CHARACTER STUDY (I)

In the plains of Montana, Allyson awakes at dawn in her small room.  She quietly slips on a pair of worn-out boots, ties up her dusty brown hair, and strolls outside of her quaint cottage, heading towards a burnt red barn nearby.  When she arrives at the entrance to the barn, she heaves open the broad doors, and various shapes, sizes, and colors of alpacas come racing out into the fenced yard.  In their excitement for breakfast, they are oblivious to the prospect that she will be leaving them in the care of a neighbor as she embarks on a journey, away from the life on her alpaca farm that she has always known.  For now, Allyson gently measures out the food for each alpaca, and greets each one with a pleasant "Good morning" and their name.  When she returns inside, she rummages through her drawers for versatile clothes that could be worn for any type of weather or any occasion.  She tries to make rational decisions about what to carry with her, and she smiles at the thought of being so unprepared that she has to wear a wool coat on a smoldering day somewhere.  The looming unknowns about her trip leave her no choice but to fit as much food, water, money, and clothing into an old hiking backpack as she can, hoping that what she brings will suffice for her journey.