Personal Narrative: The Last Jumper

Four, maybe five German soldiers surrounded me. They were moving in faster than a pack of starving wolves, and I was their downed prey. There were flying bullets, dark smoke, and explosions everywhere. I was oppressed and knew that this was finally it. All my hard work was about to disappear into a plume of smoke. I commenced raising my rifle, and then in the midst of this chaotic scene there was this ever so subtle giggle over the headset. I look upwards dumbfounded to see a firestorm of bombs hailing all around me, and enveloping my entire section of the battlefield obliterating everything. It was my brother Chase piloting this monstrous desert-sand colored beast of a bomber, which just unleashed utter devastation on the opposing

I took a deep breath as I walked my horse into the Greeley Stampede Arena. I told myself just to "relax." I loped a circle around the arena to make sure that my horse was warmed up and ready to go. He was ready but I was starting to get nervous. I stopped in front of the roping box to put my piggin' string in my mouth. I looked at my calf in the chute to make sure that it was number 33, which was one of the best calves out of the whole set. It was, and I was ready to ride into the box and rope my calf, or attempt to rope my calf. I began to get more nervous, more nervous than I ever had been at a rodeo.

Seven nights ago I arrived at Red Dillon’s homestead. Before sleeping that night I dined on a bowl of red chili and a cup of coffee while Red Dillon went over the agreement, he made with the agent from the reservation. After Red finished reviewing the agreement he urged me to have some more food to prepare for tomorrow's bronc riding lesson. That next day I only managed to ride two horses and before being thrown five times, but I learned how to ride with skill. Each horse has a pattern and I can gauge their pattern to find my timing and rhythm to control the broncs. By the end of the week I managed to ride two horses in succession to a complete standstill and I felt accomplished, although Red immediately set up the corral after

It was just me, my horse, and the four judges, who were there to critique my every single move. I probably looked like an ant standing alone inside such a large area. My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it beating in my ears. Thump. Thump. Thump. I tried to block it out in order to concentrate on the task at hand. The announcer calls for 805, which was my show number, and up to the first cone I went. I knew that pattern better than I knew my own name. The arena smelled so fresh and clean. I could see the perfectly straight drag lines from the tractor, since I was the first one to go in my class. This was the moment that I had been waiting my entire life for. While waiting at the first cone, the pattern was soaring through my head. Trot to the first cone and stop, then do a turn to the right. Over and over again I kept repeating it silently to myself. Finally, the judges nodded for me to begin, and I started the best pattern

Greater lawrence, pass him, Sprint. So i finish on the floor dying couldn’t breath properly so i deep breaths and needed water my mouth was dry. After the race was over needed time to process like what happen in the beginning i knew we’re going to face greater lowell next week needed to be prepared for the time being. I needed to fix on my start so i don’t have to be the hero. I need to work on is my breathing it didn’t go so well and how to keep a pace with someone so i won’t lose the guy and cost the team some points if i do that well i’m gold. I needed to workout my legs so they won’t hurt during in races. The most important i have to do is keep my body calm and mind during the race next week. I knew in my next race it’s not all about having speed and it was mostly having a good mentality. So i work on a one week later race against greater lowell again i have done better which i did before at least i had the knowledge of the course to back that up it was a great

I quickly moved from the door to First Sergeant Attaway’s room. I arrived there before anyone else did so I started to make my uniform cleaned up and spotless, along with going over the questions I thought might have been asked. There was plenty and I was not really prepared as I wanted to be, but I was going to do my best. Everyone else started to show up, putting on their uniforms or cleaning their uniforms. The judges walked in and we lead them to where First Sergeant was. We then sent everything we needed to the gymnasium we were going to be in. The flags, the harnesses, the rifles, the stands, everything we needed was right there. We then started off with a little talk from First Sergeant then we started off with the color guards. One with and one without a saber. We then moved into a group marching with and without rifles. After that were the questions, and then he flags. The flags have been the easiest part, since the whole group you were in, which was five people this year, were able to talk and help each other. We finally completed the day. None of us embarrassed ourselves and we made it out without anything awful happening. We put everything away and then talked about what happened at both the practices and the auditions. We were then finally able to go

The clip clop of hooves echoed through the desert. Fear pulsed through my veins. The horse was massive, weighing in at over two tons and easily buck me off where I could easily be trampled be the others behind me. I quickly cleared my head of that idea. Starting to get accustomed to the relatively straight and flat trail I began to loosen up.The trail began at first being primarily flat, but then came the ditch. This ditch had taken me by surprise as my fear was just beginning to truly diminish. As the ditch was mainly soft sand my horse had no traction and quickly sped down the hill. What comes down must come up. As my horse slowly climbed the steep embankment I began to saddle ever closer to being bucked off. Thankfully, I never fell off, barely. The trail was mainly flat with few sharp turns after that. Now that it was smooth again and that I started to get comfortable with my horse I had my first opportunity to take in the view. It was no Grand Canyon, but it was exceptional enough for me. Natures reign became more apparent as we progressed down the trail and an abundance of wildlife came to view. I was about to be taken by surprise again. After about ten minutes of smooth riding we reached a gait. The guide told me to go through the gate and the others would follow. Now it was only me and Quiggly, no one to help if anything went awry. I took it slow and steady and thankfully he followed suit. After

