UGR : Birthday Hat. (903 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Davros (View user info) at 2006-06-28 09:38:50 EDT
UGR Round 2 link : http://www.ubersite.com/m/89576
The old man put his coffee cup down on the table, then quickly removed it and silently cursed as he saw the ring appearing on the polished wooden surface. Moving quickly through to the kitchen with a strange stooping gait, he grabbed a cloth and returned to wipe the table down before it had a chance to dry. Shuffling back through to the kitchen, he cast his eyes around the house, ensuring everything looked right.
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness", was a favourite of his wife and although he had never gone much on religion, if it was good enough for Christie, it was good enough for him. It was especially important to him on this day that everything was perfect, as his Daughter in law and his Grandson were due for one of their rare visits to Wyoming from their home on the east coast.
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It was very apparent to anyone that cared to look that he had lived a hard outdoor life. His skin was tanned to a deep russet brown, even in the depths of winter. The lines on his face were deep and plentiful and the wrinkles around his eyes led to the impression that they were sunken into his face, providing a strange contrast with the, almost childlike, twinkle that lit them up when he smiled. His clothes were simple and rugged, jeans, boots, plaid shirts and long sleeved undershirts formed the majority of his wardrobe, along with a number of wide brimmed hats.
His age could be put at anywhere between fifty and eighty although, as he often told people who asked that he was "Closer to death than middle age". Despite his age and awkward movements, he remained a sprightly character, who was quick witted and swift to smile. Almost all the people he came into contact with liked him instantly and those that didn't soon warmed to him.
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He sat at the kitchen table, staring out the window at the large ranch house that he had shared with Christie until she had died three years ago. Since then he had moved into one of the smaller workers cottages, leaving the main house as the headquarters of the business. The old barns, painted red with a white trim, had been converted into accommodation for the many guests that the ranch now housed, coming for a "Western" experience of horse riding, corralling and roping cattle and generally living the life he had spent many years doing for real. All accompanied by the numerous home comforts that he had never had when it had been a working ranch.
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The kitchen door flew open and a slim, sandy haired boy flung himself into the old man's arms.
"Grampa", he yelled, as the old man swung him around the small kitchen, before setting him down and walking over to greet the child's mother with a light kiss on the cheek.
"Missy, Junior, it's good to see you again. If you want to wash up, dinner is waiting for you."
"Thanks JT", said Missy, "It's been a long trip."
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They sat around the kitchen table, eating and talking, catching up on the four months since their last visit. When they were done, they moved through to the comfortable living room, where they sat in silence for a while until Junior asked the inevitable question.
"Grampa, can you tell me a story about my Daddy?"
A slight frown passed over Missy's face, although she had known the question would come as much as JT had.
"Come sit by me son" said JT, "and we'll see what I can do."
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"Back when this was a working ranch, before it became a vacation place for rich city folks, we used to have around two thousand head of cattle. They took some looking after, but we couldn't afford much help, there was just me, your pop and two other ranch hands most of the time. We had to herd those steers from paddock to paddock, make sure they got fed and, most importantly, make sure none of them escaped. On top of all that we had to keep the fences fixed and keep the coyotes and prairie dogs away from the young ones.
So on this one day, a very special day as I came to realise later, the hands and I had been moving the cows closer to the ranch, it was heading for the time for them to go off for sale and we liked to keep them close. When we ran a count, we were ten short. Now ten out of the herd may not sound like much to you, but times were hard and every cent we could get at market was needed. One of the hands had spotted a hole in the fence, so while he went off to fix it, me and your daddy rode out to round up the missing steers.
Now your Daddy was about two years older than you are now but he could ride as well as any man I knew. He could rope and round up cattle just as well too, so I had no hesitation in taking him with me.
We rode back out to the paddock and headed through the gap in the fence and went searching for the missing cattle. We had rounded up all but two of them and were getting ready to drive them home. It was getting dark and it isn't safe to be out in those hills at night. We were distracted by the sound of an animal in pain.
Your pop went off to see if it was one of our steers, while I slowly worked the cattle back towards home.
Not five minutes later, I heard him calling my name. I could see him riding slowly towards me through the half light of the dusk. He had something roped up behind him and it was struggling, making his progress tough. It was too small to be a cow and there would have been no need to rope one of our cattle unless it was hurt. As he got closer I could see it was a foal, very young, but fighting for all it's worth to get away.
