Page 2 of Wrangling the Orc Cowboy

“You're not helping either,” I grumbled, torn somewhere between fondness and exasperation. “Can't you two see I'm trying to impress the world?”

Was there truly any chance of that? Still, I had to try.

“Start the poem again,” I told myself. “The sunset won’t be here forever.”

I recited the lines I’d written twice more before attempting to make another recording. Each time, I felt like my tongue was too heavy, my words too bumbling, but I finally managed to get it all out and had my first video to share.

I mostly liked how it came out. It ended abruptly, but I told myself that was alright. My voice had steadied by the end, and I’d kept the words flowing without stumbling over them too much. Even Sharga looked cute on my shoulder, and no one could tell that Podar was still bumping his forehead against my leg. I doubted anyone would hear his purr.

The video was good. Maybe even good enough. The light was starting to fade, the deep purples and blues creeping across the horizon in the background. It looked amazing, just what I was looking for.

I hesitated with my thumb over the upload button. A strange, twisting feeling curled low in my stomach, part hope and part the kind of fear you get when you step too close to the edge of a ridge and feel the wind gust at your back. The video was…me. My words. My face. You could even see Lonesome Creek Ranch’s Main Street behind me with its saloon, general store, and jail.

But if I shared the video, the whole world would see…everything.

Wasn't that the point? To show them what we had to offer here. To let them see not only the town but one of the orcs building it.Realorc cowboys, newly transplanted from the orc kingdom far below the ground. I scanned the town my brothers and I had poured our time, gold, and hearts into. This is what I was told people wanted—a dream they could come live in for a short time. A place as big as the sky and as honest as freshly spread sorhox manure.

I hit upload before I could talk myself out of it.

The phone dinged almost immediately, startling me. A notification. That was good, wasn’t it? I released a breath and let my shoulders relax.

I didn't look at the message. I'd give the video time to float around in… Well, I wasn’t even sure where it floated. Whatwasthe internet, anyway? I hadn’t figured that out. But my video would now be showing on various phones throughout the world, and there was something amazing about that.

I’d check later to see how it was received.

Pocketing my phone, I scooped up Podar, carrying him under my arm with his purr rising to full volume while Sharga continued to meow on my shoulder.

I approached my small ranch house, noting that the back doorwasopen. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too many flies inside.

One bedroom, like most of the homes my brothers and I had built for each other. Only Greel and Ostor had mates living with them inside theirs, and lucky males they were. Until they started having younglings, there was no need for more than one bedroom, and the odds of me doing what was needed to plant those younglings was pretty much zero.

We'd started small, intending to expand once the tourist town was up and running and money started flowing our way instead of in the other direction.

The cozy wooden building sat next to the red-painted barn, with only a touch of light spilling out my kitchen window. I'd left it on, liking the warm feeling I got when I pictured someone waiting for me inside like Rosey did for Ostor and Jessi for Greel.

Perhaps someday I’d find someone to love who’d care for me in return. My Aunt Inla wanted me to sign up for the dating app she and Jessi’s grandmother were creating, but I wasn’t sure about that. What kind of female would look at a huge orc like me and not want to run away?

My boots made dull thuds on the small back deck, and I stepped inside the kitchen, scanning the room for flies but not finding any. Phew.

Sharga plunged off my shoulder and flew in his crooked way to the perch I’d placed near the refrigerator, landing neatly. He fluffed his feathers and settled, looking at me as if to say,where’s my food? Fetch it for me now.

Podar scampered over to his dish and after I dumped a big clump of raw meat into it, he started eating.

A table with orc-sized chairs sat along the left wall, and after hanging my hat on the hook by the door, I poured out a small serving of meat and chopped fruit and vegetables into Sharga’s dish. If this was like every other night, he’d eat and squawk to go outside. He still preferred to sleep in the barn, and being out in nature was the best thing for a creature like that. He ate while I drank a glass of water, and I let him fly outside, shutting the door closed behind him.

With a second glass of water on the table, I sat in one of the chairs and tugged my phone out of my pocket.

Going “vee-rail”—no,viral—was the goal here. One video could make our dream bloom. And one could make it sag like a pulled-up weed, but I wasn't going to think about that. Everything I'd read online said to be authentic and the right people would not only find my videos, but they’d also comment and give me “likes”.

Ah, some comments!

Podar leaped into my lap and curled around, settling to purr some more as I read the first.

And the next.

The one after that.

I smiled at first. It was working. They liked the open plain, Sharga meowing on my shoulder, and maybe even big, burly orcme. The words blurred together as comments started rolling in too fast for me to keep up. I read some more.

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