Trespassing

 When I was in junior high I was horse crazy and took riding lessons with my best friend, Helen.  Our parents bought us each a horse because there was a boarding stable fairly close to Helen's house and we could get there on our bikes. The horses were for our families to enjoy, so Helen's sister joined us frequently, but none of our other siblings had the time (or interest?) to go very often.

  Eventually, the owner of the stable sold it to our fathers, who went out regularly to maintain it.  I don't recall the dads riding much, but I think they enjoyed the barn and pasture as much as we girls did.  Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around that place.  There are several stories from adventures on horseback with Helen, but strangely enough this is my favorite.  The heat wave we're having this summer reminded me of this day.

Trespassing  by Janet Sobczyk, 2012ⓒ

The summer sun was high

And so hot in the pale blue sky

A great day for a ride

Two friends, two horses, side by side.

Another dusty road

Gave us not a clue to forbode

The new delight in store

A fresh green meadow to explore.

Surrounded by tall trees

With barely a soft summer breeze

We reined the horses in

And admired the view with a grin.

The clover smelled so sweet

The shade above us was a treat

But soon we heard a sound

A soft humming rose from the ground.

It began very low

Then gradually started to grow

A new sight made us freeze

Literally hundreds of bees!

They flew from the clover

Angry that we had stopped over

 Not wanting to get stung

From the cool meadow – run, run, run!

So we made a mad dash

The horses took off in a flash

Down the hot dusty road

The horses didn’t need a goad.

Once the danger was gone

We slowed to a walk and laughed long

That was surely the last

Time we ever chose to trespass.