Back when he had just earned the right to fight, and vote, the debate drifted back and forth in his mind. Should he walk in between rides? If dropped off near a town, then the thought was to stay put in case a ride did not materialize. This time however, he was let off where only a County road sign directed his previous rideshare north. So he walked.
Even though they call this State “Big Sky”, it will not stop the horizon from moving out of the suns use. In the early darkness, with no other choice, he climbed between the strands of a rancher’s fence and stretched out his bedroll in a furrow plowed over.
As it does each day for as long as he can remember, that sun eventually came around to his way of thinking. Eyes open during this gradual transition; he became aware of a presence all around him. Squinting he climbed out of his safe bag and stood to find a place to express his morning relief. Cows. All around him in the steaming morning light were cows. Standing very still he looked closer only to notice that it was not only cows all around him. Bulls.
He picked the wrong field this time. Slowly rolling his bed and carefully stepping backwards through the furrows, he edged out to the blacktop and the rest of his day on the road.
