There is nothing but sand for miles around. Scattered about the sand dunes are lone cacti, some so tall they look like hands reaching for the heavens. With a quick whack of his machete he takes a limb of a cactus off, picking it up carefully and draining what little precious water it has in it, into his rawhide water sack. He pulls out all the thorns and begins to squeeze all the water he can out of it. He looks behind him at the tracks his made, and he can’t help but feel some loss for his horse with no name.
The sun is high in the sky and he uses his hand to shield his eyes from the harsh rays. There is a screech from high in the sky and he looks for her. She is Vesper, an albino Osprey hawk, circling high above. He spots her just as she is diving head first towards him at incredible speed. Standing his ground, he holds his arm out as a perch for her to land on. Just mere feet from him, she spreads her wings out wide and proud and flutters to land on his arm and lets out a screech of accomplishment.
“Good girl Vesper.” He hands her some dried meat which she reluctantly takes; it’s not alive but its food and that’ll do for now.
“Now, what did you find, hmm??” The man asks.
He stands well over 6 feet tall and is covered in desert sand from head to toe, wearing a dark brown leather trench coat, a long thick brown glove on one hand where his companion landed. His other hand, uncovered and open, reaches up gently and pets Vesper and she squawks a little.
His eyes close and a moment later he is soaring high in the skies. A soft voice whispers in his head, “Hello Master.”
“Hello Vesper.” The man says. “What do you have to show me dear?”
“There is a town north of you, it’s at least three or four miles away” Vesper whispers. Though she can’t be seen, she is the voice of his hawk. “There is nothing else for miles, Master. Are you sure you will make it?” she asks with concern.
“I’m sure.” He says. And he gently tosses her upward and she takes flight, screaming for the sky.
He looks up at the setting sun and decides to find a place to rest for the night. With the sun hanging lower, he begins to build a fire with twigs and Devil’s Brush. Devil’s Brush has a few different uses, good for smoking, chewing, or fires. It burns real slow and casts a blue, not red, light and people have been known to hallucinate from the brush, hence the name Devil’s Brush.
They say though, if you use too much, it starts to eat away at your memories, like a vulture on a dead horse; picking away at your childhood memories and dreams. If you’ve had a horrible childhood, I guess that wouldn’t matter too much though. Vesper screams high in the sky, and a few moments later three dead snakes fall on the ground. He picks them up and cuts the heads off, skins them and skewers them on a stick, propping them up by a rock in the fire circle to cook. Vesper lands on a branch in a tree across from him and settles down.
Reaching into his coat, he pulls out a flask, unscrews the cap and takes a small sip. Leaning forward he turns the cooking snakes. The firelight is now a greenish color, which is the devil’s weed burning. They say that if you stare long enough the devil will reach into your soul and force you into a contract for it. But those kind of rumors were only told by those who were truly too far gone from eating the weed.
“Jeremiah!” A young girl yells. He’s climbing up a the side of a mountain. “Jeremiah wait!!”
Jeremiah is a few feet further up the mountain than Amy, his younger sister by four years. He hears her yelling and sighs, but keeps going up faster to get further away. He can’t stand his sister, she grates on him because she doesn’t understand him. She follows him everywhere, asking him all sorts of questions. So yeah, he tries to lose her all the time, even playing hide and seek with her and leaving her hidden and not found for hours.
“Hurry up already Amy!” He shouts from the top of the mountain and puffs his chest out in accomplishment, while Amy continues to climb further until she reaches the top.
“Why you always gotta try and out run me!” She asks huffing and puffing. “Cuz your a turdeater.” Jeremiah says.
“I am not!” she retorts, stomping her foot and making a mean face at him. “Race you to the bottom then!” She takes off back down the mountain at speed.
They race back down the mountain, laughing and chasing each other; hearing a bell ringing in the distance. Standing up, they brush themselves off and race toward home. Deep in the desert somewhere, their log house is only a few miles outside of town. Their father used to be the town lawman, until he was found hanging out on the gallows. No one knows why or what happened to their father; there were no notes or signs of a fight or anything.
Arriving at their house, their mother is standing at the door. “You guys took forever!” she says.
“It’s Jeremiah’s fault!” Amy shouts as she runs past their mother.
“No it wasn’t..” Jeremiah starts to defend himself.
“I don’t care who did what, just get cleaned up for dinner” Their mother says and then closes the door.
Vesper squawks and he jumps. Finding himself staring into the fire too long again, he leans back against the rock wall behind him, folding his arms and tipping his hat forward. A few minutes later he gets back up and pulls the cooked snakes off the fire and begins to eat. After eating he takes another couple of sips from his flask and then rolls a small cigarette of the devils weed.
