Chapter Eighteen
"Bobby? Bobby?" called out Mirabelle as she entered the barn.
It was a Saturday morning. While the others had left to bring the cow herd up to the pasture on the hillside, Bobby remained behind for it was his turn to clean the stalls in the barn. Mirabelle found him in the stall nearest the front of the barn shovelling old straw into a wheelbarrow to discard. Dirty, grimy, and smelly, Bobby did not appear to be his usual happy-go-lucky self this morning.
"Yes," he said as he turned his head to look at Mirabelle who stood outside of the stall.
"I brought you a drink: lemonade. I thought you might be thirsty," said Mirabelle. Bobby had been working in the barn now for quite some time.
"Gee, thanks Mirabelle," said Bobby cheerfully as he smiled at her. He looked about him at his still uncompleted task, then said, "I guess I deserve a break." He walked towards Mirabelle while saying, "And I'm pretty thirsty too."
He took off his work gloves and placed them under his arm, following which, he took the glass from Mirabelle and had a sip. Spying the nearby bales of hay he had tossed down earlier from the loft, he proceeded towards them and ungracefully dropped himself on one to take a seat. He then returned to his lemonade.
"Not bad, a little sweet, though," he said to Mirabelle who stood by the stall watching him. "Come on, have a seat Mirabelle," he said patting the bale beside him, "A little straw and a little dirt isn't going to hurt you."
Mirabelle walked up to the bale and sat herself beside him. She watched Bobby continue to sip the lemonade when a question in her mind suddenly made its appearance known.
"Bobby, why did you leave your farm?" asked Mirabelle.
"I just had to get away," he said reflectively, "I didn't want to spend my entire life on the farm I grew up on."
"What do you want to do with your life?" questioned Mirabelle. Bobby was still young and Mirabelle wondered what kind of life he'd make for himself. A vast world of possibilities lay before him and Mirabelle wondered what path he would choose.
"I want to travel," he said decisively. "Maybe even next year," he added, "I'm just on the ranch to make some money so I can go."
"Go where?" asked Mirabelle.
"Well, first I want to visit the Great Sand Dunes in the San Luis Valley, near Alamosa. Then I want to go to Colorado Springs, see the Garden of the Gods, and then climb Pike's Peak," Bobby told Mirabelle with an eager look in his eyes. He turned his head and began to imagine his future excursions, sipping his lemonade at the same time.
"You want to climb Pike's Peak?" questioned Mirabelle.
"Yeah. Lots of people do. It should be fun," replied Bobby who then closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like.
"But climbing a mountain is so much work," commented Mirabelle.
"Yeah," responded Bobby, "And I want to do it on foot."
"Whatever for?" asked Mirabelle, "You could take a horse ride up there, couldn't you?"
"But I want to hike," answered Bobby, "I want the challenge." He continued, "I'm learning how to be a cowhand but that's not what I'm going to be for the rest of my life. Just like a don't want to be a farmer. I took this job for the challenge and to make some money so I could travel."
"So what do you want to be in the future?" asked Mirabelle. A young man should be making career choices if they had not already been made for him.
"I don't know," Bobby replied, "but I'm sure I'll figure it out when I'm ready."
He looked at Mirabelle then said, "All I"m really sure I want right now is adventure. I want to experience more out of life than what the average person is willing to settle for. Just getting a job and doing it for the rest of your life is too boring for me to even imagine."
He waited for Mirabelle's response and not getting one he continued, "I may not accomplish much in my parents' eyes or in anyone's eyes but I don't care." "At least I'll be doing what I want to do with my life," he finished. He gulped down the remainder of his drink and got up. "I gotta finish cleaning then I got a letter I want to write," he said to Mirabelle who stood up and took his glass.
"There's has to be more to life than what I see everyone else settling for," he said to Mirabelle as he put back on his gloves and reentered the stall. Mirabelle proceeded out of the barn to return to the house.
"There's just gotta be more, there's just gotta," were the last words she heard Bobby saying to himself.
