Cities of the Plain

Billy decides to leave Mac’s ranch. In a conversation with Mac, he learns that the military plans to buy up all of the land in the area. Mac assures Billy that there will always be a job for him on whatever ranch he runs. Mac leaves Texas and spends years wandering. In 2002, he is old and only finds sporadic work as a movie extra. He lives in a hotel until he has spent the last of his money. His boots are almost worn through.

Now homeless in Arizona and aged 78, Billy sleeps beneath an overpass. He is plagued by violent dreams. He spots a man across the street and catches the man’s eye. The man joins him, and they share a packet of saltine crackers. During their conversation, Billy admits to the man that—for a moment—he thought that the man might be “death” (180), coming to fetch Billy. The man assures Billy that he is not death, and they talk about the idea of death and an afterlife. The man discusses a time in the past when he sketched out his entire life on a map. They talk about dreams.

They discuss the difference between dreams and waking life, and the man describes his dream about a traveler.