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Guns and Roses

9/5/2022

5 Comments

 
“Excuse me, please.”
The voice was strident, but dripping with juvenile arrogance and mockery. Rose, who had stepped down from the buckboard turned around, her black eyes smiling - but that turned into confusion an instant later.
“Yes?” she said in a soft, mellow tone, aware that in the small school building ahead, her class of rumbling children had gathered at the door and windows, and that some of the towns people had stopped to stare in interest.
“Yes,” mimicked the owner of that voice, a lanky lad with a freckled face and a pugnacious nose. “Your kind ain’t welcome here, woman,” he added.
She raised her brows; she probably was double his age, she thought, but she didn’t want to lock horns with Bubba Pardue, the son of one of the wealthiest cattlemen around. So, she smiled again and opened her mouth to reply to him, when a low voice from the school porch cut in:
“An’ what kind would that be, kid?”
The boy glanced around the lady, at a figure lounging lazily in a chair. This was a dark-haired man, with long legs that stretched languidly out. The bronzed face was boyish, pleasant and friendly, but there was nothing amiable about the crossed cartridge belts and the low tied twin guns strapped to his supple hips.
Bubba dismissed it as a bluff and said haughtily:
“Dunno how you’d be concerned, but since you’re interested, the colour o’her skin ain’t exactly like mine. Darkies are meant to be slaves, not teachers.”
“Me thinks he needs some edjoocation,” mused the stranger aloud. “Mebbe he ain’t aware that the Confederacy collapsed, an’ that slavery is abolished.”
His eyes crinkled into a smile when he turned to Rose. “Ma’am,” he said. “Don’t let that ill-mannered kid hold you back.”
Bubba’s face twisted malevolently when Rose, with a little trepidation stepped forward. He lunged in front of her, blocking her passage to the school.
“Uh-huh, Nigger,” he sneered, roughly shoving her back.
It was all the movement the stranger needed. In four long strides he strode down from the porch, his spurs jingling on the wooden boards. With a sudden swing of his arm, he brought it down with a resounding slap on Bubba’s cheek. The boy teetered, falling backward in the dust.
With a howl of rage, he clumsily reached for his gun, aiming for the back of the man who had now turned to help the teacher to her feet. But she screamed in horror, the children shrieked in dismay and there was a deathly hush among those gathered in the street.
Sensing danger, the stranger swung around, but even as he moved, his six-gun materialized in his hand, and it was belching fire.
Bubba only felt the agony of a shattered forefinger as his gun clattered harmlessly from his hand.
“I didn’t miss,” warned the stranger, ominously. Then he turned to Rose gallantly and she accepted his offered arm.
She stepped over the boy and headed for the classroom.

© Author to be revealed at the end of the challenge
Full details of how Start to Finish works...HERE
5 Comments
Jeff Jones
9/5/2022 11:30:52 pm

I love the "thinking outside the box" and setting the scene in a non-contemporary time - can't beat a Western where the good guy wins - cracking story.

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Lou
9/5/2022 11:31:15 pm

If only real life was like this! I enjoyed the foray into the 'Western' genre, and I felt that you had an original take on the quotations provided. This story was well-written, though it might be argued that you overdid the colloquialisms - a taste is all that is needed, I feel. Nevertheless, it did sound reasonably authentic and definitely imaginative. My favourite so far.

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Secret Attic
10/5/2022 12:39:23 pm

Upon first reading of all the entries, this is my favourite - the use of the comma needs to be looked at but apart from that it's a good entry!

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Vivienne
18/5/2022 02:00:19 pm

This story really meets the need for the come-uppance. I saw the scene quite clearly. It managed to evoke immediate emotions and allegiances.

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Ronald T Hardwick
19/5/2022 01:22:26 pm

Tremendous fun! The denouement wouldn't have mattered a jot because the lead-up to it was so enjoyable. The Clint Eastwood character was terrific and I love the genre. Funnily enough, the use of the 'n' word in a narrative has been the subject of great debate recently - the BBC arbitrarily (and stupidly, in my view) cut a line containing the n-word from Bob Dylan's 'Hurricane.' Should it appear in a short story? - certainly it should. The writer must have had great fun composing thi.

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    Excuse Me Please
    Guns And Roses
    Henrietta And The Open Road
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    Lessons In Love
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  • Secret Attic
  • MEMBERSHIP
  • SHORT STORY
  • WEEKLY WRITE
  • DRABBLE
  • PICTURE THIS
  • Start to Finish
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  • LEAGUE TABLE 2021/2022
  • ISSUES - PRINT
  • ISSUES - PDF
  • Spotlight
  • ABOUT
  • Contact
  • Eva Shelby
  • Site Map
  • UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS