The film explores the theme of horizons through the eyes of two very different characters. Corporal Kenneth Ayrshire is a returning veteran and a purple heart recipient, having lost his leg in a distant land.
#34 is a adorably small cow, confined to his pen and dwarfed by his herd, but with the ambition to someday catch one of those trucks that load the larger cattle each day. He knows they lead down the long stretch of flat Texas road, and to him, anywhere must be better than here. Maybe that was the same sentiment the returning veteran once shared as he boarded the bus that took him away from home and into the army.
Now returning to his wife and family, the film takes us to Corporal Ayrshire's last moments alone before he climbs, with the use of his prosthetic leg, into the bus which will bring him back to civilian life. At the same moment down the road, a lucky break means an exuberant #34 has found his way into a cattle trailer, bound for the open road (and the slaughterhouse beyond).
In a single moment, they pass. Two young products of America, one filled with joy as wide as the Texas horizon, the other solemnly starting the next chapter after having been almost killed by crossing it.