The Race

Patricia could not believe her eyes, that it took some time for her to recover from the shock. 'It can't be.... All this time I thought that....I thought that...because of the accident... Lightningbolt was condemned and he was killed for causing the death of a racer. But....here he is...alive'. Patricia then took a good look at the video of the horse in the cage, stomping its hooves and using its hind legs to try and break down the door of the cage.

Suddenly Patricia fell into nostalgia, back to a time when she was a small young nine year old girl. It was a beautiful sunny morning at the ranch and Patricia could not get any sleep due to excitement because of the news of the arrival of a new horse at the ranch the next morning. Patricia was sitting at the front porch of the house facing at the gate waiting for the arrival of the truck with the horse, whilst playing with the hem of her pretty flower printed dress in a daze. 'Beep beep!!' The sound from the horn of the truck awoke Patricia from her daze and she lifted up her eyes and saw the truck pulling up through their driveway and she quickly stood up and ran towards it whilst shouting excitedly. "Its here!!! Its here!! It's finally here!!" Patricia excitedly followed the truck to the stables and waited until it stopped and the driver alighted from the truck to open the trailer for the horse.

"(Chuckling) looks like someone is very excited about the new horse today!" Patricia turned to the side where the voice came from and she saw her father walking towards her whilst wearing his cowboy outfit, and with a bright smile on his face and he came and stood beside her. "Yes Dad! I couldn't even sleep well last night due to the excitement (giggling). I can't wait to see our new horse!" Said Patricia excitedly. "(Chuckling) Well you don't have to wait any longer", said Simon, and he monitioned for the driver to open the trailer and let the horse out. After opening the trailer, a young black horse with a white lightning bolt mark on its forehead gently stepped out of the trailer and trodded towards Patricia and her father and it stood just a few inches away from them. " Wow...!" Exclaimed Patricia whilst looking at the horse. "Well my dear. I would like to introduce you to our new horse, Lightningbolt", said Simon.

" Wow! He is beautiful!!" Exclaimed Patricia excitedly and she gently approached the horse and said, "Hi there Lightningbolt. Welcome to our home. My name is Patricia and I am so very excited to meet you", and she tried to touch the horse but it took some few steps back afraid of her. " Don't worry its alright. I am not going to hurt you...its ok" whispered Patricia as she slowly and gently approached the horse. This time the horse did not move and let Patricia touch it and gently ruffle its mane. Then it gently nuzzeld Patricia's hand and softly neighed in response to her touch. "Welcome home Lightningbolt. Welcome home..." Said Patricia as she gently patted the horse.

....

A couple of years later, a young teenage girl is seen racing through the fields on a magnificent black stallion with a white lightning bolt marking on its forehead. Whilst wearing a derby racing outfit. After a while the race came to an end at the edge of the field, on top of a cliff overlooking the mountain plains in a distance. "Good job Lightningbolt! You have a wonderful tasty snack waiting for you back at home when we get back!" Said the girl. "Well..well..well I'be...(chuckling) I must say that I am very impressed by you two. Maybe I should give up racing and let you do it instead", said a man who had just arrived riding a white stallion horse  and stood beside them.

"Oh Dad don't be silly. You know that I only like riding for fun, and besides Lightningbolt is your horse not mine. I only like riding him when celebrating your victories. I mean....this is your 120th victory!! And it is worth celebrating with a huge bang!! And very soon you are going to be the world champion!! You and Lightningbolt are going to show that Ricardo Montenegra who is the King of Derby racing!!" Said the girl excitedly.

The father just chuckled and replied, "Oh Patty!! You truly are something else my dear! But...let me remind you that..whatever is mine is also yours. So Lightningbolt is not 'my horse' but he is 'our horse'. Thats why I allow you to ride him to celebrate 'our victories'. And they are not my victories but ours because everything that I do, I do it for you and our family. Because nothing in this world and no amount of trophies can ever replace this irreplaceable trophy called family and that's something you should always remember. So don't be afraid to take the risks in order to protect and care for your family because the race of life will never be won without their support and also taking risks in life. But remember to do it whilst guarding your honor, respect and most importantly dignity. In whatever you do in your life make sure not to lose those three things because without them... You can never be yourself again".

Patricia just nodded her head in understanding to what her father just said and she said, " I will keep your words in mind Dad and I promise not to disappoint you". "Don't worry about disappointing me Patricia. Worry about disappointing yourself because you, yourself are the most important person. And let me tell you my dear, living a life filled with regrets is the worst thing that anyone could ever live for. So you better make sure that whatever you do you achieve it no matter what but if you can't...then learn to let it go and look for other options to achieve. Its not a crime to face defeat sometimes but how we pick ourselves up and move on is what is most important. I hope and pray that you always find your way my dear, even when I am no longer around but either way. I know that my daughter is brave, strong, kind, generous and most importantly intelligent so she can do anything. And I am always proud of her", said Simon.

Patricia felt tears sting in her eyes and she looked at her father with a bright smile and said, " I love you Dad." "And I love you too princess. Now how about a race back home. The first one to arrive will call it dibs on the bucket of chocolate ice creammmm", said Simon and started turning his horse to face the way back home. "Don't worry Dad. I will gladly save you a teaspoon when you...loooseee. Giddy up Lightningbolt hyahh!!!" "Hyahh!!" And the two were off riding back home under the golden orange hue of sunset.