[astrophile.]

The air was still, hot, and tense as the last cowboy at the Glacier County Rodeo lowered himself into the chute. Kaitlyn could feel King tense up under her, and she patted his neck to calm him down. This bull, his name was Phantom. A very fitting name. They said there wasn't a man that could stay on his back for the required eight seconds. He was one of the rankest and strongest bulls on the circuit. He was very big, yet so fast. And on top of all of that, he had a reputation for being a mean bull. All of those stats mixed together to make Phantom; a cowboy's worst nightmare.

Kaitlyn heard the rattle of Phantom's horns against the metal of the chute gate. She gripped the rope tightly between her fingers, so tightly that she feared it would snap in half. Time seemed to stand still. Then, she heard it. The sound of the chute gate being swung open and banging against the fence, the ringing of the bull's bell, the snorting and bellowing, and the cheers from the crowd. She locked her eyes on the bull and the rider. He was barely hanging on. She glanced up at the clock, and then back down at the bull, to see that the cowboy had been bucked off. He was sprawled out on the ground, with Phantom kicking and bucking around him. The bull fighters ran to the cowboy, and tried to distract the bull and get him away, but Phantom wasn't leaving without a fight. That's when Kaitlyn and King leaped into action. She dug her legs into King's side, and the Quarter Horse stallion shot off into a rocky lope. "Whoa, easy boy," Kaitlyn whispered to him. She swung her rope around, ready to throw it around Phantom's head. Just as she was about to rope him, Phantom turned, and locked his eyes on Kaitlyn and her horse. "Oh no.." she muttered, before she swiftly turned King into the other direction to get away from the bull. She looked over her shoulder, and Phantom was right behind her, snorting and bellowing angrily. She jerked the reins to the left, and almost collided with the fence, before going the other way. Phantom was by her side now. She was running out of room, she would have to attempt to catch him now. One wrong move, and she'd be under the hooves of her mount and of the bull. She swung the rope over her head, keeping her eyes on the bull. She was almost to the other side of the arena. "Now or never," she muttered through clenched teeth, as she tossed the rope over Phantom's head. It caught, and he stopped bucking and running for just a few seconds. "There we go," she said, as she brought Phantom out of the arena and into the pens. A rodeo helper undid the rope, and Kaitlyn heard the crowd cheer. It turned out, the cowboy wasn't that badly injured, just a couple of scrapes and bruises. When Kaitlyn returned to the arena, the crowd cheered even louder for her.
"Good job, King," she whispered into the ears of the bay stallion. As she was walking him around the arena, she realized that she had lost her hat during the chase. She scanned the arena, and saw it laying in the sand, upside down. She shrugged, and laughed. She was still shaking, and was breathing heavily.
"Just a little excitement, huh boy?" she asked, chuckling. She glanced around, and watched as the sun began to set over the Montana landscape. "What a way to end a rodeo weekend," she said, with a small smile.

Starring King

Lines not mine ^.^
This was very fun to color C: