This morning, I woke up bright and early.
"Why don't we go out for a walk or something?" I asked Flynn, who was already up.
Gesturing, he suggested we go see the horse Tangled Fan had found for us - the Maximus stand-in.
I jumped up and down - I was so excited!
We started making our way down. We had to shimmy down two drawers from the dresser, hop onto a bin, and then jump to the floor from there.
Flynn leapt down to the floor with no problem. Unfortunately, I chickened out. What if I fell and broke something? I'd just gotten my arm fixed YESTERDAY, for goodness' sake!
"Jump," Flynn called.
"I-I'm a bit..."
"Scared?"
"Yes."
"Well, jump. I'll catch you. You can trust me," Flynn said, holding his arms out.
I still wasn't sure. I swung one leg down, then the other, then slid down just enough that I could see how far down I still could fall.
Finally, I just held my breath, shut my eyes, and let myself drop.
I landed into his arms, and he let out an 'oof' and staggered back a couple steps.
"Sorry," I said.
He got a sneaky grin on his face, and said, "Oh, that's fine. As long as I don't...drop you by accident.." and then he pretended to drop me.
"Hey!" I giggled. "Stop it."
He let my legs drop down, and then I took a couple steps back and put my hands on my hips. "Real funny." I tried to look mad, but after an honest attempt, I just dissolved into laughter. He chuckled and linked his arm through mine, acting as if he was going to swing me into a square dance.
"You have no serious bone in your body, do you?" I said once I could finally stop laughing.
"I do. A very tiny, miniscule serious bone, but I have one." With a straight face, of course.
I rolled my eyes, and then I caught a glance of the horse.
I froze in my tracks. It was gorgeous!
I slipped away from Flynn and ran for the horse.
"Oh, he's gorgeous! I love him." I exclaimed, throwing an arm around his neck and using the other hand to pet his nose.
Flynn came over and I glanced at him.
"Isn't he just perfect?"
"He's pretty nice. You wanna ride him?"
"Of course!" I exclaimed. Then, an even better idea came across my mind. "Why don't we ride double? He could carry us both, right?"
"I'm thinking so," Flynn responded, and I quickly leapt into the saddle, offering my hand out to him.
He took it and I helped haul him up onto the horse's back, behind me.
Once we were both on Maximus, I gathered the reins and clucked to him.
He walked just fine, and then went into the trot just fine when Flynn asked to go faster.
But then, Flynn told me to give him another nudge, so he'd run.
Maximus gave a series of crowhops (if you don't know what crowhopping is, it's when a horse jumps sideways or straight in the air, because they don't want to do something or because they're feeling their oats.) Anyway, then he loosed a hard buck, and I almost tumbled over his neck. Then he settled and cantered. Suddenly, though, something felt different. I tried to swing him back around to check to see if Flynn was still behind me, but he wouldn't turn, so I stopped him and backed him up till he was back where he'd started running.
Sure enough, Flynn was on the ground.
With a gasp, I threw the reins aside and clambered out of the saddle.
I was at his side within seconds, and pulled him up into a sitting position.
"Are you okay?" I asked nervously. He seemed kind of shaken, but he nodded.
"Yeah..just gotta catch my breath. Not easy falling off a horse!"
"No, I imagine not," I still hovered over him, concerned.
When he was ready, I offered him my hand and helped him stand up. His face was smeared with dirt and he seemed a bit stiff-armed.
First, I carefully brushed the dirt off his face, and his white shirt, too.
And then I touched his arm.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I just fell on that side. My arm hurts, my leg hurts. Basically everything on that side hurts."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, putting a hand over my face.
He pulled my hand from my face and told me not to worry about it. "But I don't think I'll be riding anymore today." He added with a grimace.
"Okay," I untacked Maximus and then set him loose; he trotted back to the spot where he had been kept.
Then I took him by the arm and we walked back.
It took quite awhile to get back up to the shelf, and by the time we were up there, it was getting kind of dark.
I helped him over to the chair and made him sit down.
"Do you need anything?" I asked. "Ice, maybe?"
"No, I'll be fine if I just rest awhile. I didn't break anything, don't worry." He said.
"Well, I'm gonna worry anyway!" I said. "Even if you don't like it." I added, with mock reproach.
He chuckled. "No, really. I'm fine. Why don't you go visit with Merida and the gang?"
"No, I'll just stick around here-"
"Rapunzel. Go. All I'm gonna be doing is sitting and napping anyway."
I shook my head, but he stood up and gave me a nudge towards the deck and told me to go anyway. So I did.
When I got up to the shelf, everyone turned towards me and grinned. Since it was so dark up on that shelf, we decided to go down to the floor, where it was brighter.
Blondie sat on the heater, and Merida and Rayne stood and we chatted.
Mostly, we talked about wedding stuff.
"Have you decided on a date yet?" Blondie asked.
"Nah...I was thinking about talking about that with Flynn today, but he actually fell off a horse, so he's just resting, and I didn't want to disturb him any."
"Ahh," Blondie and Rayne said.
"Och, I fell off a' Angus awhile back. He's a lot taller'n most horses. He'll just be a bit shaken, is all - he'll be fine," Merida said. I nodded. I'd seen Angus before - it was actually one of the 18" dolls' horses - Patriot, I think was his catalog name?
"Why don't you try on my wedding dress? I want to see what you look like in it." Rayne asked.
"Oh, I'd be afraid something'd happen to it," I said. "Better wait till it's the actual day."
"What if you don't like it and it's your wedding day, and you can't fix something else for your dress?"
She had a point. So, that was how I came to be following her to a spot where we could exchange dresses in separate, private spots.
When we came back out, I smoothed the gown with my hands.
It was so soft, and I loved it!
"Oohs" and "Ahhs" came from the three of them, and I ducked my head in shyness.
I pulled my braid up around over my shoulder, and Merida exclaimed, "Oh, you HAVE to have it in a braid for your wedding! Like the braid in your movie, even better!"
Blondie nodded in agreement, and Rayne gave me two thumbs-up.
I looked slyly to the side. "But what if I wear it loose? Or cut it short?" (Of course, I'd never cut my hair short. I think it looks best long.)
Merida came around and linked her arm with mine. "Then, of course, we'd have to come up with another name for you. You can't be shorthaired Rapunzel!"
Rayne linked her arm with my other arm. "You just have to wear it in a braid."
"Definitely!" Blondie agreed.
Blondie stepped aside. "Who are you going to have as your maid of honor?"
"I have no clue," I admitted.
"I'd like to be a flower girl. I've always wanted to be one." She said with a smile.
I nodded. But the thought of who would be my maid of honor made me zone out.
I looked at Merida. She was a good friend. But what if her legs were bothering her the day of the wedding? And actually, why couldn't her legs be fixed, like my arm had been? But regardless, I wouldn't want her to be in pain, and have to stand around the day of my wedding!
And then I looked at Rayne. She was also a good friend. She even let me use her dress for the wedding! I probably should let her be my maid of honor. But what if Merida was mad or upset because of that? And if I chose Merida, would Rayne be upset?
I may use one of Merida's lines again. Och.
Who do you think I should have as my maid of honor?
I'm not good at decision making - obviously. So drop a comment and let me know - Merida or Rayne for the maid of honor!
No comments:
Post a Comment