Not Alone in District 10 [open]

~Rendwick Wellwood

He Does,He Says,He Hears,He Thinks


As much as I love people, there are some days that I just want to get away and be by myself. Having to put up a show and a happy smile all the time can make both your cheeks and head hurt, even when its genuine. Today was just one of those days where I opted out of the companionship of some of the other ranch hands to focus on my job: keeping the fences secure. It's a full-time job sometimes because it hardly ever is secure, and I'm constantly having to return to repair it. Today was really no different in that aspect.

I'd been walking along the perimeter of the fences, looking for weaknesses when I'd found it. The wiring was still in tact, but the wooden posts were ripped out of the ground. I could see tracks in the damp earth that were clearly bovine, and opted to follow them. No use repairing the fence without the cow. This hadn't been the first time I've had to go hunting after the animals when they'd busted out. Free spirits they were, trying to roam free.

Not on my watch. Ain't no cow gonna get me fired 'cause they want to go for a mornin' jog... I continued onward down the road, following the smell mostly. Then every so often I'd be rewarded with the sight of a cow pie to let me know that I was still heading in the right direction. I didn't like how close to town that this cow had traveled, so I picked up the pace into a light run. I wasn't really wearing the right clothes for this kind of thing, and before long a bead of sweat was trickling down the side of my black brow. Damn cattle.

After what was really far too long I spotted the large animal, milling about in someone's front yard. It was just standing there stupidly as the owners of the home shouted at it. Nothing. Well, this was the job that I signed up for... Time to get this beast's attention. I stepped forward and got closer into the animal's comfort zone, and like magic, it moved. It stepped out of my way, and I had to jog around it a bit as I worked the animal towards the ranch. It moved, and it was fairly effective in getting the beast back towards where we needed to be.

It was just the ranch was four miles away, and this bugger liked to stop.