—————————————————————-
Vesper screams high above Jeremiah, but this is Jeremiah only fifteen, climbing up the side of a mountain again. But this time it’s much higher, a lot steeper and more dangerous. He has ropes looped around him and a belt holding assorted climbing tools. He reaches up and grabs onto a small outcropping, he shoves a device in that grabs on to the rock and then loops the rope through it.
“Jeremiah!!” Amy yells from below him. She’s still following him doing what he does, she’s become a regular tomboy; running around killing rabbits and snakes for dinner, going out with her brother on runs to the market, and doing anything else she can insert herself into.
“Good grief sister, can’t you ever move fast enough? You’re always slow as a snail.” He shouts back down at her, moving faster and further away.
Getting to the top he waits. Amy struggles to reach from rock to rock, placing her foot into a hole, she puts her weight on that leg and begins to tries to reach up. The rock breaks and she loses her grip and falls, yanking Jeremiah almost off the top.
“Amy!! AMY!!” He yells.
“I’m here, I’m hurt, but nothings broken.” She’s holding her arm to comfort it and starts to swing herself back to the mountainside. Jeremiah struggles to hold onto the rope and he eventually is able to wrap the rope around him and put his whole weight into pulling her up.
“I’m almost there.” She yells.
Suddenly the rope starts to fray and come apart. Fearing the worst, Jeremiah tries to pull faster.
“Amy hurry up, the rope is starting to break!” He pulls harder and gets closer to the ledge to try and help get her to safety, but the rope keeps continues to shred against the cliff edge. He looks over the ledge and sees his sister almost at the top; he reaches out. “Take my hand.” he says.
She reaches up several times, their fingers touch but pass right through each other. But she continues to try and reach for his hand, getting closer and closer every time. The rope snaps and she starts to fall but stops sharply as Jeremiah manages to grab her wrist just in time. He is slipping himself now and trying to hold on by bracing his foot against a rock; his other hand holding on to the rope behind him.
She screams loudly, she panics and starts to flail around, making it hard to keep a hold of her hand.
“Stop flailing about damn it!” Jeremiah yells, but it does no good; she continues to flail about and his grip starts to weaken.
He’s hanging on with everything he has, but she just doesn’t listen, she keeps on screaming and flailing around. Slipping a little from his hand, she starts to scream and panic even more, making it harder to hold on to him.
“Please don’t drop me Jeremiah, I don’t want to die!” she cries out, trying to grab on to anything she can.
Everything stops, the wind, the birds are quiet, there’s no sound. She looks up at him with an open mouth, screaming, her eyes wide and her hair blows into her face as she plummets to the ground.
“NO!” He shouts and wakes himself up.
He glances around to make sure no one had crept up on him in his moment of sleep. Getting up and poking the fire, he goes searching for more wood to burn. Noticing a small cave in the distance, he decides to investigate. He lights a torch and ventures inside, stumbling across a skeleton clothed in some kind of workman’s uniform. A quick hunt through his pockets reveals some form of identification, with the words “Muhn Chi Xu”, along with a still working pocket watch and a small carving knife that looks well cared for and old. Perhaps an heirloom of some kind?
Returning to his fire he settles down for the night. The next morning he wakes and takes the time to give the dead man a proper burial. He leaves no headstone, just a small pile of rocks with a make shift cross in the ground. He says his prayers and blesses the soul of the man’s remains. He collects up his things, slings his backpack on and continues on his journey. The sand, heat, and sun are a brutal combination without a hat, so the dark cloaked man pulls his hat over his face even further.
—————————————————————-
There are telling signs that the man is getting closer as signs of life litter the edge of the trail. Tracks were beginning to look more worn in and used, rickety carts, markers and signs scattered around about. Off in the distance a church bell chimes, either for school or just to mark time. Alert, he hears a gang of men on horseback come riding up behind him; they stop in front of him, and he tries to go around.
“What’s your name, and what’s your business in these parts?” The cowboy asks and then, just like the typical asshat alpha man, he spits in the hooded mans direction.
“I don’ wanna quarrel wit’chu boy, Jus’a let me pass. It’ll be like I was neva here. ” Jeremiah says quietly, but in such a way it sends shivers down everyone’s back. All five of the men dismount and prepare to teach this stranger some respect for their town.
“I don’t think you heard me all that well, Mister. Do you need to see the doctor, or maybe the stable hand to help you clean out the shit in your ears? I asked you a question now. What’s your name?” This young kid, no more than twenty, says.
The kid slides his hand down to the polished ivory handle of his colt .45; which has never shot a man before, just some cans outside his papa’s house. Jeremiah sees the young mans hand is trembling ever so slightly.
“Now listen ‘ere boy.” He says from under his hat. “I’ma gonna say dis one more time, Lemme pass. Other you’ll be wakin up in the doc’s office, or worse de morgue.” The tall Irish looking man says.
