Another once upon a time....

Once upon a time...
there was a little girl named Anne who was only about 4 years old. Her much older sister who was a senior in high school threw a party in the basement of their house. Anne being a curious and wanting to see what all the noise was about snuck downstairs against her mother's admonishments. It was there that she ran face first into the leather clad thigh of Karla. Looking up at her sister's tall, brunette friend Anne found herself in awe. Karla was tall and very beautiful, wearing a Harley leather jacket and motorcycle chaps. Everything about her seemed regal and left Anne full of awe. Karla smirked at little Anne and took her by the hand. Instead of leading her back up the stairs away from the party, she led her into the living room where there were people dancing and talking. To little Anne, it looked like a grand party with colorful baloons floating on the ceiling and bright streamers strung all around.
Curious little Anne tugged on Karla's arm and asked her why she was wearing all black to a party. Black was a sad color and she didn't look sad. Karla pulled Anne up on her lap and told Anne about her motorcycle which she rode to school every day. She wore the black leather to make sure she was protected should she get in an accident. And black wasn't a sad color, it was just another color. Anne of course, understood what she meant right away (not).
It wasn't long before Anne's mother had noticed that she was not in bed where she was supposed to be and came downstairs looking for her. Her mother found her grinning like a fool drapped in the heavy leather jacket with a group of people around her chuckling as she tried to dance without falling down.
Her mother decided that was enough and untangled her wayward daughter from the jacket handing it back to Karla. As Anne was carried out of the room, she looked back over her mom's shoulder and saw Karla wink at her. Anne decided then and there that she wanted to be just like Karla when she got older.
However fate would have other plans. When a friend with some achreage offered to let her ride on the back of his dirt bike while he drove, Anne, now a teenager, practically leapt at the opportunity. They drove round and round his property going fast and slow and going over the bumps. Anne eventually got comfortable and decided to let go and just relax on the back of the bike, resting her hands on her thighs. Little did she know her friend had braced for impact as he hit a small ditch causing the back of the bike to buck and throw Anne off. No worries...Anne landed safely in a big pile of grass clippings which cushioned her fall and left her with only a few minor scrapes.
But the flying leap left her scared of motorcycles ever since. Her idolized persona suddenly slipped away.
It wasn't until last summer when Anne rented a moped (first 2 wheeled experiance in almost a decade) and realized just how silly she had been and after a while got so comfortable on it, she was topping out the small moped motor. But 40mph still wasn't fast enough.
She talked to her friend Mark, a "greasy biker dude" who had basically been riding bikes for his entire life. He could talk for hours about his biking experiances. He later let her ride on the back of his bike on a ride to the ferries last fall. She enjoyed herself so much that she began to make plans to "get back on the horse" ....bike that is.
She signed up for a motorcycle class, paid the fee and had to wait for the class on May 14th.

To be continued when I finish the class.....if I ever bring the motorcycle back.........