Time Alone (OPEN!)

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie's smile was genuine. "He sounds amazing. Dogs are great. If you're having a bad day, all you have to do is play with a dog for a few minutes.... it just makes everything else sort of vanish. My dad's a fireman, and they have a firehouse dog, Sparky. I would always love to visit Dad at the firehouse so I could play with the dog. What kind of dog is Jake?"

[Dierks Brooks]

"Yeah. Jake has been the best dog I could have ever asked for. I feel bad that I ain't able to bring him to school with me, although dad needs company for whenever he's at home and mama is off doin' something for the Ministry."

Dierks smiled. "A fireman? That's prudy cool. I used ter want to be one as well as a bull rider." He gave a laugh. "Jake is part spitz and somethin' else. I don't remember what the other part of him his. Dad got him from a friend who's spitz had a bunch of puppies, but they weren't sure what the other dog was."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie couldn't help but laugh. "A bull rider? Like a cowboy or something?" That was, as far as she understood, something that was uniquely American. To her it sounded utterly ridiculous. The bulls just threw the people off almost as soon as they got on. What was the point?

"I don't get it. Why would anyone want to do that?"

[Dierks Brooks]

"Yeah, like a cowboy," Dierks nodded. "I always thought it would be fun, 'course there's always the chance you'd get hurt. A man my dad knew got hit in the ribs. He got bruised prudy good, but he's alright. Far as I know, he's still ridin' bulls. Goin' ter Rodeos were always fun. They also have barrel racin', which is when you get on a horse and run 'round barrels on yer horse ter see who has the fastest time. My friend Kelsey is a barrel racer."

At the mention of why someone would want to ride bulls, Dierks gave a shrug. "Guess it's the thrill of ridin' a bull. Bein' bucked and thrown 'round, plus there is that chance of gettin' hurt. Other than that, I don't know why people do it, other than they just do."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie frowned. To her, it sounded silly. So much fuss for just a few short seconds on a bull... like a short shot of adrenaline. It seemed like people were risking their lives for nothing. It wasn't that she didn't understand the idea of an adrenaline rush, but it seemed like there had to be a better way to do it.

"So... it's like the guys who jump out of airplanes and stuff?" she said. "It's just... you're on the bull for such a short time."

[Dierks Brooks]

"Yeah, it's somethin' like that. It's that same adrenaline rush, but like you said bull ridin' only lasts for a short time. Bull ridin' is entertainment. People from all over come out to see local rodeos. If you win the tournament, then you get a prudy good amount of money. 'Course it won't make you the richest person in the world, but you can still get by. I just guess it all depends on where you come from." Dierks gave another shrug.

"Fer some guys, bull ridin' is their life, just like music, workin' on cars, and fightin' fires, are fer others. It's just a way of life I guess."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

She couldn't quite imagine finding such a thing entertaining, unless it was to laugh at the stupid sap who was trying to ride on the back of an angry bull, only to get thrown into the mud like yesterday's trash. But despite her reputation for saying whatever she had on her mind, no matter how rude, Callie kept her mouth shut.

Instead she asked the question that was foremost in her mind. "Does it... hurt the bull? I know Spanish bullfighting is supposed to be harmful to bulls, is this the same way? I mean, it can't be good to encourage the creatures to be so... violent, can it?"

[Dierks Brooks]

"It ain't really harmful," said Dierks. "Some of the bulls are nice, the others ain't. The spurs on the riders' boots are used ter help the bulls start buckin'. You don't really dig the spurs into the bull, just a little pressure makes the bull go, that is if you want extra style points with the judges. The spurs are usually purdy dull, and it doesn't hurt the bull 'cause their hide is purdy thick. It takes a lot ter hurt a bull. Bull ridin' is a lot more dangerous to the humans than it is ter the bulls."

He folded his legs up and up his arms around them. "There's a lot of things that you gotta have fer bull ridin'. You gotta have good rope ter go 'round the bull so you can hold on, and you gotta have gloves so that you don't get rope burn. Then 'round the bull there's a thing called a flank strap, which goes round the bull's flank. It usually makes the bull buck harder but it ain't harmful ter the bull although it probably sounds like it is."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

"Hmm," she said, somewhat doubtful. Her thinking was that people couldn't really know what animals were feeling, but she supposed that could go both ways. Maybe it didn't bother them, or maybe it did. But she didn't think she would enjoy watching it very much.

"You sure seem to know a lot about it, anyway. That's cool... it at least means you studied and learned about it. I can appreciate that. Tell me more about Jake."

[Dierks Brooks]

"You gotta know what yer gettin' yerself into when you wanna bull ride," he said with a shrug. At the mention of his dog, Dierks' face lit up more. "Jake, he is not like a regular dog. Sure, I know a lot of people probably say that, but Jake is just Jake. He knows what you're feeling and he'll try to cheer you up. I remember over the summer I had gotten sick. Jake stayed right there with me by the bed. He wouldn't leave me alone in bed." He smiled broadly. "He has a great sense of judgment when it comes to people."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie smiled. "He sounds like a really cool dog," she said. "It's funny.... they seem like they're just big, dumb animals, but dogs can be smart about some things, too. Especially things like that.... like knowing when you need them or when something's wrong. I always wished we could have a dog, but with Dad's schedule the way it is, and us away most of the year... it just wasn't practical. So the closest I ever got was the firehouse dog. Still, it's a pretty cool thing to have someone who is so completely and utterly loyal to you like that."

