Meet Me on the Midway
There was nothing quite like the party that would soon unfold in front of twenty-three year old Isabella Swan. She knew it too; every year for ten – well technically eleven days - Bella's world would become something else entirely. The city felt more alive, more vibrant, and much friendlier during those days than it would for the rest of the year. The growing metropolis in the Canadian prairies had evolved over the last hundred years. It started as a small stop on the railroad to the coast, then became a farming and ranching hub of the west, and then it turned into the center of the oil industry for the entire nation. Calgary was the fastest growing city in the country, and it was constantly changing. One thing that never changed was that for eleven days in July, residents and visitors would pay homage to the culture that helped build the city they affectionately called Cow Town. During that time, one could not enter Calgary Alberta without being caught up in the festivities of the Calgary Stampede. Bella Swan would not have it any other way.
Growing up in Calgary, Bella had seen many Calgary Stampedes. This one would be different. Not only would it be the centennial celebration of "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", but something told her that this year would be special for her as well. It would be her first solo Stampede. This alone would change the dynamic of the adventure, but she could not shake the feeling that the Centennial was not the only thing that would be special this year.
"I can't believe you are not coming home this year; it's the Stampede!" Bella said to her mother Renee over the phone during her lunch break. "Who is going to eat greasy midway food with me? They are deep-frying Kool-aid this year!"
"Bella, you act like you don't have friends," Renee said with a sigh.
"I don't, or at least not ones that are as excited as I am to go Stampeding. I work for a company based out of Vancouver, and most of the staff there only moved here within the last six months. They don't get it." She glanced around to make sure none of her coworkers were nearby. Generally she liked the people she worked with, but none had shown even a fraction of the excitement that Bella had for the upcoming festivities.
"Phil and I are busy travelling Florida. We are planning to get back up there sometime in August to visit. Without your mom tagging around maybe you'll finally find yourself a rodeo cowboy to settle down with."
"I think you are delusional. I do not need a cowboy; I need a partner in crime willing to ride stupid midway rides, eat greasy deep fried food, and watch endless rodeos and chuckwagon races with me. I have no one to do that. In fact, two different people at work actually asked me what the big deal was. They compared the Stampede to a county fair." Bella began to pack up her lunch, and head back toward her office to finish the day of work.
"I think you are being a bit over-dramatic Bella Swan." There was a twinge of laughter in her voice.
"It's your fault you know. You bought me my first pair of cowboy boots; you instilled this deep love of all things Calgary Stampede in me. You have no one to blame but yourself because you are abandoning me this year."
"I'm such a terrible mother aren't I?"
"Yes, you definitely are." As she said it, Bella reached her office, and set down her lunch. "I've got to go though; it's time to get back to actually working."
"And I will sit on a Florida beach, and contemplate how I can make it up to you."
"You can't, because this will be the first Stampede you've missed in my entire life. I might never forgive you."
"Yeah right," Renee replied with a laugh.
"Fine," Bella relented. "Talk to you in a few days?"
"Yes, I'll call you before the Stampede starts. I expect regular updates. I love you Bella. It'll be alright; you will have an amazing Stampede, even without me there."
"I love you too. You better be right."
She pressed the end call button on her phone, and sat herself down at her desk. The last several months had been rough, and Bella had been looking forward more than ever to her favourite time of year. It was supposed to be a chance to forget the disastrous months she had just experienced. When Renee had told her that she and Phil would be staying in Florida it felt like a punch in the stomach. She would never tell her mom that of course; she did not want her to run home and save her. Phil and Renee had recently married. The last thing she needed to do was tear her mom away from her new husband to come fix her lost daughter again.
Bella tried not to think about the last six months; whenever she did, it brought nothing but tears, and bad memories. It would often ruin her whole day. Unfortunately though, she could not help but relive it all whenever it entered her thoughts. Up until the end of last year she had been teaching at a local private school. She loved her job, and she was a great at it. It was her first full contract as a teacher. Things felt like they were finally coming together. She had even met someone that she really liked; he was the divorced father of one of her students. He was older, but Bella often felt older than she was. They shared an interesting parent-teacher interview, and she began seeing him. It was important to keep it quiet from the school, and his daughter. He had always acted as if he was protecting his little girl in case things went sour, but in December, Bella realised he was in fact protecting himself.
