• My Ship

    Whenever my family and I go horseback riding, we load the horses into the trailer, jump into the truck and head toward our destination. To me, the trailer is the embodiment of freedom. It is a ship on rubber tires.

    In the trailer’s living quarters, there is a table that is sometimes a bed. The table folds down and the chair cushions can be moved on it to create the base of the bed. During the night, the cold sneaks in through the windows, chilling the entire cabin. However, underneath mounds of blankets, comforters and sleeping bags, one can stay warm and enjoy the comforting hint of cold on one’s nose and eyelids, the only parts not engulfed by the mountain of fluffy fabric and stuffing.

    The floor is a white linoleum tile with hints of blue and beige. Rising from it like icebergs from the sea are the cabinets, harboring the refrigerator and freezer with wood paneled doors, the stovetop, the sink and the microwave which is only operational when the trailer is plugged into an electrical outlet. Inside the sink is a box of sandwich bags, aluminum foil, a box of hot cocoa mix and a half-full bag of Fun Size Twix bars as well as a dirty, empty mug for hot cocoa, an absent reminder of the warm, unrushed breakfast of the previous day.

    The front of the trailer is home to the queen size mattress covered by an enormous blue comforter. Carelessly strewn on top are clothes and extra blankets. On either wall is a small window, opposite of its twin. The ceiling above holds a pair of small, gold spotlights.

    The rear of the trailer has walls sheathed in black rubber. It has deep mangers to hold hay for the horses. There are little windows above the mangers which you can open. They have broken bars. There are dividers that separate the horses and they are metal with layers. Another door in the rear has four protruding triangle-sticks covered in a rug-like material. On the door there are little hooks to hang bridles, halters and lead ropes. There is a dish below the hooks to hold other random junk.

    The outside of the trailer resembles a submarine, an under-water boat. The trailer’s skin is a silver, dulled by road-dust. A pair of stripes, one red, race down the side of the trailer. The windows are dark from the outer. On either side are a pair of D-rings to tie up horses. One wall includes two doors to reach the gaping compartment under the manger.

    Altogether the trailer represents movement and traveling. The inner is like home, comforting and it means cold nights after hard rides and delicious dinner by a campfire. It my ship, and forever shall I be the captain.