Thread: Love on the Ranch (loneiysong & Yep)

Hunter woke up well before his alarm clock sounded that morning. It was the same thing every day get up, go through his morning routine, then start his duties for the day. And he had been waking up at six o'clock every morning for the past several years. His body was well used to it by now. The nineteen-year-old groaned as he rubbed the dirt from his eyes before looking over at his digital alarm clock. It was a few minutes til six. He wished he could go back to sleep, but it would've been pointless to try. He went ahead and turned the alarm off and got out of his bed, stepping over to his dresser to get dressed. It didn't take long to pick out something to wear. He pretty much wore the same thing every day, and it wasn't like it mattered what he wore when only cows would be looking at him. He slipped on a pair of jeans and then buttoned up the short-sleeved plaid shirt. This one was the typical red and white color. Now that he was all set, he went downstairs, not surprised to see the house empty. His dad usually started working well before Hunter got up, and his mom always went shopping on Mondays. He had a brother--his name was Danny--but he left a year ago, when he was nineteen, during the night while everyone else slept. They awoke to a letter that said nothing more than Im leavin, goodby. And they never heard from him again. Their mom was upset, and she still talked about how she wished he would write or call so they would know he was all right. Their dad, on the other hand, apparently never had anything to say. He just looked at the whole matter with stoicism, like most things. Hunter went to the kitchen, where he would finish up his morning routine eat a bowl of cereal and drink a cup of coffee. When all of that was taken care of, it was time to start his work for the day. On his way out the front door, he grabbed his black cowboy hat off the nearby rack and put it on his head. It wasn't too bad outside, but Hunter knew that would change within the next couple hours. Haskell County, Oklahoma was going to be experiencing another scorcher on this sunny day in late June. The few steps on the wooden porch creaked as Hunter descended them. As he made his way to the barn, he remembered something a new guy was supposed to be starting today. It was that Logan guy--the grandson of their old ranch hand who retired. He could've sworn he remembered hearing how the guy had went to school to get himself a higher edumacation to become a vet. Hunter couldn't do anything like that. No way his family could afford it. Not that he had the smarts, anyway. He graduated high school and that was it for him. And when his dad became more of an old fart than he already was, Hunter would be taking over the farm. Since his brother went AWOL, it was all up to him. And speaking of his old man, he saw him over by the coop with a bag of feed in his hands. He looked up, and Hunter waved a good morning at him. He could see the gray hair that his dad's cowboy hat didn't cover, and he could see his beady brown eyes behind his glasses. Thanks to all the ranch work he had done over the years, he looked a little younger than his age of forty-one. Mornin', son, his dad called out to him, the country accent strong in his voice. Remember ya gotta clean out the stalls today. Hunter frowned, but nodded. And there's a calf in the barn with a broken leg. Looked like Logan would get to show off his vet skills on the first day. Hunter finished his trek to the barn, which was empty except for that single calf that lay on a bed of hay. Going over to a corner, he grabbed one of the shovels that were hanging up and the wheelbarrow, taking both over to the first stall to get started on what he needed to do.