I approached the spirited horse with confidence because I was experienced with these types of shows in which all the riders are assigned a random horse to ride. I could sense his tension as soon as I was in the saddle. He furiously pawed the ground and shifted his weight around. Before I knew it, we entered the arena. Almost immediately he began prancing like a deer around the ring, my fear growing with every misstep he took. I desperately looked to my coach for advice, but there was nothing she could do. It was between him and me and he knew he was in control. The spectators lining the outside of the arena fell into an eerie silence each time we passed by. I was masquerading, pretending I had him under control while the situation continued to worsen. In my mind years passed before the judge finally called for all of the riders to line up in the middle of the arena. As we turned to line up, he stopped. I convinced him to take one reluctant step forward before he reared up onto his hind legs. He rose up higher and higher, turning into a skyscraper towering over all others in the arena. Then, everything went quiet. I frantically grabbed for his white mane, trying to maintain my balance, but to no avail. We both fell backwards, all two thousand pounds of his body crushing

After the the first shot I took my mind went blank. The adrenaline that flowed throughout my body, the feelings of rush, excitement, and success all in one combination of emotions. These were the feelings I had no idea excited until after that moment. Although I had a slight ache in my shoulder due to the force of the 12 gauge shotgun pushing against my shoulder. I was at a lost of words my only reactions was to run, run as fast as I could to get to the dying turkey. Once there the turkey was not fully dead yet It was still flopping around and blood camp oozing out splattering me. Looking at the suffering bird I places my boot on it head to the ground, then grabbed the turkey's body pulling it so its

Every morning the legless man parked his wheelchair in front of the donut shop. He wore an army camouflage jacket, the name Larson over the right pocket, a Purple Heart and a Viet Nam service medal over the left, on the sleeve an infantry unit patch and sergeant stripes.

Last year I started a new sport, cross country. I only did it because my lacrosse coach said that it might help me get better for lacrosse. So I went to the first late summer practice last year to see what this was like, so then we did warm-ups and a lap around the track. Then it was the first time I met coach Chase, My first impression of him was going to be very strict, But soon realized that this was false because of one of the first things he said. He said “I know there are a lot of nerves here right now, but cross country isn’t about winning every race, that comes later” then continued with “Cross country is about showing what you can do to yourself.” This struck me very hard because I was not that fast and was near the back. Through that fall the team did very well, I also made some progress myself. After the season was over I made a decision.

I watched people who had been riding their whole life ace the course, and then there was me. I had been riding for two years when I fell off and sprained my back. It hurt to jump let alone ride, I was terrified i would never ride again. My back healed and I was able to ride again, but my confidence was replaced with fear. That's why I was competing to prove I was not afraid. So there I was on the starting line when, "TWEET!" goes the whistle and I'm off. I weave through poles, circled barrels, and dodged obstacles.

This year I got over my fear of horses. For my fifteenth birthday my aunt got me four weeks of horseback riding lessons. My lesson horses name was Skyjet. At first I was terrified of the horse and how big it was, but really it was one of the smallest ones there. I learned how to groom the horse on put all the gear on it. I learned how to 5-star which is when you go into a squat forward leaning position and stay like that, I learned how to post which is kind of like doing squats but instead of going down you are going up, also how to get the horse to trot and stop. To trot you say trot on kick the horse's side until it does. To stop you pull the reigns to you and release when they stop.

His voice is like rocks on a cheese grater, His clothes are like the sun, His attitude is like a roller coaster, His smirk is like a shredded piece of paper, His laugh is like a dolphin crying,

I got used to it, or so I thought. I started taking my turns faster and getting in race mode. By this time I had calmed down and relaxed. I got to relaxed and got ahead of my self and BAM! I went down jamming my knee between my bike and the hard packed dirt ground. Adrenaline instantly hit me. I felt dizzy from the adrenaline. I could feel it run through my veins like cold blood. I picked up my bike I finished the practice lap and pulled into the pit. I put my bike on the greasy aluminum stand that I had been using for a year. I sat down to calm my nerves. The adrenaline was still there. I tuned my bike up for the race. I sprayed my chain down with a sticky liquid called chain lube. I took out the wrench and tightened my chain. As soon as I changed out of the sweaty clothes and wash the muddy dirt off of my face, I sat by the fire.