KLA-CHINK! Rattles the deafening sound of a slamming steel gate holding in a two-ton angry beast. Jason reaches into his back pocket to grab a wad of chew. Then, he shoves it into his lip. With a deep breath, he closes his eyes and is taken back to the first time he jumped on the back of a steer calf as a child. CLANK! The sound of a caged beast attempting to thrust himself free is the familiar memory of his six year old self, chasing a calf into the cattle shoot. As he opens his eyes, the hot sun and blue skies fade into a dark, florescent-lit barn. The sweet, rain-kissed smell of aged manure fades to the sharp smell of cedar pine shavings. When his eyes come into focus, the dreams of a small boy fade into the reality of a bull rider.

“Jason!” bellows the ringmaster. “You’re up!”

Jason climbs the steel fence and mounts the one-ton bull, the same way he had practiced on the neighbor’s steer calf at the age of eight. Clasping his leather-wrapped fingers around the bull rope, he prepares to hold on for the ride of his life. As he looks out across the arena while they move the previous bull and rider out of the ring, a drop of sweat rolls on to his brow.

  “And next in the ring, we have Jason LaMarx riding 205 Demon's Run,” echoes the crackling sound of the announcer’s voice across the stadium.

“You ready Jason?” the gatekeeper asks.

With a nod from Jason, the gate to the arena flies open.

One-Mississippi: The beast flies forward, kicking its back legs slightly to the left. Jason is thrust forward. It takes all of his grip to stay on. Cheers from the crowd fade together into a loud buzz. 

Two-Mississippi: Demon's Run kicks his back legs hard to the right, then quickly to the left. A thrilling shock of adrenaline surges through Jason’s body reminding him what it feels like to be alive.

Three-Mississippi: The one-ton bull throws a hard left away from Jason’s hand causing his grip to loosen. The jolt makes his black, Stetson hat fly off of his head. He can feel his body begin to slide off as he desperately grips the bull with his slick leather boots. If the hat falls, soon will the cowboy! echoes through his mind.

Four-Mississippi: The relentless efforts of the beast cause the cowboy’s leather bound hands to slip out from underneath the bull rope, tossing him through the air before plummeting to the pine shaving covered earth.

Five-Mississippi: The weight of Jason’s body falls on the back of his head. His ears ring as he struggles to process which way is up. The rodeo clowns run to the scene to distract the bull away from Jason’s limp body.

Six-Mississippi: Demon's Run throws back his rear legs in a final buck. Jason’s eyes shut. Forcefully, the one-ton beast crushes down on his chest, crashing through the protective vest. Jason throws his hand back desperately trying to grab something to pull him away from the bull. Sharp pain, like shards of glass being thrust through his lungs, surges through his body as he gasps for air and fades into unconsciousness.

Clunk! Jason is jarred awake. His arm had just sent the alarm clock crashing to the cement floor beside his bed. He struggles to breath as he grasps his chest. No bull riding injuries, he thinks as he struggles to realize he is just having another asthma attack from the musty basement air. He looks around the dark, dusty grey concrete room. There’s nothing more then an old school desk and shelves with a few folded clothes. His eyes are drawn to the light on at the top of the stairs. Another day in prison, he thinks in spite to himself. The fading dream of Jason’s younger days spent on ranches and at rodeos, plays in his not-yet fully conscious mind. It’s been nearly ten years since he’s even seen livestock. He’s now sixteen and that life feels long gone. Even his dreams now seem to end in tragedy. 

“Jason!” calls the overweight woman wearing a muumuu. “Your breakfast is in the red container in the fridge.” Jason walks across the room to the refrigerator. He grabs the worn out tupperware of food that his adopted mom, Carrol, has prepared for him. As he opens it, he can smell the pungent rotting odor as it escapes the container. He looks inside to see moist, brown chunks. Really? Dog food again? To save money, Carrol often tries to pass off dog food as soggy dinner leftovers. When it comes to her collection of adopted kids, she believes that if they are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything. Jason squishes the food around in the tupperware before deciding to just skip breakfast. Jason remembers the Sunday breakfasts that he would cook with his dad, before the car accident that killed both of his parents. The crackling sound of eggs cooking in the hot bacon grease, combined with the sweet smell of thick-sliced bacon in the dutch oven fry pan. Now, the only bacon he could hope for was bacon flavored dog chow. 

“If you’re not gonna eat the food I give you, then go give it to the cats!” Carrol scolds Jason. Knowing that complaining will do no good, he picks up the tupperware and heads to the garage. When he opens up the door, cats from all corners of the closed off garage, run in a hungry frenzy to the door. Jason breaths through his mouth to try to avoid the stench of the many litter boxes that haven't been cleaned for quite some time. Carrol was a cat lady, but like her adopted children, makes little effort to care for them. There are about twelve cats that are kept, locked away in the garage. She collects them like she collects birds and children. The long-haired cats are matted and the spines of the short-haired cats are clearly visible. Jason struggles to set the tupperware of food in the middle of the hungry, screaming pack of cats, fighting for a morsel of food. He thinks little of it before walking back into the house.

“Jenny! Jason! Lyn! Katie!” Carrol bellows to the children. “Your Dad brought you books from the library for you to read today.”
Much like the cats locked in the garage and the parrots with clipped wings, Carrol doesn't allow the kids to venture out or attend public school. When Jason’s parents died, he had just finished kindergarten and has little memory of what it was like. He spent two years in the foster care system before being adopted by Carrol and her husband, which only offered him short spurts of attendance in various schools around the state.

