A Day in the Life of a Cowboy

The bright sun beamed through the sheer, bedroom curtains.

“Ugh, morning already,” I whispered to myself, as I slowly raised my head up from the pillow. “Ow!” I exclaimed, as I fell back. My head throbbed with each beat of my heart.

Once again, I slowly lifted my head and this time I was able to sit on the edge of the bed.

My head felt fuzzy and I was having trouble trying to focus. I put my hand up to my eye, “Ow!” I shouted. “What the heck?” I wondered, as I slowly stood up.

I stumbled to the bathroom. When I looked into the mirror, I didn’t recognize the face that was staring back at me. I had a gash on my forehead, my eye was swollen, and the whole side of my face was black and blue. I felt dizzy and I couldn’t remember what had happened to me.

I shuffled to the kitchen and heard a familiar voice. “Good morning, Sunshine!”

I looked up and saw Jenny. At least I thought it was her. Looking through my blurred eyes, I could barely make her out.

“Jenny? Is that you?”

“Yes, silly! Who else would be here?” she asked. She took my arm and helped me to a chair.

“Here’s your coffee. My, you look worse than you did last night!” she exclaimed with a snicker.

“Yeah, about last night?” I questioned. “What exactly happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No, the last thing I remember is getting ready to go to the rodeo.”

“Really? You don’t remember the bull ride?”

I sipped on my coffee and tried to remember, but it hurt too much to think.

“Is that what happened? I got stomped on?” I asked.

“Oh, you did a little more than get stomped on!” Jenny exclaimed with a giggle.

I placed my aching head in my hands.

“It will be okay. The Doctor said you have a concussion. He said you will be a little foggy for a few days.”

“Well, guess that means, I didn’t make the go round then. I lost my chance to get in the finals, didn’t I? Sorry Jenny, I knew you were counting on that money.” I stated with regret.

As I sat there with my head in my hand, feeling like death, Jenny walked over and placed a silver and gold buckle on the table in front of me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Look at it!” she exclaimed

“Yeah, it’s a champion belt buckle.” My head was foggy, and I didn’t know what she was trying to tell me.

“I would have had to win all three go rounds to get this buckle.

I sat there looking at the buckle, then suddenly I realized, “You mean?”

“Yes! You won all three go rounds, plus the chance to ride the bonus bull!” exclaimed Jenny.

I leaned back into the chair and tried to think. Little bits and pieces started flashing in my mind. I could hear the crowd roaring in the stands. I saw Cole, the rodeo clown, jumping into his barrel. I could see Tanner, the gatekeeper. Then, I remembered the Rodeo Queen handing me the champion belt buckle.

My thoughts were still unclear, but I thought, I remembered the rodeo announcer tell the crowd I was going to ride Gladiator, the bonus bull for $100,000! Yeah, it was starting to come back!

I took another sip of coffee. “Jenny, did I ride the Gladiator? Is that what happened to me? Did he stomp me into the ground?” I asked, still confused.

That’s when Jenny sashayed to me waving a piece of paper in her hand. She fanned the paper in my face and said. “What do you think?”

I reached for the paper and it was a check for $100,000! “Jenny! You mean....I won?” I asked with surprise.

Jenny just smiled and once again, I leaned back in the chair. Then, thoughts of last night came flooding back.

I remembered how hot my blood felt as it surged through my veins when I agreed to ride that mammoth beast. The sound of the crowd when they began to roar and stomp their feet on the bleachers, making the sound of thunder. The energy was seething through my body. I felt like I was on fire.

My buddies were saying I was crazy and maybe I was last night, but the blood boiled through my veins and my heart was racing.

Winning the three go rounds was great. But riding a bonus bull worth $100,000...it was all or nothing!

I remember the announcer saying something like, “This is going to be a ride like no other. If this cowboy can stay on for 2 seconds it will be a record.” I remember thinking, 2 seconds, ha, I’m going to make it for the whole dang 8!

I remember, when I saw the bull in the shoot, I started second guessing myself. This bull was a monster! His head alone was almost bigger than me. He had a short, thick neck that was attached to muscle after rippling muscle.

I put my gloves on. Slowly, I slipped down upon the bull’s back. I felt like I was going to split in two as I positioned myself. This bull was one big piece of colossal power.

Gladiator tossed his head from side to side and snot blasted out of his nose, covering me in mucus and slime. I grabbed the rope and started rosining it up for dear life. There was no way I was going to lose my grip on this ride.

Tanner, the cowboy in charge of opening the gate, questioned me over and over if I really wanted to do this. Even Cole, the rodeo clown, came over and told me I was crazy. It was too late to turn back. I was flying high with adrenaline and what I couldn’t do with $100,000!

I pulled my hat down as far as I could. My hand was tied in the riggin and the bull was bellering like a banshee. I nodded for the gate and hit the spurs.

That bull jumped out of the shoot with so much power it felt like I was doing at least 3Gs. I sat tight as the bull leaped forward and then whipped his back legs in the air. He twirled to the left, then to the right. For a second, I thought I was going to fly off, but I stuck in my spurs and gritted my teeth. It felt like I was somewhere between a tornado and a roller coaster.

Then the crowd started cheering, the buzzer went off. Unfortunately, before I could dismount, my head came down and hit Gladiator right in the middle of his bony forehead.

That’s when things went dark.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in the backroom with a group of cowboys and the rodeo doctor checking me out.

“You are a lucky man.” I remembered hearing the Doctor say. “If you would have hit across your nose, you my boy, would most likely be dead. You really need to go to the hospital and get checked out,” he continued. I must have blacked out after that.

Which brings me back to this morning.

Jenny looked into my eyes and asked, “Are you sure this money is worth all this pain?”

I leaned back in the chair, took a sip of coffee, looked at the check, smiled and said, “What pain?”