He was definitely divorced from the mother of his children; Bella knew this because it was in his daughter's student file. He was not divorced from his second wife though. When his current wife looked through his text message records she confronted her husband. He told his wife that Bella had been coming on to him since the parent-teacher interviews, and that she was threatening to fail his daughter if he did not respond. The couple contacted administration, and the school took the side of the couple – which was not at all surprising since they donated to the academy at the same time.
Bella lost her temporary contract without any references, and she was afraid to look for teaching jobs anywhere in the city for fear that the truth would come out.
Early in the New Year, things got worse. Bella found out she was pregnant. Twenty-three, pregnant, alone, and unemployed; it was essentially hitting rock bottom for Bella. Renee came home in February, after Bella finally told her everything. Her mom helped her get herself back on her feet. Finding a job was not hard; she had two university degrees after all. She did not hate her work at the office, but it was not what she had seen herself doing with her life. Things seemed to be getting better over the next two months, and Renee went back on the road with Phil.
It all came to a crashing halt in April. Bella had just moved into an apartment near her new office; it would be much easier than the forty-five minute train ride she was currently taking. It was an abnormally warm day for April, and the elevator was out for maintenance. Bella decided that the twelve flights of stairs would be good for her. At floor six the sweltering hot stairwell got the best of her. She still could not remember it, but she passed out from the heat, and fell down two flights of stairs.
No one knew how long she had been unconscious in the stairwell when a tenant from the tenth floor found her. It was long enough though, because when she awoke at the hospital she found out that she had lost the baby. She kept telling herself that it was for the best; that she had never wanted a baby in the first place. After a few days, she finally called Renee to tell her what had happened. Within six hours, her mother, and her father Charlie, were at her side. Her father, a police officer in Washington, stayed for two weeks. Renee remained in Calgary for a month. While they were there she felt better. She had support, and protection, but she knew they could not stay forever.
Bella put on a brave face, and worked hard to show everyone that she was fine. No one would be allowed to see how broken she was on the inside. She went to work, came home afterward, and then watched endless episodes of mediocre television, or read silently on her couch. Her life was boring, but she was able to portray normality. People slowly stopped asking her how she was doing. June had brought the familiar excitement that summer always brought and when the brochure highlighting all the events of the Calgary Stampede arrived at her apartment, she felt excited for the first time in months. The Stampede was like a tiny ray of sunshine in her life, and for in what seemed like forever, she finally felt like smiling again.
Knowing that her mother would not be there for the Stampede this year brought a dark cloud to her tiny ray of sunshine. It would not be the same without Renee. However, it was still the Stampede, her favourite time of year. As she sat her desk that afternoon, she decided to make the most of it. This would be her chance to get out of the rut that was her life. It would be a catapult of sorts; it would get her up and out of this hole, and back on track to the happiness she craved. Nothing that had happened to her in the last six months had really been her fault, and she was ready to get something good out of life.
Bella came out of her thoughts when her co-worker Angela appeared at her office door. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked cautiously. She could see how deep in thought Bella was.
"Nothing of major importance; what's up?" Bella replied, putting on her best fake smile – something she had perfected over the last several months.
"Ben and I were thinking of going down to your Stampede next Thursday for the sneak-a-peak night. I convinced Jessica, Mike, Lauren, and Tyler to come. I was just wondering if you wanted to join us. I'm sure you have a routine for Stampede; I know it is a big deal to you, but we would be happy to have you along. We were going to go down see what all the fuss is about, and then later go down to a bar called Ranch Lands for some drinks."
"Do you mean Ranchman's?" Bella asked.
"That sounds right; is it down south somewhere?"
"Yep, it's the city's big country bar; a big hit during Stampede." Bella had not been there in years, but she had some good memories from there.
"Ben mentioned that. I think that's why he wanted to go on Thursday; to avoid the weekend crowds."
"Good call, and count me in. I just found out my family isn't coming up this year, so I really haven't made much as far as plans yet." She smiled again. This time it felt a little less forced. Her plan already was in motion; she was going to go to sneak-a-peak and then go out with coworkers. In her eyes, it would be the start of the new improved life of Bella Swan. She could do it; she was sure of it.
Bella finished the day in autopilot mode. It was one of her favourite things about her job; on the days when she did not want to think about work she did not have to. However, even in autopilot mode she could be productive. It felt like her life was on autopilot for the last little while; autopilot was easy. The step after autopilot might be difficult.
"They finally finished that huge office tower they were building last summer," Alice Whitlock said as she leaned out the window over her sleeping husband Jasper, to get a better look. He woke up. For a split second he wondered why his wife had practically climbed across his lap, but then he saw the outline of the city in front of the truck.
