Awakening

The sun peeks out from beneath its grassy blanket

The dew glistens off my newly polished boots

Curling my fingers into his mane,

I lean in close matching my breath with his

Nudging, I whisper

“How bout a good run, boy?”

And for that moment,

I stare into the horizon ahead

When I was a young girl, I dreamt of being several things when I grew up: a teacher, an architect, a dental hygienist, and most importantly a jockey!  For years I dreamt of being a jockey.  I longed to sit on the back of a thoroughbred, feeling strong muscles rippling beneath me as we stood at the starting line, waiting for our gate to open and the race to begin. 

My dream seemed to be getting closer when my grandparents surprised me with a beautiful horse that was mine to ride whenever I pleased.  Sunni was beautiful.  Long legs, strong muscles, and fast.  He loved to run and hated to have another horse in front of him.  He would surge ahead as if always in a race when I was on his back.  I could feel the wind in my hair, watched the leaves on the trees meld together in flashes of orange and red as we galloped across the field.   And for that brief moment, with the horizon ahead of me, I was my dream.  I was a jockey. 

"How bout another good run boy?"