The television overhead let him view the rodeo in Abilene without sound. He watched the twisting bucking bulls, but it just wasn’t the same without the noise and smells he was so familiar with. Someone had put music in the jukebox and a rowdy country western tune combined with laughter and conversation. He had a nodding acquaintance with some of the men around him. He had seen them at the feed store, the hardware store, and the moving sale when he bought the tractor. Still, he sat wrapped in remoteness caused by the out of sync music and violent movement of the bulls. Frowning at the bottle of beer, he felt disgruntled that the taste wasn’t as good as he remembered. Dang! He had been sober too long. He looked up as the next bull tore out of the chute. His mouth moved, shouting silent instructions to the cowboy up top. It didn’t do the boy any more good than it had him. Ready Up flung him away like a gunnysack, and then turned to maim him. This time the rodeo clown actually distracted the giant brindle bull.
