Donovan+Engleson

It was just a normal day in 1991 and I was just riding along on my horse during my daily routines when I saw something very odd. Right in front of me, I saw a cactus that was as tall as a skyscraper. I rode back home on my trusty steed and brought a team of other cowboys to the giant cactus.  “I say we just cut it right open and see what’s inside,” another cowboy insisted. “I swore I heard something strange inside.” I agreed, and grabbed my handy knife. I cut a hole in it, and I was surprised to see a pair legs kick at me. The others convinced me to pull the pair of legs out, and we were flummoxed to find a baby who was almost as tall as me. We all decided to name this child Donovan Engleson.  We can all agree, Don was a strange boy. He loved to watch the buffalo as they ran on the large path that led to the only water source nearby. When the buffalo were gone, though, he’d always try to anger the horses in any way possible. He would jump on their backs while they were eating, or would even pretend he was riding a buffalo when the horses tried to buck him. The look on the horses’ faces didn’t help us feel less guilty, either. Even our strongest horse was so upset about Don’s antics. Don loved the horses, but he was as determined as a lion trying to chase a zebra. That was something that being punished wouldn’t stop.  One day, Don went missing. We looked everywhere. Under the floorboards and over the hills, yet no signs of Don anywhere. After two long, tiring days of searching, we almost lost hope. That was, until somebody came running back, his horse going so back the dust he left behind lasted for eons. He told us that he had found human footprints, and led us to where he found them. Sure enough, there were footprints, and they were about the size of Don’s. The strange thing is, nearby, we spotted a trail of a rabbit’s paw prints right next to Don’s footprints. We all assumed it was a short-haired bunny that started to follow Don around. Then, we all heard a cry for help. I rushed over as fast as I could, and found little Don, riding on a buffalo. Wrapped around the buffalo’s neck was a pair of blue bunny ears. Don was holding on to the blue bunny, and they both looked like they were having a good time. The bunny had rainbow colored hair on its stomach, and on its tail and on the inside of its ears.  “Blitz,” Don shouted to the bunny. “Your ears holding on tight enough?” The bunny slowly nodded and Don told him to loosen his grip a bit. The bunny loosened its grip, and they both flew off the buffalo’s back and landed safely next to me.  From that moment on, Blitz the Blue Brambling Bunny was welcome into the Engleson family. Don ceased bothering our horses- Or maybe he still did. I never asked the horses about it- and began practicing with Blitz, and by that, I mean he used the bunny as a rope. We all told him it wasn’t safe, but Don always insisted it didn’t hurt him nor did it hurt the bunny. After begging him a million times, and always getting the same answer, we stopped asking and let it go. It was fitting in Don’s personality for us to believe whether or not Blitz was comfortable with being used as a rope. It all fit in perfectly.  A few years later, a salesperson traveled all the way from California to our small town in Texas to show us our greatest fears mashed inside a robot. As Don grew, he’d always work on two things. One of them was to keep buffalo away from our peaceful town; to keep them from crushing all of our hard work into smithereens. The other, would be to stay away from apple pie at all times, for he was allergic. This robot not only stole Don’s job, but it also taunted him by baking twelve apple pies in the blink of an eye.  Don walked up to the salesperson, and he was angry as a thunderstorm. “I challenge you to a contest. The furious stampede should be coming by any minute now. If your silly robot can beat me at my job, I have to leave Texas and never come back. If I win, you and your useless robot can never show your faces here again. Deal?”  The salesperson smirked evilly. “You got yourself a deal, Donovan.”  Don and the salesperson shook hands and got ready. The robot grabbed a metal wire. Don gave Blitz a carrot. They were both prepared to capture as many buffalo as possible. We all heard the stampede from a mile away. Their stomping rang through our ears, and shook the ground. I held my gun, and stood between my son and a bucket of bolts.  “Ready?” They were. “Set?” All set. “Go!” I pulled the trigger, and they were off. The robot gathered 5 buffalo for Don’s 3. Halfway through, my other son, Matthew Engleson, asked me a question.  “Are other family members allowed to help?” I was thinking about that as well.  “I don’t see why not. What do you think, sir?”  The salesperson looked at me like I was a clown at the circus. “I don’t care if the entire state of Texas helps Don! It will be a lost cause.”  “I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, then, turned to Matt. “Go help him, Matt.”  Matthew grabbed his rope and ran over to Don. He could ride four buffalo at once with his left hand tied behind his back. The calculations that I made after Matthew joined, was that Don and Matt together were catching several buffalo for the robot’s five. <span style="color: #277727; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> The salesperson did a double take. “That’s it! I’m going to double the power!” he exclaimed, holding the remote to control the robot in his hands. He looked at the remote, smiled, and then pressed a button on it. The robot started to speed up, but the buffalo always got away. The salesperson looked worried, but he was smiling again after pressing another button on the remote. <span style="color: #277727; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> “Buffalo care off,” the robot said in a dull, emotionless voice. The buffalo kicked around and cried, but the robot was too tough to escape from. That was, until one of the buffalo managed to pack a kick to the robot’s head. It sparked and spun and started heating up. Then, it started to throw apple pies everywhere. Don ducked them as best he could, but then he lost concentration. He fell off the buffalo he was riding, and landed face down in an apple pie. <span style="color: #277727; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Everyone stopped. I stopped, Matt stopped, the buffalo stopped, and Blitz stopped, which made him let go of the buffalo and fall down on Don, who was still holding him. Don lifted himself out of the apple pie, gasped a couple of times, the quickly wrapped Blitz’s ears around the giant cactus he was found in as a baby. It was, coincidently, nearby. Then, he let out a sneeze loud enough to be heard in China. The sneeze managed to pull him back so far, he fell off the Grand Canyon. He, of course, dragged Blitz and the giant cactus with him. This caused a giant flood to occur, due to the water inside the cactus. Now, every time it rains, we assume it is Don and Blitz, visiting us.

Additional Notes: Blitz is, indeed, a short-haired bunny (I fear that I didn't make that clear enough) Don is allergic to apple pie, but I really didn't explain that. It's more of him being allergic to something in the apple pie. I would think maybe an allergy towards cinnamon or something. Whatever you wish for him to be allergic to.