~Parting is all we know of heaven and all we need of hell -Emily Dickinson~
"Next up we have Rebecca Baxter riding Catching Stars," the announcer said. The teenager looked,into the arena, trying to steady her breath, so her horse wouldn't see how nervous she was. Normally for her, these competitions were nothing, but this one seemed different. She took one final look around the arena, the jumps set up in a complicated pattern. One more deep, calming, breathe and she urged her horse into the arena where she was soon lost in a world- where she could fly.
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"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, we are preparing our decent in Kentucky. Thank you for flying with us today," the pilots voice said over the intercom. Bex Baxter looked out the window as miles of empty prairie gave way into buildings and busy interstates. This wasn't the English country side she was used to, with gentle rolling hills and small farm towns. No; this was a different world entirely...
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Walking off the plane into the main terminal, Bex looked around the airport. Families reuniting, girlfriends sucking off their boyfriends faces, the occasional troop returning home- it was just like any other airport. She stood by the carousel, waiting for her bags.
"Neeeeeeeigh," Bex looked down at a little girl crawling around on the floor with a Bryer model horse. She smiled slightly as the child pretended to gallop her horse across the ground, jumping over the high heeled shoes and weaving between legs. The girls mother followed closely behind, muttering quick apologies as her daughter and the horse darted around the airport.
She remembered those days, where your biggest worry was whither or not mom would remember to pickup the Lion King fruit snacks at the store. If only they could last forever.
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Grabbing her bags, Bex walked out of the airport, looking towards the parking lot at the teenage boy approaching her. "Long time no see," the boy said to her. Bex only nodded in reply, thinking about the last time she had seen her cousin, eleven years ago.
"You ready to go?" he asked her, picking up her bags. "Ya," she responded. "And you do realize, I can carry my own bags." "I forgot," he laughed, handing her one of the bags. Together, they walked towards an old beat up pickup. And so, our story begins...