We dragged it back down to the ranch and closed the foal in an empty paddock. Your Daddy told me that he had found it next to it's mother, who was dead, so he had lassoed it, and dragged it back towards me. I set one of the hands to throw a bucket of feed and water to it, he wanted to do it himself, but I knew it was time for him to sleep.
The next morning he was out before me, but I knew exactly where to find him. He was sitting on the fence at the edge of the field where we had left the foal. It was the first time I had gotten a good look at it.
It was a dark, dark brown. Almost black. The only place this changed was above it's eyes and it's ears which were pure white. I remember him saying that it looked like the paper hats that he had for his friends at his birthday party, so we named him "Birthday Hat".
Well, that horse was the meanest God Damn Bastard I ever seen. We fed and watered him, but you couldn't get close if you didn't want a bite or a kick. He grew like a weed and stayed just as wild as the day we found him. Your father was obsessed with Birthday Hat. Every spare minute he got before school and after his chores he would spend up at the field watching and talking to that wild horse. If it hadn't been for him and his love of that beast, I would have sold it or shot it. A horse that can't be broken is no use on a ranch, just costing money that we didn't have.
Then one day that all changed.
I had been off at the market, trying to sell the last remnants of the herd and looking forward to the quiet few weeks where I could relax a little before the hard work started again. As I got back I heard my Christie screaming loud enough to wake the dead. When I saw her face I thought she was going to drop dead of a heart attack right there and then, which might have been kinder than what took her in the end. When I looked up to see what was wrong, I damn near had a heart attack myself.
Your father was sitting on Birthday Hat's back, with no reigns or saddle. The horse was flying around it's paddock, bucking and kicking trying to shake him off. He was holding on for his life, but he had a strange smile on his face. I found myself willing him to stay on, not because he might get hurt if he fell, just because he seemed to be enjoying it so much. I had never seen a horse with as much energy as Birthday Hat had, it looked like he could run forever.
After what seemed like hours, he just stopped, head down in the middle of the field. Your Daddy slid down and started patting his nose and leading him to his feed trough. Then he walked towards me. I wanted to be angry but couldn't manage it. I was proud. He had broken the horse that even my experienced hands couldn't touch.
That horse stayed wild, but your father could handle him. If he wasn't there you couldn't go near it, but with him, Birthday Hat was just as passive as you like."
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"And that was when you knew he was going to ride in the rodeo. Right Grampa?" asked Junior softly.
"That's right son", he replied, ruffling the child's hair.
He was struck at that moment how much he resembled his father at the same age.
"I wish you had been given the chance to know him, he would have been so proud of you."
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He looked up and saw Missy's eyes clouding over. Junior had a smile on his face but his eyes were damp.
"Come on son. Go take care of your mother, then you can see if Buck is ready to take you riding."
The child went to his mother and hugged her before helping her out of the chair.
"Remember what I told you last visit?, asked JT.
"Real Cowboys don't cry", his Grandson answered.
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The old man stared out of the open door, watching his grandson proudly walking his mother across to the ranch house where they would be staying. It reminded him again of the day his long dead son had ridden Birthday Hat. He had walked his mother back to the ranch on that very day.
He closed the door, sat in his chair and allowed the tears to stream down his cheeks.
-Dave
User Reviews
Submitted by polymorph505 (user info) at 2006-06-30 16:05:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That gave me a nice warm feeling deep inside my bowels.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-06-30 15:33:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
How'd you get so Western?
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-06-30 14:28:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this was good
but why did the kid call his dad "by name", wouldn't he have just yelled DAD
just a thought
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2006-06-29 14:27:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2006-06-29 04:11:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
auto +2 for competition link
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2006-06-29 04:07:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent, you crusty bastard.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-06-28 22:07:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Dave, will you be my friend?
All my other friends are Dave. I think it's meant to be.
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2006-06-28 21:56:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
didn't have time to write something...sorry.
i forfeit.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-06-28 13:21:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Quite so!
Submitted by Tracer0351 (user info) at 2006-06-28 12:15:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
nice, very nice
Submitted by goferforhire (user info) at 2006-06-28 11:43:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Shiny
Submitted by richsghostdog (user info) at 2006-06-28 11:34:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Totally great. +2,+2, +2, +2
Submitted by phuzzygish (user info) at 2006-06-28 11:29:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Go you good thing!!!
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2006-06-28 11:15:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2006-06-28 09:51:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome.