• Prologue: Mark's introduction •

Slowly drifting into thought, I puffed my cheeks out a little as I blew a stray strand of hair out of my line of vision, so that I could properly complain to myself. "I really had no genuine relations to splurge time on doing silly things or even family to irritate me witless, well, at least as far as I was aware." Dragging my pale, lithe digits through my sun-kissed golden locks I sadly reminisced.

So out of the blue when the incredible prospect arose for me to transform myself into a rancher…with all of the animals dependent on you to care for them and provide for their requirements, and crops needing a green thumb so that they don't shrivel away or flag with a sort of dried out listlessness, the outgoing people hustling and bustling to meet the season's needs? Man that was all I ever dreamed of when I was younger as I would lay my head down to my overstuffed khaki pillow, feathery-soft to each and every touch. Needless to say, I leaped for joy and pounced on the chance at the earliest available opportunity.

I did take the time to exit the deafening shouts of peeved bosses, boisterous colleagues trying to get into my pants or my wallet, and frivolous hassles of the workplace. It wasn't an entirely selfless act, no it wasn't even close to that... I just wanted an escape from the awful things I had to put up with! Higher-ups trying to get me to putout, teasing me on my stature (because, let's face it, I am a leaning a pinch to the 'short' side of it all), or forcing me to do the things interns should be doing... things I have already worked my way up from in the past!

Whoops. Sidetracked a bit there! Anyway I had to leave to appropriately take the call so, you know, I would not perturb or agitate anybody in the immediate vicinity. 'Cause I tend to have upright manners plus it's not as though I were born in a barn. No matter the scores of times I may have wished it! I really have exhausted numerous occasions hoping for such an outlandish thing, really.

The very first thing I heard through the telephone was an older gentleman's rough voice who I assumed was the one I had initially contacted about the break in the first place, he said his name was Taro or something along those lines.

A raspy, eager voice came through the phone, "You are Mark, right? Congrats there boy, you got yerself a 'anch! You can meet a friend'a mine at tha dock 'morrow- bright 'n early first thing in tha morn`! Look for a guy named 'Vaughn', Mark." and If I had known beforehand the snag that included… I might have reconsidered the whole thing.

But I didn't.