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Rocking horse photo

Beatrice loved being an aunt. She liked being called Aunt Bea, she liked taking care of her niece Daisy, and she liked knowing that she helped her sister out when she came over. This time, Aunt Bea, as she liked to think of herself, and appointed herself to help Daisy get over her fear of horses.

See, a few months earlier, a horse had gone a bit wild and had gotten away from its owner. It broke away and came at Daisy at a terrifying speed. Her mom, being the quick reactor that she was, grabbed her out of the way so she wasn't hurt. However, while Daisy's body was free from scars, her mind clearly wasn't. She had been scared of horses ever since. She refused to hear stories about them and made her mom throw out any toys that were horses and any books that had horses in them. Her mom, of course being a smart and prudent woman, hadn't actually thrown the horse things away, she had just hidden them in a closet.

Daisy's mom had relayed all of this to Aunt Bea over a couple cups of tea one afternoon. Aunt Bea said she wouldn't let this stand. Horses were lovely creatures and Daisy shouldn't be so terrified of them. Daisy's mom agreed, but said she didn't have any ideas as to how to counteract Daisy's phobia. Aunt Bea hadn't had one at the time either, so she said she'd figure it out and finished her cup of tea.

Aunt Bea's eventually hatched a plan. She dug around at her parents' house until she found what she was looking for: her old rocking horse. Aunt Bea had loved it as a kid. She had wanted to be a cowgirl for a while and then she had wanted to be jockey and then she had wanted to be an explorer and then she eventually wanted to be a vet, which is what she had become. Her parents were happy for her to help clear out some of the clutter and so Aunt Bea arranged a visit with Daisy.

She put the rocking horse in the backyard before going into the house. She knocked on the back door, which her sister was expecting. Then, Daisy and her mom came outside. At first, Daisy's eyes went wide with fear and she tried to hide behind her mom. But her mom spoke soothingly to her and held her hand tightly and managed to get her into the yard.

"Daisy, I wanted you to meet an old friend of mine," Aunt Bea said, smiling brightly. She had always planned to do this at some point, but this seemed (or so Aunt Bea hoped) a good way to get Daisy over her fear.

Daisy stood completely rigid by her mom. "But I don't like horsies," she said quietly.

"Oh, but this is Brownie. He was a dear friend of mine when I was your age. With the help of your imagination he can take you anywhere and he also won't take you anywhere you don't want." Aunt Bea tried to remain cheery, but was getting a bit fearful that she had made a mistake when Daisy's dad came outside with a camera.

"I just had to see this," he chuckled as he joined the group.

"Why don't you give Brownie a try?" asked Aunt Bea, holding out her hand for Daisy to take.

Daisy shook her head sharply, "No, horsies are scary."

"Ah Brownie isn't scary, he's quite nice," smiled Aunt Bea. "Here, you can watch me." She kicked off her shoes, enjoying feeling like a small child again and climbed aboard Brownie. She was far too big to be on this rocking horse she quickly realized, but she was committed. Besides, it was fun to try and figure out a way to fit on the rocking horse again. Once she found her seat, she began to rock. "See, Daisy, he only goes when I ask him to. Where should I have my imagination take me?" She looked back at Daisy and smiled.

Daisy had let go of her mother's hand and had stopped hiding behind her. "Maybe...maybe to the park?" She said quietly.

"A grand idea, Daisy! Let's go to the park, Brownie!" She laughed and began describing the route she knew from Daisy's house to the park, she had taken her there many times. "Oh and now I'm passing that red house with all of the roses and now Brownie is taking me past the ice cream shop where I have certainly never gotten you lunch." She looked back at Daisy and winked.

Daisy smiled at that and seemed to be calming down.

Meanwhile, her father had crossed the yard and said, holding his camera up, "Look here, Bea and Brownie!"

Aunt Bea turned her head back and smiled. Daisy's dad clicked the camera.

Aunt Bea and Daisy kept copies of that photo in their homes always as a reminder of how Aunt Bea had helped Daisy overcome her fear of "horsies."

(Prompt by Denise Boneau)

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