Just when you thought you have seen it all, only to find a human holding onto an apparently mad/wild animal with just one hand and hoping not to let off his one-handed grip with the beast bent on freeing his back from whoever or whatever is on it, STUPEFYING!
This is my entry for the weekly Freaky Friday contest organized by Pete. This is one of the two contests he organizes weekly and their purpose is to build the accounts of new users, give them something to write about weekly and recognize their hard work. Click HERE for more information.
I felt a touch and quietly opened my eyes, I immediately smelt disinfectants, medicines, chemicals and the rest, then it dawned on me that I passed the night at the hospital.
It was the third day of Dad's admission at the hospital after we got a call from the hospital's customer service at exactly 12 noon two days ago of the admission of our dad after he got into an accident. What accident? mom asked unsurprisingly as she sounded sober while immediately asking for the address of the hospital.
Mom immediately dropped the phone and told me to get dressed and get ready for the hospital while she rushed upstairs. I went into my room and wore my shirt and before I came out mom was running down the stairs. I asked what happened and all she did was drag me by the hands and out to the garage, I had no other option but to follow like the respectable 8 year old child that I am.
We got to the hospital and were directed to a ward, obviously where my Dad was been treated. Mom and I rushed into the room only to find Dad unconscious and covered with bandages. Mom immediately covered her mouth with her right palm and I could only see the tears flow down her cheek and hear the off/on sobbing sound coming from the covered mouth. It looked as though mom already knew what happened to Dad and before I could excogitate more on the possibility of that thought being real Mom ran towards Dad amidst tears and with the question, "Why do you want to kill yourself Peter?" After Mom has examined Dad from head to toe like it was the first time she was seeing him, she asked me to sit on a chair in the room while she go talk to the doctor and that was how it went until that touch woke me two days later.
After it hit me that I am at a hospital judging from the smell I kept perceiving, I quietly raised my head, looked around the room and noticed I slept on the edge of the bed Dad was lying on. "My dear boy" was the next voice I heard and it sounded very much familiar before the sentence was completed and I immediately turned to the direction the voice was coming from and behold, Dad was awake. I returned the smile he has been giving me since after his touch woke me up and I immediately asked what happened to him. All Dad could tell me was exactly what every grown up that shared my pain told me, "It was an accident". Dad next asked of Mom and I told him she went home to prepare some things, that she will soon be back and again, he smiled and heaved a sigh of relief.
ON A FREAKY FRIDAY 10 YEARS LATER
It was 26th September 2019, a day to my 18th Birthday. Dad promised earlier that he would be taking me to visit some place fun, mind-blowing and invigorating. A place that will leave one with psychedelic experiences and to also show me how he has been getting into accidents ever since (Oh yes, that narrated hospital experience wasn't the last) because he feels I am old enough to know certain things.
I was so excited and anxious at the same time, I have always loved adventures and also wanted to know how Dad gets himself into accidents that only affects much of his upper half ever since.
Thirty minutes later we entered the car and hit the road. After about 15-20 minutes ride, we arrived at some where that looks like a park with PBR written with huge letters on a sign board placed on top of the entrance gate. I was wondering inside of me what PBR means before Dad broke into my silence and with a tough grin on his face, he said, "Chill out boy, we going to see a deadly game".
We bought tickets and took a seat on the stands. After we settled on the seats Dad started to narrate everything. Starting from what the PBR we saw while driving in stands for, which is Professional Bull Riding and he explained further on how the sport is being played. While explaining, I couldn't help looking lost with my mouth a bit exposed to every flying insect or object on the air. Dad further explained how he decided to join the PBR sport, taking after his Dad, my Grandpa who he told me was ranked 30th before retirement but he(My Dad) was afraid of risking his life for sport despite enjoying the rides of my Grandpa and decided to take up a job which he later quit after not finding much joy in it, explaining it wasn't where his passion lay which automatically means, just like his Dad, he has got a strong thing for Bull Riding. Dad further explained he also wanted to better the performances of his Dad on the arena and he is currently ranked 11th,, not quite bad, I murmured.
Just while we were discussing the arena was getting filled with much people, mostly those with cowboy-like looks and the game was about beginning. Right then I was eager to see a bull stubborn enough to injure a human on it, just like Dad explained they injured him all the time he was admitted. The bulls I have known all my life knows but just to bellow and eat grass, how can they be that wild as Dad explained and still be considered a domestic animal? That they were trained for the sport wasn't enough reason to justify the news that people also die from the injuries gotten from the animal and they still persist on riding it, "What kind of Sport is this extreme?" I asked myself and just as I turned and was about asking Dad a question he pointed me towards the direction of a Bull rider and his bull, the game has begun.
Dad continued explaining that each player is assigned a renowned bucking bull provided to the Professional Bull Riding association and then players are picked randomly and assigned to their bulls after a draw is made on the computer.
The first bull rider incepted his one handed war with his bull and Dad continued explaining that the bull rider holds the strap on the bull with just one hand, raises the other hand up and must prevent that raised hand from touching the body or that of the bull, avoid letting off his hand from the strap on the bull, avoid touching the ground and must try to hold on to the bulls, adhere to the rules and must last the required 8 seconds rule of the game to amass 100 points maximum. I watched on with fear as the rider struggled to hold onto that fierce looking and terrifying bullish acts of the bull he was sitting on his back and THUD!, the rider is off the bulls back and crashing badly on the ground. I immediately stood up and told Dad I have seen enough, let's go home.
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