“I'm sure she did, but she's got it all wrong, I can tell you that. She doesn't know what she's talking about.”

“Sure she doesn't.” The carousel starts to move, my horse beginning to lift and lower slowly. “Here's my tip for you: hold on tight and hope it doesn't throw you off.”

“That's it?”

“On one of these horses, yes. On a real one it's a totally different story.”

“Maybe you can show me sometime. I've never been on a real horse before.”

“Maybe I can, but you'll have to listen to what I say. And. . .”

“And what?” he asks.

“And hope you can keep up.”

The...