who: closed for @noahkstngs where: the Blue Rooster when: approx. 1:35 pm
Murph sat underneath one of the sparse, gnarled trees dotting the east pasture as cattle milled around nearby, peacefully grazing. He was taking a (much deserved) lunch break after repairing two separate sections of electric fencing - one of his least favorite maintenance jobs on the property.
The silence - punctuated only by the occasional echoing rattle of a cicada or gentle chuff of a cow nosing at the grass - was blissful. He'd come to covet moments like these on the ranch, fleeting as they could be. So much of his day was busy work that he was often too preoccupied to stop and relish in the beauty and solitude surrounding him. It was... nice. To just take a minute.
Unfortunately, a minute was about all he was going to get today. As he watched, a pickup approached in the distance, coming from the general direction of the ranch proper. By the time the sound of its rumbling engine reached him, he'd hauled himself up and began beating the dirt from the seat of his pants.
The pickup pulled to a stop nearby and he threw up his hand in a casual greeting.
"If ya' come out here to see if I'm still breathin', the answer is barely. Goddamn fence was supposed to be off today. Making repairs to a live wire should be covered under fuckin' hazard pay," he snorted.