Day 78: 5 Minute Freewrite - Prompt: pen (by keangaroo)

The bull watched from his pen, metal ring gleaming in his nose, and she imagined her hand grasping that ring, her legs moving back, the massive bull following her lead, wherever she cared to go.

But the snuffles and snorts and hoof stomping reminded her that old man Hocamp's bull was as impossible as the Hocamp men. She, however, was unlike the Hocamp women, the wives and daughters of three generations in Pheasant Valley.

She walked to the house.

The phone is ringing

It was Mrs. Smith, aka Hawkeye. Hocamp's bull escaped the pen. Look out, everyone!

"Margaret," her mother shouted as she slipped out the door. "You'd best stay right here. Never mind the garden or the chickens."

She didn't mind them. Nor the kitchen, nor the chores, nor her mom's anxiety about every little thing. She minded the idea of that bull, running free.

Camera in hand, Margaret ran to the end of the driveway, which T-intersected with the gravel road. To the west, that red barn, the barbed wire, the bull pen.

Thumping, thundering, the hooves kicked up a cloud of dust. Cats hissed and ran up trees. Margaret stood, then remembered Kenny Hocamp telling her the secret to surviving in a bull pen was to lay low. Crouching, she took aim in the grassy shoulder of the road. The colossal black Angus loomed into view, closer, closer -- would he really not smell her, not see her?

"Margaret!" he mother screamed.

Click. Click.

Margaret focused on the massive head and round eyes. The thick, gleaming ring that passed, almost within reach, if she were quick enough--but strong enough? One-hundred-pound Margaret, holding back a half ton of bull?

Click.

The bull charged by, amid shouts and panicky cries from neighbors, while Margaret captured the beast in a little Kodak Instamatic. All 24 shots were used in less than five minutes. Mom would have a cow, wasting a whole roll of film on that, but Margaret had caught the bull.

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Thanks, @mariannewest for the prompts and encouragement for your freewriters!

Prompt: pen
Set your timer for 5 minutes
Start writing
Use the hashtag #freewrite
Publish your piece (include a link to this post if you wish)

Copy and paste your URL into the comment section of the prompt post.

Pixabay images

Silhouette of Torero I loved seeing all over Spain, by MargaritaMorales
Margarita Morales Esparza • Valencia/España

Bull being led - by Jai79 | Schweiz