[Dierks Brooks]

"That he is. He'll let you know if he likes you, that's fer sure." Dierks let out a laugh. "But there are some people who are just as loyal. Those are yer real friends, as my mama would always say. As long as you got at least one person like that close ter you, yer set fer life, even if it is just a dog."

He didn't understand why so many people stayed away from Callie, except for the fact that she did sort of come off as intimidating. Other than that, she was a really nice girl. "So, tell me Callie, what do you like ter do fer fun?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie shrugged. "You mean besides terrorize obnoxious boys?" she said with a wry grin. "Hmm, well, I like to dance. And I like exercise, like running and stuff like that. And obviously, I like to read," she added, holding up her book.

She gave Dierks another assessing look, trying to figure him out. She still wasn't entirely sure she trusted him--he was a boy, after all--but he did seem harmless. "What about you? Besides watching bull riding, what do you like to do?"

[Dierks Brooks]

"I like ter fish," he said with a shrug. "'Course I can only do that if I'm at home, but I enjoy fishin'. Me and my dad go if he ain't busy. 'Round here I like ter read from time to time. I like ter build things too. I have a couple of small model boats that I put together. If I ain't doin' any of that, goin' fer a walk ain't that bad."

Dierks gave a smile. "I just find different stuff to do to help pass time away. I do whatever I can ter keep myself out of trouble pretty much."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie didn't say anything for a few minutes as she listened to Dierks talk. She liked his accent. She might even say it was cute, although she was hardly going to start giggling like some smitten little girl. In fact, it would take quite a lot to make her blush or giggle.

"Well, that's a pretty noble goal, actually," she said. "Keeping out of trouble, that is. It seems like a lot of boys these days would rather seek it out. It's cool that you don't think it has to be dangerous to be fun. Ever been to a muggle amusement park?"

[Dierks Brooks]

"Well, if I ever ended up in trouble, I'd never hear the end of it from my parents," he said with a small laugh. All they wanted him to do was go to school and learn. After all, that was what he was supposed to do. If he went and did that, then they would be happy. "And I don't really want them to holler at me. They've hollered at me before, and well, I just don't want a repeat." He shrugged his shoulders.

"I've been ter one before, but that's it. It was 'bout a year ago. I had a lotta fun though. Ridin' all the rollercoasters were a lot of fun and probably my favorite. Have you ever been ter one?"

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie's smile was genuine. "I love amusement parks," she said. "My dad's fire station has a benefit carnival every year. They don't usually have roller coasters, but they have Ferris wheels and other rides and games and stuff. They have another one coming up next month... It just sort of... seemed like the kind of thing you'd like."

Suddenly she felt stupid. It almost seemed like she was asking him to go, like on a date or something. Which wasn't exactly what she meant to do at all. Or maybe it was. She wasn't even sure why she had decided to bring it up in the first place.

[Dierks Brooks]

"A carnival? Those are fun. We had somethin' like that at home every year. Me and my dad used ter help set up all the tents and stuff." It was usually a small town thing that they would always help set up. "We had one of those Ferris wheels too. Those were fun ter ride. We also had a pony ride thing fer little kids. I'd go help out there fer a bit after riding the rides that were there."

For a second, Dierks almost felt shy. He wasn't quite sure why Callie had really brought up the fact that there was a carnival coming up next month, but he did want to find out why. "That would be prudy neat. I ain't been ter one since last year."

[Callisto "Callie" Sanders]

Callie felt like an idiot for mentioning it. Despite her apparent confidence, Callie would never be so bold as to invite a guy on a date, and the mere idea that she might have insinuated that she wanted to go out with him was kind of a terrifying thought. After all, boys didn't like Callie. They were always scared off by a girl who had strong opinions and wasn't afraid to express them. Dierks probably liked Bobby. She seemed more his type.

She let out an unusually high laugh. "Yeah... we used to help out at Daddy's carnival. Linette always tried to do a kissing booth, but I refused to help out with it. I usually did the face painting for the little kids instead."

[Dierks Brooks]

It was true, Dierks did like Bobby, but not in a romantic sense. Bobby was just someone that Dierks was friends with, and he would do anything she asked, but that was the extent of it. If anyone asked, he wouldn't deny that Bobby was pretty, so were Linette and Callie, but just because he thought that they were pretty didn't mean anything.

He couldn't help but let out a laugh. Dierks hadn't really met Linette yet, but from what he had heard about her, it didn't really surprise him. Of course that didn't mean that he thought she was easy or anything like that.

"That's cool. I can't really paint anythin', nor draw that good. I can draw stick figures and that's 'bout it." He smiled. Callie would seem the type to do something like that. "Bet you had a lotta kids come up and let you paint their faces."