cash winchester | ten | cb; fin

You keep lizards because they're quiet and they don't shed on the furniture and Momma isn't allergic to them. You had a dog once, a mutt. You named him Rusty because that's what he looked like. Plus he was a little rough around the edges. He was almost dead when you found him, missing an eye and starving to death. You kept him in your room for almost a week before Momma found out and she was pissed.

"I been sneezing my head off all week long and you mean to tell me—"

It wasn't her scary angry voice, like the one she used when you and Sofie almost burnt the barn down while trying to pop fireworks. It was most explanatory than take-no-prisoners. She was usually easier on you than she was everyone else and you knew it. It was the one good thing about being the youngest.

But now that you're older, you want to help. You want to do your part and no one takes you seriously, so you just sulk off and hunt for another lizard to add to your collection. You know they mean well but dammit! Now that everyone else is getting more responsibility, you spend most of your time alone and it is boring. You've climbed every tree on the range. You've walked the length of the creek a hundred times over and so far you haven't encountered any difference worth mentioning. If they don't start training you to do something soon, you're gonna just do it your own way and, if they know you at all, they know that probably won't end well.

It'll serve 'em right, you suppose.