"Yeah, it was just a half-built mess of cranes last year when we were here." Edward Cullen, Alice's brother commented without taking his eyes off the road as he drove his favorite pick-up towards Calgary Alberta. It was a trip he had made several times over the course of his life. The beautifully located city was nestled at the foothills of the great Rocky Mountains; the scenery was gorgeous. He always made sure to drive the last part of the trip so that he did not take a nap and miss it. He loved coming up from Montana, and seeing how the prairies seemed to transform into the mountains to the right of the highway. It felt almost like coming home. "Can you sit down Alice? I am trying to see my mirrors, but your ass is in the way. I'd much rather get us there alive. You can look at the tower through the windshield."
"It's covered in bug spatter. It looks much better without smeared unidentifiable bugs in my field of vision." She brushed her brother off as she sat back down and buckled up.
"That one there isn't unidentifiable. It looks like it was a mosquito; it left blood spatter," Jasper commented as he pointed to a particularly unpleasant red splatter on the glass.
"Gross; must you?" Alice replied.
"I'm pretty sure you are the only country girl I've ever met who say gross that much." Edward loved teasing his sister. She really did not fit the usual country girl persona.
"Just because I ride horses doesn't mean I like bugs, or their guts." Before Edward could answer, there was a honk beside them and Emmett, their older brother, drove by in their motor home. He taunted his siblings, while his wife Rosalie waved sweetly. Rosalie had been practically a member of the family since birth. She and Alice had learned how to ride together under Carlisle's teaching, and since about age twelve, the beautiful blonde had been in love with Emmett. He was sixteen at the time, and showed no interest in a twelve-year-old who had yet to develop. Rosalie was persistent, and always insisted that one day she and Emmett would be married. She turned sixteen, and he finally began to notice her. They officially began dating when she was eighteen. It would have been sooner had Emmett not been afraid her father would shoot him if he tried anything before her eighteen birthday. Two years later, they were married.
"You realise they are passing you in a motor home; you drive like an old man." Jasper glared at his brother-in-law as he spoke.
"Tell that to your wife. It is her horse that we are towing, and that thing is a little hellion. I do not want it coming off that trailer in another one of her moods. I don't need bruised ribs before I even get into the chutes." Edward glanced into the rear-view mirror at the horse trailer behind them. Alice's temperamental horse would be fine. He would not jeopardize that just to beat Emmett into the city.
"You deserved those bruised ribs in Vegas; you drove like a madman and scared my poor girl."
"I lost the National Finals with those bruised ribs. I am not repeating that here."
"Oh Edward, don't be delusional; you would have lost the Nationals anyway. You aren't that good." Jasper never let him live it down that although Edward had failed to place in last year's finals, Jasper had taken top spot in his event. It was no shock, because Jasper was top of his game in the saddle bronc riding. He came in second at the Stampede the year before, but had been riding marvellously ever since. Edward was generally grateful that he did not compete in the same event as his brother-in-law. He doubted he could ever have anywhere near the skill and rhythm that Jasper had when he was competing.
Edward was making his first Stampede appearance as a competitor. He had been there many times before when members of his family were competing, but this would be his first appearance. He was determined not to make it his last one. He loved the rodeo circuit no matter where they went, but the Stampede was one of his yearly favorites. His father competed at the Stampede when he was very young, and he had seen pictures from his mother's days of barrel racing in Calgary. Edward was still in grade school when his brother competed in first Stampede. Emmett placed fourth in the Junior Steer Riding at age fourteen. Eventually, Emmett outgrew his riding days. Soon after, Edward watched him compete in the Steer Wrestling. The man's six-foot-four frame was perfect for it. Edward was also there to see Rosalie compete in the barrel racing, and he had attended his little sister's first Stampede the year before when she also competed in the barrel racing. This year, there were four of them competing; his brother, Jasper, Alice, and himself. Rosalie had won the previous year, and by rights would have been riding this year, but she was expecting her and Emmett's first child. Needless to say, she would be sitting this one out.
Also attending were his parents, Carlisle and Esme, who met for the first time at the Calgary Stampede thirty years earlier. For them, this particular stop on the rodeo tour was very special. Edward always wondered if that is what made it special for the entire family; it had all started in Calgary after all. For some reason though, he felt like there was something else that drew him to this city. So in July of every year he made sure to return with hope that someday he might figure out what made Calgary so special.
This year would be a special one.