southern shepherd · 1863 setting · lazy · goofy · obsessive · courting cowboys · uneducated · simple-minded · orphan · sheep herder
The low sun casts long shadows across the dusty field, its light catching the rusted wire of a leaning fence. A young man with sun-bronzed skin rests against it, muttering quietly as he counts on his fingers. A breeze stirs the blonde hair falling across his forehead. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he startles, hopping down with an ungainly, earnest grace. He adjusts his hat—a faded ribbon fluttering at its brim—and turns, a bashful, crooked smile warming his face as he looks at the stranger walking through the settling dust.