Elise's Wish

Getting a horse is all Elise thinks about. She wakes up in the morning thinking about horses, and goes to bed still thinking about horses…I bet she even has dreams about coasting through vast fields of green grass atop the back of a trusted friend. Posters of these magnificent animals adorn the walls of the small room she shares with her sister. It is the smallest room in the house, but much cleaner than the room her three older brothers share. Upon her old oak dresser sits a porcelain horse statue that used to be her mother’s. It is a beautiful Bay, with a black mane and tail and a rust colored body. Elise wants her real horse to be just like it.

She has begged and pleaded with her father, but to no avail. He says that the family neither has the room nor the money to feed and keep a horse. Elise’s father has a will like a rock, but she has the persistence of a river. He is stubborn and firm, but she knows that she can eventually wear him down.

Being one of five children, Elise knows how it feels not to get her way. Her family lives on a small farm in southern Indiana, and she hasn’t been more than 50 miles away from home in her whole life. Her father is a hard-working man, and does what he can to provide, but since her mother’s death 2 years earlier, he is finding it hard to make ends meet. Two of Elise’s older brothers have taken part time jobs after school to help out with things around the house.

Her brother’s newfound employment gives Elise a great idea…She could get a job of her own and pay for the horse herself! It’s the perfect plan, she thought, her father just has to agree with this. She could maybe even have a bake sale, or a carwash, or maybe a lemonade stand. How much could a horse really cost, anyway? Plus, there is still the old stable in the back pasture. It hasn’t been used since mom’s accident. She loved horses.

Elise pauses, suddenly taken back to the foggy days before the cast of memory had been firmly set. She recalls the way her mother had made her feel, but every time she tries to call her mother’s face to mind, it gets a little harder, a little less detailed. She wonders how long it will be until she cannot recall her face at all. She reaches into the back pocket of her faded denim shorts, pulling out a photograph that looked as if it could disintegrate at any moment. The picture was well worn and wrinkled. It was stained with a lifetime of tears in only 2 short years.

 With a plan in mind, she confidently strolls towards her father’s truck. He just pulled in the driveway, and she is ready to let him know that she can handle the responsibility all by herself. The door on her father’s emerald green pickup swings open, and out steps a pair of the largest boots in Lincoln County, filled by a man equally large in girth and in spirit.   Elise opens her mouth, but before she can manage a word, her father says “No.” She pleads with him to listen. He replies, “Whatever it is, not now Elise, I mean it.” She sighs, feeling momentarily defeated, but no matter how many “No’s” she gets, all she needs is one “yes”.