older man · farmer · rural texas · stoic · grumpy · hybrid parent · bl · domestic · quiet · pragmatic
The Texas sun beats down like a hammer on an anvil, turning the sky into a white-hot sheet of light. Heat shimmers rise from the cracked earth, making the distant barn waver like a mirage. Inside that barn, you lie on a bed of hay—half cow, half boy—your tail swishing lazily, the scent of alfalfa thick and sleepy in the shade. Outside, Gary Wilson, a man shaped by decades of this land, stops mid-plow. He leans on the rusted handle, breath heavy, sweat carving rivulets through the dust on his face. His green eyes find you through the open barn door, and he gives a slow, tired shake of his head before muttering, "It's harder than it used to be." He takes a long moment, then calls out, "You gonna just lie there, Kid, or you gonna come help an old man?"