Jason’s only friend is his sister Jenny who is a year older and was adopted when she was three. Life with Carrol’s animal menagerie has always seemed normal to Jenny. Jason and Jenny’s friendship is fueled by the desire to one day escape this place. Jenny is fascinated with the stories Jason often tells of the ranch and going to rodeos to watch his dad ride the bulls. She longs for the day when she, too, can join Jason in the wide open spaces, fresh air and new adventures.
Lyn, on the other hand, is the only biological child of Carrol and her husband. She’s ten and is treated like a princess, at least by comparison. Her parents spoil her so much that they adopted Katie, who is a year younger than Lyn, just so that Lyn would have a playmate. Lyn and Katie share a room at the top of the stairway to the basement. It is filled with stuffed animals and princess themed toys. The room used to belong to Jenny before Carrol found out that she was pregnant with Lyn. Jenny was then moved to a room smaller then Jason’s.
Jason and Jenny each have chores to do for the ‘family’. Jason’s job is to clean the house, which is a constant project because of all of the birds and kids. He also helps Carrol with anything that’s physically demanding. Jenny’s job is to cook and teach the younger girls. Jason’s days are always filled with the same routine: Wake up, eat breakfast, body build, read books, do chores, body build, read some more, eat and then return to his cold room where he reads until falling asleep. Lyn and Katie’s days, on the other hand, are filled with dance classes, gymnastics and the outside world. They are high-achieving homeschoolers, who have lots of friends. While Carrol and the two, younger children are well known and liked by the community, hardly anyone knows about the two older teens.

Except for the solace he finds in the books he reads, Jason hates his life. His favorite books are anything that take him back to his days on the ranch. He reads everything from Lonesome Dove to the upcoming PBR schedule. He sits for hours, living through the stories of bull riders and ranch hands. After hearing that the new books have arrived, Jason walks over to the stack on the dining room table.

“Jason…” Jenny speaks softly as she walks over to the table. “Is there anything other than the girls’ textbooks for me to read today?” she asks, doubtful of the answer.

“Sorry Jenny… looks like they forgot again…” Jason replies empathetically. Carrol rarely brings books other then textbooks for Jenny to read. Carrol and her husband feel Jenny’s time is best spent caring for the younger girls’ every need. Jason wants more for Jenny. He has always seen a glimmer of her true adventurous spirit in her now fading, blue eyes. He knows that books will give her a vision of a life beyond the dirty house of Carrol’s collection of pets.

Continuing to think about the dream he had that morning, Jason realizes he has nearly forgotten the hopes that once filled him. He walks down the stairs, unrolls his ratty workout rug and begins his morning routine of planking and pushups. One more set of thirty. He keeps pushing himself to do just one more set. He continues his workout routine and smiles to himself, remembering how his dad always wanted him to grow into a strong man.

“Food!” Carrol belts across the house. Jason walks up the stairs only to find that his plate has nothing on it but some bland, boiled navy beans and rice. “Jenny!” Carrol scolds. She is in a particularly bad mood. “Git ov’r here, girl! Look at the nasty job you did wash’n them dishes!” she yells pointing to a fingerprint that Carrol left on the spoon but blames Jenny for. Carrol enjoys yelling at Jenny until she cries. It is a ritual that occurs several times a week.

Angered, Jason excuses himself from the table and goes down to his room, slamming the door. I gotta get outta here! he thinks as he throws his body up to the pull-up bar that he made for himself. Rodeo season starts in a couple of weeks in Florida, he remembers from the PBR schedule that he’s memorized. I can hitchhike down. Then pay for traveling through the rodeo will be great and I’ll finally be free from this hell hole. He continues to furiously push himself to his physical limits while imagining and planning his escape. Jenny’s soft, secret-code-knock at the door interrupts his focus.

Jason opens the door to Jenny’s pale, tear-stained face, still puffy from crying. He walks over to sit on the rough, wood desk chair to give Jenny his full attention. “I can’t do this anymore…” she says with sorrow.

“Nothing I do is ever gunna be good enough… I didn't get schooled and they’re never gunna let me go. If this is going to be my life then I don’t wanna live… I just want out!”

“God! I’m sick of the way they treat you! Hell, I’m sick of the way they treat you, me, the cats, everything they touch. They don't care ’bout nothing but themselves,” Jason says, angered by the way they have hurt her yet again. “You want out? Then lets go. I’m gunna leave this hole and I think you should come with me.” Jason is surprised at himself as he has never before considered taking her with him. “I’ll take a trash bag from the kitchen and put our clothes and some food in it.” He began to outline his plan to Jenny. “If you come, we’ll take the bikes from the shed and their credit card.”

“No,” she interrupts with concern. “Credit cards can be tracked and I don't wanna be found. But… I’ve been taking cash from their pockets whenever I do laundry,” she offers.

“Really?” Jason asks, in shock by the rebellion he’s never witnessed before in Jenny. 

“Yeah. After hearing stories and reading ‘bout the outside world, I knew that I wanted to one day have an escape plan. I’ve been taking money and hiding it since I was ten. Always in amounts small enough for them to not notice. I've accumulated nearly six thousand dollars.” Jenny is careful not to tell him where she's stashed the money. Although she trusts Jason, she fears that the only reason he has to not abandon her along the way is if he is dependent on her in some way. “All I know is that I don't know anything about the outside world and you do. I can’t leave unless it’s with you.”