He looks to be in his early to mid-forties, with long dark red hair cascading over his shoulder. He is a mess, filthy and worn down and dried out from the sun in all sorts of places. His face is rough, with nasty scars reaching across his cheek and nose and one scar slanting across one of his eyes.
“So will ye let me pass? Or ye wanna do tings the ‘ard way eh?” Jeremiah says.
The five men start to pull their guns and slowly walk towards the Irishman. “No!” shouts the young cowboy. “He’s mine! It’ll be a fair boxing fight, winner takes all. If you win you walk away.” the young man looks around, “Is that clear? Not a one of you gonna do no harm to this man if he wins.”
“Yes Sir!” They say.
“Alright then, Now all we need is a referee!!” He spots her, out of a crowd of at least a hundred or more people now stopping to stare and anticipating a fight.
He is lost as he watches her gracefully cross the street. As she stops to find out what all the fuss is about, he blinks and shouts. “You miss!! Yes you!… Come here.”
He points to the woman and she makes her way through the crowd, bumping and pushing through the bodies; some of them having not bathed in a few months and she wrinkles her nose and covers it. She reaches Jeremiah’s side.
“Whats your name lass?” He asks her. “Coraline Bethal.” She answers shyly.
“Well Coraline Bethal, how would you like to referee a fight between myself, and this bloke over here. Think you can do that?” Jeremiah asks her.
She shrugs “I don’t know anything about fighting, Mister. My Daddy always taught me that violence never solved anything.” she coyly tells Jeremiah.
He laughs and says “Very well then, I will teach you as we go – it’s not that hard my dear. Follow me.” They walk towards the center of the ring.
The young guy joins them and they go over the rules of the fight, they touch fists and back away from each other. The girl follows Jeremiah back to his corner and she whispers.
“What do I do now? Oh dear why did you pick me for this huh? I’m not going to do this right at all” she says worrying and fretting.
“Lass, justa go out there and shout loud like, “Fighters fight.” justa like dat and den be gettin outta da way” Jeremiah says to the girl.
She is trembling in fear as no one has ever paid her much attention in town before now. She isn’t a plain girl in any sense of the word. She is a beautiful young woman, just starting to bloom. She’s extremely smart, always spending time in the library while other girls are out pursuing other things. She stands up and smiles at Jeremiah and nods. She walks out into the middle of the ring and begins to shout and then the bell rings!!
The young man comes out of his corner quick expecting to rush him, Up comes the Irishman hopping around getting closer to the kid, they meet in the middle. The kid takes a jab and Jeremiah takes it to the face, kid does it again and again he takes it to the face. Now the kid’s starting to get some confidence in him and starts to dance around Jeremiah. The men square off and start exchanging blows, left and then a right, back and forth. One to the head, one to the gut, and three punch combo; in time the closing bell rings and the men return to their corners. Both men received cuts, swollen eyelids and lips, and the young man seems to have a broken nose. The bell rings again, the two men stumble back into the center of the dirt ring and the fight lasts for a good while. Coraline is not in the thick of it or yelling and watching the men closer, he fears she’s gone.
Jeremiah has a burst of speed and strength and he assaults the kid with a barrage of hits. One to the chin, one to the side of the jaw, the last right blow to the temple sends the kid falling face first to the ground. Coraline runs over and starts to count enthusiastically, “…. seven, eight, nine, ten….. That’s it fights over, The winner by a knockout, The Irishman!!” She shouts and cheers with the crowd. Jeremiah stumbles, catches himself but is unable to hold onto it, and stumbles again this time right into the arms of Coraline and passes out.
—————————————————————-
He begins to come around and hears muffled music and feels something soft and fluffy against his skin. He sees a woman humming softly as she pours water into one of those old wooden round tubs. He just lays there, trying to get a sense of where he is and what’s going on. The woman walks out of the room and shuts the door behind her. Jeremiah looks up and around, the place is certainly a woman’s place. He slowly climbs out of bed and realizes that he is naked.
“Ah you’re awake finally.” Coraline says with a little chuckle.
Jeremiah is startled for a moment; turning, he sees Coraline in the tub and he quickly covers himself with anything he could reach in that split second. A purple feather boa!
“Oh you are just too cute, Mister…. You know, I have had strange men in my room before, but this is the first time I’ve had one where I don’t know their name.” She smiles sweetly, and the door behind him opens up and again, Jeremiah jumps and scurries to the other side of the room, still holding the boa covering himself.
The woman pours the bucket of hot water into the bathtub.
Coraline says, “Thank you Milly, that’s just enough water. Would you be a dear and bring me some extra towels? And maybe a bottle of …? ” She looks to Jeremiah.
“Irish whiskey if ye be havin’ any” he answers.
