Midge and the Horse

 Midge and Booker-T skipped along the sidewalk on their way to Jake's house.

“Hey Jake!” called Midge as they entered the yard through the gate. “Where are you?”

“Jake!” called Booker-T.

“Hey you guys,” smiled Jake as he came around from the back of the house. “What are you two doing?”

“Well, we came to see what you are doing,” said Midge.

“I wasn't doing anything,” said Jake.

“We weren't doing anything either,” said Booker-T. “Midge was trying to find something to do.”

“Hi you guys!” greeted Gabby as he flew down from the trees above. “What are you guys doing?”

“Hi Gabby,” said Midge.

“We are trying to find something to do today,” said Jake.

“You don't go to the pond anymore,” said Gabby.

“We play in the little pond in my back yard now,” said Midge. “Come over to the house and bring Polly with you and use the pond.”

“That will be great,” smiled Gabby. “We will come one day.”

“So, what are we going to do today?” asked Booker-T.

“There is a horse show over on the grounds where the circus was when they came,” suggested Gabby.

“Oh, wow,” said Midge. “A horse show. Lets go see the horses.”

“You like the horses?” asked Jake.

“I think they are pretty,” stated Midge. “They are really big, but they are pretty.”

“Okay,” agreed Jake. “We will go see the horses.”

The three walked along the sidewalk with Gabby flying above them leading the way. They turned the corner and could see the horses in the area ahead of them.

“Oh, Gabby,” said Jake. “This isn't going to be a horse show. They are setting the place up for rodeo.”

“I've never seen a rodeo before,” said Booker-T. “When is the rodeo going to start?”

“Lets go look at that sign on the post over there,” said Jake.

They hurried across the street and read the sign.

“It says the rodeo will start tomorrow,” said Jake. “Do you want to stay and watch them put everything up?”

“Sure,” agreed Midge. “Lets go see the horses over there.”

“Okay,” said Booker-T. “But we better be careful so they don't step on us.”

The horses were in a fenced in area at the end of the field. They walked up to the fence and stood staring at them through the fence slats.

Midge stood up and placed her front paws on one of the slats and poked her head through the slats.

“Wow,” said Midge. “Aren't they pretty?”

“Be careful Midge,” said Jake.

“I'm okay,” said Midge. “Hello horses.”

The horses turned to face Midge. “Are you talking to us?” asked the black horse.

“Oh,” said Midge. “You know what I said.”

“We understand,” said the horse..

“What is your name?” asked Midge.

“They call me Midnight,” said the black horse. “The white horse is Lightning. The brown horse over there is Sandy and the other black horse is Samson.”

“Hi Midnight,” said Midge. “I'm Midge and the other dog is Jake and the cat is Booker-T.”

“Hi Midge,” said Midnight. “What are you doing here?' Are you in the rodeo?”

“Oh no,” said Jake. “We came to see the horses. Our friend, Gabby, said there were horses here.”

“What do you do in the rodeo?” asked Midge.

“I am a bucking bronc,” said Midnight.

“Oh,” exclaimed Midge. “You are mean.”

“No,” Midnight. “Not really. We do it for show. Sometimes we horses win and sometimes the cowboy wins.”

“I wish I could ride a horse,” said Midge.

“I can get low and you can get on my back,” said Midnight.

“But I don't know how I would stay up there,” said Midge.

“You would have to balance on my back,” said Midnight.

“Midge,” said Jake. “That's not a good idea.”

“It will be fun,” smiled Midge. “I can do it. I balanced on the sled. Don't you remember?”

“I also remember you going flying off the sled at the bottom of the hill,” said Jake. “The horse is much taller than the sled. It is a long way to the ground from on top of the horse.”

“I can do it,” said Midge. “Can I get on?”

Midnight walked close to the fence and stooped down so Midge could get on his back. Midge crawled under the fence and climbed onto Midnight's back. Slowly the horse stood up with Midge standing on his back.

“Midge,” said Jake. “Be careful up there. It is a long way to the ground.”

“It is high up here,” said Midge. “I can see a long way from here.”

“Do you want to go for a walk?” asked Midnight.

“Yes,” said Midge. “Lets go.”

Midnight started slowly walking across the fenced area as Midge carefully balanced herself on top of his back.

“Hey!” shouted a man as he came running across the field. “What are you doing on that horse? Get down! Get down!”

Midge quickly looked up at the running man and lost her footing and slipped off the horse to the ground.

“Midge!” shouted Jake. “Midge. Are you okay?”

Midge slowly stood up and limped to the fence where Jake and Booker-T stood watching her.

“Are you okay?” asked Booker-T.

“I think so,” said Midge as she stooped to crawl under the fence.

“Get out of here!” shouted the man.

“Bye Midge,” called Midnight as the three quickly ran from the area.

“Midge,” said Jake. “Are you okay?'

“I think so,” said Midge.

“You are limping,” said Booker-T. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“It was a long way to the ground and it was hard when I landed.”

“You landed on your feet,” said Jake.

“It's my feet that are sore,” said Midge.

“Lets hurry home and you can rest your feet when we get there,” suggested Jake.

“Lets go to my house and I can cool them off in the pond,” said Midge.

“The water will be good for your sore feet,” said Booker-T. “We can all play in the water for a little while.”

“I like that idea,” said Jake. “I think the pond is safer than that big horse.”
They hurried along the sidewalk to Midge's house.