The calf bolted deeper into the ditch.
For one glorious second, there was complete silence.
Then I made the mistake of looking.
Beast slowly emerged from the mud.
Black slime dripped from his hair.
His shirt.
His face.
His shoulders.
Honestly, he looked like a swamp monster.
The ranch hands immediately turned away.
Shoulders shaking.
Trying not to laugh.
I lasted about two seconds.
Then I lost the battle.
A snort escaped.
Beast looked up.
The snort became a laugh.
The laugh became a full-blown cackle.
I doubled over.
"Oh no."
His eyes narrowed.
That made it worse.
"Oh no."
Mud dripped off his nose.
I laughed harder.
The ranch hands gave up and joined me.
One actually sat down in the grass.
Another walked away because he couldn't breathe.
Beast stood in the ditch looking like a six-foot-four mud monster while the entire ranch watched.
His expression grew darker by the second.
