El Rancho

This is the moment I've been waiting sixteen grueling years for. Finally I stood there waiting impatiently for my chance. Before I can even begin to fathom what it is I was about to walk into, the last contender is down and my name is called. I am up to face the beast. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the power of the beast I was about to face. Before entering the pen I take one last look back at the crowd, with the deepest of breathes that my lungs will allow me to take in; all that is left for me to think of are the wise words from my grandfather (slash mentor): "You should not run and we do not hide, to truly tame the beast you must ride". I push open the gate and enter forward. Now I am face to face with the raging bull. It takes all the courage I have left in my body to match its gaze. For in its optics I attempt to find a soul of any kind. Nevertheless all that is left to be discovered are the cold, black, lifeless beads that we call its eyeballs. I move slowly and carefully with purpose and caution. Once I begin my descent it jolts, as if there were a bolt of lightning ignited inside. I grab its horns and hold on as tight as my adolescent body will allow. Then I climb atop the monster regardless of my fright of being flown thru the rafters above. It was then that I could feel the weight of the world drown away; nothing left but me and the deadly steer. The tension in the air keeps me from fully escaping, it grounds me here. Every second that passes is an hour and every minute feels like an eternity. One wrong move and I know no-one will have the chance to save me from perish. My grip tightens as the bulls speed increases. I can no longer feel my breathe underneath the fear that has been instilled in me over the years; I have watched this same raging bull defeat even the most respectable men over and over again. Was this really the best way to gain the respect of my peers? I start to question the reasons I am even here. Moment after moment I am still surprised I'm alive. It is at this point, I've closed my eyes and any faith I had in surviving gradually fades with each smokey exhale made by the vicious creature. That is until the bull begins to slow and suddenly its ferocious leaps come to a holt. I was so lost in action that I could not even hear the roar of excitement exuding from the observers. When the time comes for me to look up and open my eyes the first thing that I can sense is rush of emotions coursing thru my body and the smile that has over taken the face of my father and his father. It isn't until I am being lifted to the heavens in celebration by my brothers that I realize I have conquered the beast. The same voice that announced my name to begin now calls it again with such gusto I can do nothing but cry with pride when I hear it say that I have defeated the challenge and am crowned King of El Rancho. I can not even begin to believe what I have accomplished. It was only two years ago that I had first met that monster I still remember the way it taunted me from across the room. Alas at that time I was not old enough to take on the challenge and yet now here I stand only sixteen; A King. Who would have guessed that it would be little old me: crowned slayer of the mechanical raging beast at the most popular (authentic) Mexican themed restaurant any town as ever seen. And all it took was five incredibly intense minutes for me to receive riches beyond belief... free steak fries for life.