They had pulled off at a truck-stop in central California. Larry had taken care of fueling up, while his passenger worked on the windshields. The person who was following him was one pump away. A year earlier he would have had to do the whole job himself, but that was almost like a different life now. He leaned against his driver side door, a sign by his shoulders. In large black letters were the words. “Hope's Ranch.” It wasn't painted on, but a sticker, put on by the ranch to help him out with bills on his rig; this way someone helped out with the high insurance he had to pay every three months. Just under the window were the words “High Plains Cowboy” done in a flowing script. His truck was in need of a new paint job, and a good washing. He leaned against his truck and his mind went back to a woman he had known for several years. She had become his favorite dream and once had been his biggest regret. But lately, they had been getting closer and she was getting ready to leave her life in Truckee.

“Hope's Ranch?” A female voice cut through Larry's day dreaming. “Isn't that the place for the runaways? The private school in the Sierra Nevada’s?”
He nodded as he gathered his thoughts. There was a female trucker, on the pump next to him. She had that tired look that most drivers who have seen too many hours on the road seemed to wear. He didn’t lean forward as he spoke, but he smiled. “Yeah, but it's more than that. Its more of a place that will take in the kids that the world shuns and it helps them better themselves.”

“It's where those kids...those Transsexuals go, right?” The lady asked. Larry looked at her and realized that she didn't look angry, just curious.

“It is. But it isn’t just Transsexual kids there. There are all sorts. Gay, lesbian, bi kids, pregnant girls, girls who were raped...all sorts call the ranch a home.” He said with a nod. “We try not to exclude too much.”

"Its more than a school, right?"

"The ranch has several sides, including the school, the ranch and more. Each part is separate from the others, but it’s also together.....well, that’s not a good way of putting it. The best way to look at it is this. We offer kids and families a safe haven. We’re state supported, but we also have a commune of sorts with families who have gone there for safety.”

“I heard about you guys on the radio a week or so ago. It was on a news show one night. Something about a whole new campus and a rebuild due to damage.” She said. Her head cocked to the side slightly, as though she was getting a better look at him. He had seen several female truckers over the years. A lot of men felt intimidated by them, like they were stealing the jobs for the men, but Larry never had an issue with women drivers. He only had problems with people who gave truckers a bad name. “You look familiar. Didn't you used to do over the road trucking into the Midwest? I swear I seen you somewhere in Nebraska, could have been Wyoming? I think it was about five years ago? A fist fight at a Mrs. B's? I swear they said it was the High Plains Cowboy.”

“I used to stay in the Midwest, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah. A lot of the Interstate eighty corridor. And yeah, that could have been me. I was pretty stupid back then. Fought at the drop of a hat and it didn't matter whose hat it was.” He said with a nod. “But I'm helping at the ranch now.”
“Not to sound rude, but you don't look like the kind of guy who'd be helping transgendered kids. I recall you were a bit of an ass to those kinds of people several years back. I remember hearing stories about you at a couple different truck stops about you being homophobic.” He didn't get mad. He knew in all his travels, he'd meet someone that had heard about who he was before he began working for Hope's Ranch. Before his life was changed over the years.

“A few years ago, I would have agreed with you. And I was always a jerk to gays and transgendered people.” He shrugged. “Actually, I was a jerk to everyone.”

“Why?” She asked.

“I had a brother that decided he was born a girl and my first reaction was to hate him. When he gained the support of my parents, I hated them. I finally left over ten years ago, when I got mad at all of them. I left that day, after slugging my brother and telling off my parents. I figured that was the last time I'd ever deal with a Transsexual again. My hatred boiled for years and I just became a bitter man.”

“But you work for a ranch that deals with them?”

“I was lucky enough to have my eyes opened for me.” He stated. “It had started a couple years ago, actually, but last year it was all pulled into focus for me.”

“What was that?”

“Well, it's kind of a long story....” He looked at the fuel pump and realized he had time. “But for me, it started a long time ago...”

And here it is again. Hope's Ranch has returned. It will take a little bit to get into year one, but I feel its needed to see the main cast and how they get to the ranch.