looked alike? One red one that looked like your sister's hair and a white one that looked like your hair? When you two were little, you would wear the wigs and fool us. We just thought you were Vivian and Vivian was you." I smiled at the memory. My mother continued. "I need you to do that again. Not for me, but for the competition." She let it sink in. "You might have to be there in the competition for her. You know how much the competition means to Vivian." She stopped, looked at the ambulance, and back to me. 

        "Or, since no one has seen you in Colorado, you can go as you are, but by the name Vivian. You would ride Duke, since they already have him listed in. You can watch some videos on horseback riding, too."

        My mother started leaving. Heading back into the rain. "But-" She cut in. "No but's, Gwen. Please do it, for her."

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        My parents were at the hospital with Vivian. My father promised he would take me to see her after it stopped raining. I am in the treehouse braiding my hair and watching the rain fall down. It seems like hours since Vivian fell off Duke, but it was actually half of an hour. It was Spring Break, so we didn't have school for the first week until Vivian's competition. Today was a Monday, and it was 1:00. Next Monday we would have school again. 

        We would leave for the airplane next Thursday, with or without Vivian, My father had said.

        I look at my phone, which is on the table next to the camera. I grab my phone off of the table which is buzzing like crazy because of my phone. I did the unlock pattern and scroll through the notifications. Mostly texts from one of my best friends, Vanessa. I did not bother reading them because there are sixty-three! 

        I scroll through my Instagram and heart some of my friends pictures. I scroll some more and find a beautiful picture of a dripping wet rose. So, I decide that I am going to draw that. I grab a piece of paper from the opposite side of the room, the wall far from the window. My pencils are next to a the table that we do art stuff on. I sit down, taking my phone with me. 

        Just then my phone buzzed again. My phone is still in, so I don' t have to do the unlock pattern. I go to the notifications and see that Ally texted me. 'I just saw an ambulance go by with your parents behind it. It looked like they were crying.' and a few minutes later, she wrote, 'Are you okay Gwen?' and a minute later, 'I am coming over.' 

        Next thing I knew, Ally was climbing up the ladder to my treehouse. Ally said, "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! Why was there an ambulance coming away from your house? I saw your father's truck. I knew that it was them in it. I thought that you were the one in the ambulance when you didn't respond! Why was there an ambulance coming away from your house?" She said the last sentence twice, I realize

        Ally was a kind of close neighbor, since they lived in the country. Ally loves horseback riding as much as I do, too. She has blonde her and brown eyes. 

        I slowly whisper to her, "Vivian." 

        Ally's eyes get really big. "Oh no." She starts talking again. "Can you describe what happened?" 

        I shake my head. 

        "Can you draw what happened, Gwen?" She says slowly. The image of Vivian laying there is still clear in my head. I nod my head and get to work. 

        While I am drawing, Ally walks over to my camera and says, "This is still on." I look up at her and get a look at the camera. It was still recording. I remembered Vivian telling me to record the race, so I set it up and did. I stop drawing as Ally watches and listens to the video. I almost cry just listening to it. When it ends, Ally comes up to me and says, "I am so sorry."