July Story Contest

My Life is in Your Hands part 1
By: Irishdancer
Age: 14

Nita McKenzie is twelve years old. She has Oiler’s disease, something you are born with that stunts the growth of one of your legs. Nita walks with a crutch and she is going to have surgery to try to fix her leg soon. Nita is also an orphan. Her parents were killed in an Equine accident when she was a baby. Today, Nita’s social worker, Anna Larson, has surprised her by signing her up for riding lessons. Unfortunately, Nita is terrified of the large (15.5 hands tall) horse she is expected to ride. A small New Forest pony named Star catches her eye, but she is still scared of the horses and ponies. And then a fall changes her life forever.

Twelve-year-old Nita gripped the side of the BMW like a life line. Her eyelids fluttered underneath the blindfold her social worker, Anna, had placed over her eyes. Nita pulled the blindfold off in one quick motion and took off, hobbling as fast as she could, down the hill. Car horns blared everywhere.
Where am I? , Nita thought. She saw a large stream and a few large rocks. A snorting sound scared her, so she dropped her crutch in the stream.
“Oh no!” Nita cried and reached forward, trying to grab the crutch. She leaned a little too far and fell into the rushing stream. Nita screamed as loud as she could.
“HELP MEEE!!!!!” The sound of the water was too loud for her to be heard, though.
Choking on the water and out of breath, Nita sank like a rock that someone had thrown into a puddle. The darkness overcame her, and she sent her last bubble to the surface.
Suddenly, something white was in her grasp. It was huge. Nita reached for it and found that she rising to the surface before she blacked out.

***

The sound of beeping monitors woke Nita up.
Anna sprang up out of her chair and sobbed, “I should never have left you by yourself for so long!” Nita shied away from the social worker.
“H-how did I get out of that river?” Nita stuttered.
Anna sighed and said, “A horse happened to be wading in the water and he swam up to you. I guess you grabbed onto him and he pulled you up.”
Nita had been saved by a horse! She was terrified of horses. Her parents had been killed because of horses! Why did this one save her?
Anna smiled at Nita and said “Wow, you really are excited about those horseback riding lessons!”
“What horseback riding lessons?”Nita whispered.
“The ones you’re going to have at Smokey Stables, of course.” Anna said and she smiled again.
Nita wanted to say no, but she was too tired. She drifted off to sleep.
 The next day, Nita was discharged from the hospital with a slight cold. Her thoughts were of angry charging horses and ponies that squashed her with their big feet. Why was Anna sending her to riding lessons? She opened her mouth to ask why, but Anna shushed and reminded her not to talk for the rest of the day, except maybe at her riding lesson.  

Nita and Anna pulled into Smokey Stables at 6:30 in the morning. Nita was going to be there all day! The stable hand, Carla, stood at the door. Nita slid out of the car, hopping slightly on her good foot. Carla wordlessly handed Nita a package that said: Petite/ Small riding clothes (girls). Nita shrugged and hobbled after Carla, anxious. The neighing horses in the barn scared her, so she went outside. A tiny red pony stood in the middle of the walk, her lead-rope tied to a tree. She was small with a white star and her head.
“Picked out a horse yet?” Carla asked, startling Nita.
“Um, no. Can you help me?” Nita said softly.  The twelve-year-old stared at the tied-off pony as she left.
“That’s Star,” Carla said, “She’s an excellent show pony.” Carla walked right past Star and went to the paddock. She called, “Lay-Me-Down!” and a huge horse trotted over.
Carla turned to Nita “This is Lay-Me-Down. You can ride her.” Carla said, turning to Nita. Nita shrunk back in fear from the wild-looking horse. Carla disappeared and then reappeared a few moments later with Lay-Me-Down’s tack. After telling Nita to go and change, Darla tacked up Lay-Me-Down and led her into the practice ring.

Nita put on the expensive-looking riding outfit and adjusted her boots. Then she slid out to the ring. Being the only one there this early besides Darla and the other stable hands, no one saw her and Nita relaxed.
First Darla got Nita up on Lay-Me (a nickname) and started them on a simple walk. Nita became more comfortable on Lay-Me. Next, Darla helped Nita walk over poles, a practice for show jumping. After that, Nita practiced riding around the ring until she tried a very low jump.
After Nita’s lesson, Darla showed Nita how to untack Lay-Me-Down. Nita then mucked out Lay-Me’s stall and groomed her until she shined. Darla was amazed that Nita was a natural-born rider and decided to get her into competitions as soon as possible. Over the next few months, Nita rode and practiced with Lay-Me-Down until she was the best in the stable. Darla called Nita over.

“Would you be interested in competing this month?” Darla asked.
“Actually, yes,” Nita said.
Darla helped Nita onto Lay-Me-Down as it started to pour. The dirt in the practice ring turned to mud. When Nita turned a little too sharply, Lay-Me-Down rolled over on top over Nita!
Darla quickly got the horse up and took Nita to the hospital. Luckily, nothing was wrong with her, accept for a few bruises. Nita was scared to ride Lay-Me-Down, and people thought Lay-Me-Down should be put down. 
Nita set Scarlet to a gallop, hurrying to tell the stable’s owner to keep Lay-Me-Down alive.

Will she be fast enough?