Seamus Blackmore fastened his gun holster to his waist and took a deep breath. He was ready. In a few minutes, he would face that yella belly Erath. He reckoned he would win cause he was right. They wasn’t fightin’ over fences or cattle or women. No. The most important thing a man could hang on to was honor. Nobody could take that.
When Erath started blowin’ off his mouth bout how big his biceps were, how he ruled this town, Seamus had to take action. Nobody had bigger ceps than he did. He sculpted himself endlessly, lifting hay bales, throwin’ down fence. There was room in this town for only one cut cowboy, and it was him.
Outside the wind blew slightly, just enough to launch a small tumbleweed into roly poly flight. It was still a warm autumn day, but the skyline offered a hint of winter’s sour breath signaling a near time when Seamus could stand outside and see Russia from his house. People slowly came out into the street. Doors swung open from the saloon, the barber shop, Good Eats, and the nutrition shop too. Ashen faced folks comin’ to the execution.
Seamus squinted through the dust. Up ahead, the image of a lone cowboy dressed in black. The sheriff sauntered out through the doors of the Rib Crib. He walked to the center of the street as the gunslingers approached.
“You boys got anything to say before we start this here duel?”
“Give me per diem to git back to Hollywood or give me death,” said the cowboy dressed in black.
“Ain’t nobody better ‘en me or more buff ‘en me neither,” said Seamus.
“Alright, let’s walk it off and begin!” shouted the sheriff.
Seamus stared at Erath, eyes locked, fingers twitchin’. The gunshot rang clear through the dusty, little town. Cowboy dressed in black was down in the road, bullet through his heart.
“That’s right!” screamed Seamus over the pale, mousy faces of the townspeople.
“Ain’t nobody gonna win ‘ginst me. Ever!” he said.
The people sighed and nodded in mute agreement because bad boys seem to win, time and time again. Cause that’s what’s expected.
30 Comments
Comments are closed.
That’s it, you’ve been watching too many Clint Eastwood spaghetti Westerns…
Well it has been winter break from school, Sha’Tara, and too cold to play outside 😀
love love love! 😊
Thanks so much, Holly! 😀
Sigh. A sad story, Lana. The good guys will have to come back and fix it again. Then the bad guys complain that they didn’t fix it fast enough or good enough and they’ll wreck it again. Then the good guys will fix it again…. and on and on it goes.
Yeah Diana, that truly describes the cycle. Although the next time, in fiction land at least, the bad guy may get what’s coming to him 😀
In fiction land, we can have happy endings if we want to 🙂 Great point!
Sounds about right. My husband’s on a body building kick…again. Your second paragraph sounded a bit too close for comfort!
Lots of people are on that right now, I need to be too, ha ha…
I don’t know, with the body building people can get kind of obsessed, plus my husband’s always complaining about injuries. I think it’s best to do something that works for you.
Beautifully written as ever, LT. Any story with roly poly in it usually does it for me. 🙂
I was hoping for a dead heat but I’m glad you’ve left it open for Seamus to get bitten on a bicep by a rattle snake or some other venomous critter. 🙂
Oh Phil, well that’s a possibility cause rattlers are thick as thieves in these here parts! Thank you 😀
It’s such a good story – a modern fable! There are so many great lines in here – but this one is my favourite: “Give me per diem to git back to Hollywood or give me death,” said the cowboy dressed in black. 🙂
Well thank you, Pauline, ha ha. I’m trying to be upbeat writing some short fiction, but I’ll bet you guys are missing my melancholy poems 😀
Very good!
Thanks Jennie!
You are welcome!
Reblogged this on John Cowgill's Literature Site and commented:
By a lovely lady named Lana.
Thanks, John 😉
You are very graciously welcome.
Lana, I could just imagine the music from all the cowboy films I used to watch playing in the background…although a serious message this was highly entertaining! Great fun!
I kinda like that music, Annika 😀 Thank you so much!
I was right there with those ashen-faced spectators, Lana (though I must confess I hadn’t pegged the victor!). Part of me was hoping this was a scene somebody was shooting for the movies, not an actual duel and death, ha!
I think gunslingers were easily ticked off back on the day, Debbie. The whole duel was probably Seamus’ idea. He better be careful though, there may be a faster draw out there…
Western themes are always a good backdrop for writing mystery and adventure. You have done a good job bringing the excitement to the readers!
Thank you so much, Dee!
The bad boys always do seem to win, don’t they? Loved the names of the town’s businesses and also this line: “to launch a small tumbleweed into roly poly flight” which is one of the most apt descriptions of a moving tumbleweed I’ve ever heard. 🙂
They do, Joan 🙁 But Seamus better be careful, I can always kill him off… Thank you for the compliment, that’s a nice one coming from such a gifted poet who has such a talent with words herself 😀
[…] via On the Western Front — L.T. Garvin […]
Thank you so much for sharing!