Desperate Housewives of the Heartland: A Journey of Love, Lust, and Leaving

A young womans journey takes her from the confines of college life to the rustic heartland, where she finds love, lust, and a chance to break free

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Desperate Housewives of the Heartland: A Journey of Love, Lust, and Leaving Terri watched the cows. During her final descent the black and brown specks of distant cows grew into gross mooing things. Terri watched the big, dumb animals amble around, chewing on grass. She thudded her head against the plastic windowpane. There were no bovines back at College. It was dead center in urban blight. She had picked it partly for that reason. And now she was going back... to cows. * * * Her Mom didn't meet her at the gate. Terri collected three heavy bags and walked out of the terminal. At the taxi stand she picked a large yellow van, the driver congealed in the seat. When he hauled himself up to get her bags the chair rippled and bubbled behind him. In a battered College t-shirt and grey cotton pants she looked like a refugee from a slumber party. If she had any curves, they were lurking in depths. Terri climbed into a leather backseat that smelled like cheap cigarette smoke, and checked herself in the rear-view mirror. Her only positive features were two blue eyes and a healthy, rosy complexion. Terri had been born with a wholesome, wide-eyed look that screamed "country girl." Which was why she usually dusted on bone-white makeup and pulled her ash-blonde hair back into a tight braid. The girl looking back at her resembled a consumptive mortician. But at least it wasn't fresh off the ranch. "Where to?" the Driver said. "Calving," Terri said. "It's about a half-hour southwest on..." "Yeah, I know," the driver said. He accelerated. Terri raised an eyebrow. No one had EVER heard of Calving. That was one of its virtues. "You know where it is?" "Lots of people going out that way. They're building something out there," the driver searched his memory. "A factory. That's it. Big factory. Right outside of town." "Of what?" Probably a slaughterhouse. They had been talking about one for a long time. People in Calving talked about cows whenever the weather wasn't interesting. "No... hold on. It's coming. It was something weird. Baby food! It's a baby food factory." Baby food? She would've expected weapons defense or chip manufacture before baby food. "Seriously? …but everything was about to change

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