Skylar and Reed start out on I-10 but decide to take a side road and see some of the local country on their way to Houston from San Antonio. They travel along at a slower pace and are enjoying the scenery when Skylar exclaims, 'Look over there! What is that beside the road?' Reed slows the car way down and looks. 'I think its some kind of animal laying over there.' he says. 'We better stop and take a look!' says Skylar, being the kind hearted soul he is. They pull off the road beside the animal, an antelope, and get out of Eleanor. As they walk over to it, Skylar remarks, 'I'm not sure if its alive or dead. Can you see it breathing?' Reed gets closer and is starting to look closer when an old pickup drives by real slow. Off in the distance, two antelope run like crazy towards the hills. The pickup pulls off the road and a guy in his middle ages gets out and walks over to where the boys are. He inquires, 'You guys got hunting licenses?' 'No!' they both exclaim at once. 'We were just driving by and saw it laying her and stopped to check it out!' The guy from the pickup then edges closer to the antelope on the ground. He pushes it gently with his boot a few times. Suddenly, the antelope quivers and gives a bellar and jumps to its feet. It looks around for a second and then runs off across the countryside and is soon out of site. 'Well if that don't beat all!' says the guy from the pickup. 'But then, I've seen it happen before. This one was lucky and only got stunned when it was hit by a vehicle. You have to be careful on these two lane roads. There are a lot of those crazy critters running around and they are just stupid enough to run out in front of you. I've seen quite a few of them killed this year by speeding drivers.' 'We, Mr., er what is your name?' asks Skylar. 'Oh. I'm Melvin Schmidt. I have a ranch down the road a ways. I was just on my way into San Antone for some supplies. This highway don't get much city traffic like it used to years ago.' Skylar and Reed introduce themselves and strike up a conversation with the rancher. He gives them many tips and much information about the surrounding country. They enjoy visiting with this friendly rancher. They thank him handily for his time and say they will be on the watch for anymore 'crazy' animals. They shake hands and Melvin gets back in his pickup and heads back down the highway. 'Well, that was an interesting exchange.' Says Skylar, as they pull back onto the highway. 'Better keep your eyes peeled for those crazy antelope like Melvin says!' 'Oh I will, and I will keep our speed at about 55. That will give us a chance if one of those crazy critters decides to jump in front of us.' 'Well, Melvin said it is a lot worse at night. The animals are attracted by vehicles lights and sort of become hypnotized by them.' 'I think we will be well off this two lane before it gets dark. It isn't that far to Houston anymore.' says Reed as he pilots Eleanor down the highway. Sure enough, the guys make it safely to Houston without any antelope encounters although they do see several of them along the way by the side of the road. --------------------- M4 and Poser 4 characters. Rendered in Poser 9. Post work in Photoshop 7. Thank you for taking a peek! Your support is greatly appreciated!