The Chronicles of a Farmhand
It's Vaccination Day🤠
This is the first episode in The Chronicles of a Farmhand short story series. Each story is a stand alone Auto Fiction based on my experiences working as a farmhand.
I’d forgotten all about it being Vaccination Day. Lucky for me all my work shorts were dirty, so I’d worn pants. I ran back to the truck and swapped my Nitrile-coated cloth gloves for my leather utility ones, then tossed my cap on the dash and grabbed my cowboy hat.
“Aight, now I’m ready to go shoot up some cattle,” I told Jake as I jumped onto the back of his new Silverado.
“¿Eres un vaquero hoy?” Antonio said, with a big smile as he scooted over and patted the toolbox for me to sit beside him.
“Ha, no se’ amigo,” I said as I took a seat. “We’ll see.”
Before we could get started on the cattle, we had to go pick up the chute from another pasture. These guys have been doing this for a solid week now—I’m just filling in for the day. The other full time cowhand, Cane, is attending his daughter’s graduation this morning. So I got the call. This isn’t my first time working cattle, but I’m usually on a tractor. I always like working with animals, and I’m excited about the change of scenery.
When we get to the pasture I hop out to get the first gate of the day—eager to show my worth. Jake doesn’t stop as he pulls through, so I wait there for Tony to get the chute hooked up. It was ready to go and they were back in a flash. But by the time I get the gate shut and back onto Jake’s toolbox, I’m drenched in sweat. I welcome the breeze as the pickup pulls out onto the gravel road.
“Ya hace mucho calor,” Tony said, wiping his brow.
“Hell yeah, and it ain’t even 9 A.M. yet,” I agreed.
All too soon we were backing the chute up to its new home for the day. This cow pen is pretty nice, considering. The alley fence is made of metal highway barriers—like the ones on the side of a bridge. And a good portion of the cow pen is covered by a metal roof. After we get the chute unhooked from the truck and fence back in place, Jake gives us our instructions.
