Another problem about the drive to Enid is the music. Not what's on the radio (I don't have one) but what's in my head. There are two options to what I hear: The last song playing in my Jeep before I get to work, or whatever happens to pop in my head without my knowing it. Then, a few minutes later, there is the song pounding away with me unable to do anything about it. Until another intruder replaces it.

The worst part is, it's never a good song. It's always something old, and something I don't know the words to. Half the time I can't get the chorus right. There are two songs that impart themselves the most often, both of which are brought on by a sign. One is a street, the other a store. I pass them everyday, and I hear them everyday. If there is a harsher hell, I can't think of it.

Today on the trip into town, I saw two black dogs by the highway. One was crossing it, apparently unaware that vehicles are dangerous, while the other one watched. The dogs being there isn't strange in itself, with all the farms along the way, I'm surprised this is the first time I've seen any. What was funny was the lone cow grazing three feet from the road. It seemed oblivious to the vehicles flying by it, so I'm guessing it was some really good eating. Maybe it's one of those 'the grass is always greener' type of things...

Wally rode his ATV towards the highway. He wore a faint smile, which was rare for him. Out on the ATV was one of the very few joys he had in life, the rest he could count on one hand. Wally didn't like his position in life much. He was fifteen, and not a great deal can be good at that age even if everything is in your favor, and Wally had nothing skewed towards him. He lived on a farm with his parents out in the middle of nowhere, he was home schooled because he was needed more on the farm than he needed learning, and he was starting to revolt.

If Wally needed anything to survive his life, it was his dog King. King was a mutt he had found in the field one day around nine years ago, and even though his father had forbade him to keep it, Wally had secreted food to the dog until they had become inseparable. Even Herman couldn't keep the dog away eventually, short of shooting it, but Alice wouldn't let him, and King remained. But now King was gone. King had disappeared before, but never for this long, and Wally was getting worried.

The next best thing to a friend Wally had was Levi. Levi was boy that lived on a farm nearby. Wally stayed with him once a summer when his parents went "away." Wally didn't know where they went, and didn't care. The sheer bliss of the technology in Levi's room was enough to keep Wally entertained for years. Herman didn't believe in keeping pace with the times, unless it helped the farm, and the first time Wally had ever seen a TV was at Levi's. Also the first time he had heard a stereo, music other than gospel or country, and (the most important thing to Wally) was the video games. When Wally stayed over, Levi often let Wally alone in his room to crank up the rap or heavy metal, and play games for hours on end. Wally could never get enough.

Aside from the games and music, Wally liked Levi. Levi went to a real school and got to interact with other students, especially girls. Wally had been having dreams about girls a lot lately, and when he could tear himself away from the screen, he pumped Levi for all the information he could about them.

Levi liked Wally too, but he also felt sorry for him. Growing up the way he was had to be a nightmare.

So Wally rode the ATV looking for an escaped cow to bring back, but his eyes were looking for King. Every free moment he had away from his dad was spent with his dog. King never asked for anything, but attention. And from experience, Wally knew what is was like not to be appreciated. He doted on King, and King responded with absolute loyalty. The absences bothered Wally, but he figured it was a dog thing. Now he wasn't so sure.

Herman Walter Shievert III kept a half-assed eye out for the cow (it was Mary or Jane, or some other stupid name, his dad was old and weird.) He had to find the heifer, but wanted to find King first. He stopped on top of a hill and looked around, a tan cow was hard to find from a distance, it being late in the summer and all, but a moving black dog would stick out somewhat.

Nothing.

He drove on towards the highway in a zig-zag pattern he called "search and delay." It was his cow finding method he had developed early on. Take time, enjoy the ride, and if he found the cow it was a bonus of sorts. His current search went a little quicker than usual. He didn't waste any time on finding cool jumps or interesting places, he was really searching this time.

Wally reached the highway and headed east. He had no reason for it, he just took a left, but after a few semis blew by him kicking up dirt in his face, he went west. After a couple of miles he crested a hill and a movement caught his eye. Below was the cow. He drove down to it, unhappy that this was the creature he had found first. As he neared something caught his eye to his right. He slowed and looked, there were two dogs casually walking in the field. Wally smiled and whistled, and turned his ATV at the dogs. Then he heard honking. He looked and the cow (whichever one it was) had decided to cross the highway. He turned the handlebars and quickly cut off the cow. After he got it off the pavement, he looked where the dogs had been but they were gone. His shoulders sagged.

As he started herding the cow back towards the farm, King jumped onto his lap. Wally stopped and hugged the dog for a few minutes. "Where the hell have you been? I love you, yes I do." He scratched the mutt behind the ears, "Where is your little doggie friend?" Wally looked around, but didn't see the other dog. "Was it a female? Is that why you were gone so long?" King just looked up at him with pure love. Wally hugged King again, then realized that the cow was heading back to the road.

Wally managed to stop the cow before it got in danger again, and then he started the long, slow process of herding the cow back to the farm. The rest of the day King laid in Wally's lap wagging his tail every time Wally honked the little horn, and cussed at the cow.

I drove back to the station, happy that the day is over, curious as to what happened with the cow. I didn't come across any huge bloodstains or wrecked cars on the side of the road, so I guess it was "rescued."

The trip back is better than the trip there, only because the day is ending instead of beginning. My mind blanks, with nothing particular running through it..."Up-town girl, you got me living in a some-thing world..."

AAAGGHH!

That's it! I'm buying a radio…

© 2009 Ravenai