Milly nods, “Yes Ma’am, I shall fetch it right away. Should I have the chef make something to eat?” She asks softly.
“Maybe later, it’s still rather early in the evening. Tell him to get some rest, maybe think of something new.” Coraline smiles softly.
Milly smiles and walks out of the room. Coraline moves around in the tub, the steam rising from the water giving her some cover for decency. “So now, shall we? You’ve had my name kind sir, would it not be proper that I may know yours?”
Jeremiah walks over and sits down on a chest covered with dresses. “Well, That be a right smart question d’ere.”
The door opens and Milly walks back in with a bottle of Jameson’s, a bucket of ice, two glasses and some snack foods on a tray held in one hand and a stack of towels in her other hand. She sets them down, “Will there be anything else, Ma’am?” she asks.
“No, Milly, I do not wish to be disturbed for the rest of the evening.” Milly nods and leaves the room.
Jeremiah stands up, forgetting about the feather boa, walks over to the tray and begins to pour a drink.
“I’ll take one neat please.” She asks sweetly.
He nods and pours her a drink. Picking them both up he walks towards the tub. Coraline tries to keep her eyes from roaming over this tall naked man in front of her. He walks slowly, his legs muscles tighten and relax with every step, they are toned, tight, and rough. She notices that he has some bullet holes in one thigh, and a long sword scar down the other. Her eyes wander upward; he is a lean, fit, toned, well worn sort of a man. She smirks as her eyes land on his manhood; six inches long relaxed and in her mind she chuckles, noticing the manscaping. She is surprised such a man like him would take such care of himself like that. As he approaches she notices more scars and gunshot wounds. She watches his abs ripple as he moves, he reaches out to her handing her the drink.
“See anything you like?” Jeremiah asks with a wicked grin.
She takes the glass and backs away in the tub; it is very large, enough for at least five or six people, but she’s never tried that before.
“Perhaps I did, or not. You need to figure that out.” She reaches the back of the tub, spreading her arms out.
“You know it is not polite to keep a woman waiting, or for her to ask the same question more than twice. So if you would please be so kind as to give me your name? Or do you not have one?” Her hand slides between two towels on the left, underneath is a small .22 nothing that’ll stop a man like this, but enough to slow him down.
“Forgive me, Everyone that knows me, knows me as The Irishman.” He takes a sip of the whiskey.
“But my friends? They call me Jeremiah.” He smiles. “Jeremiah McGowan. At your service Ma’am.”
“Well Jeremiah McGowan, Since you so eloquently pointed out, You are at my service. So what do you have in mind? ” she asks coyly.
He downs the whiskey in his glass, and slides into the tub. “Well first… how about we wash the desert off me. I could use some help with my back.” He smirks and vanishes under the water for a few moments and comes back up gasping for air, the water running down his shoulders, chest, and abs. Coraline licks her lips and floats her way over to him. She wraps a leg around him, reaching up and taking hold of his long reddish brown hair and pulling it away from his back. She grabs a small wooden stick and wraps his hair up pinning it to his head.
Reaching over, she takes a large sponge and a bar of soap and begins to lather her hands together. Sliding her hand softly against his back, she finds his skin is rough to the touch. Bringing the sponge down, she starts to work it slowly in circles and watches as the soap seems to make all the scars disappear for just a moment. She slides her soapy hands around his chest pulling herself tight against his back and sliding up and down slowly. Her nipples begin to get hard as her hands work the soapy lather over his pecs, she finds his nipples are hard too and she rubs them playfully.
Her hips thrust up and down slow and steady against his leg, as she continues to wash him. She tenderly lifts his hand and starts to scrub from his wrist up to his shoulder, making sure to wash his underside, that soft spot in the ribs. She works her way around him, sliding her naked body against his. They stand there in the tub facing each other, feeling their hot breath on each others faces.
She whispers softly “Did that help release some tension Jeremiah?” she smiles sweetly.
“Oh, some, but I think it caused more harm than good.” He reaches down grabbing her ass tightly, his throbbing hard cock pressed against her stomach. She looks up a little surprised.
“Oh my, Mr McGowan, now now. What would the others think?” She chuckles teasingly. “Screw what the others think….”
He lifts her just enough and pushes his full eight inches deep into her hot folds. She gasps out loudly, he pushes deeper and harder as if trying to hit the very end of that hot wet tunnel inside her.
Reaching up and grabbing onto the wall for support, she breaths heavily and he takes her fast and then slows down. He spins her over in the water, her back to him now. Reaching up with his rough hands and finding a nipple, pinching so hard she screams. “OH FUCK!”
His fingers are so strong and rough it feels as though he is going to rip her nipple right off, this only makes her thrust back on him harder and faster. He reaches up and wraps a hand around her thin neck, squeezing just enough for her to gasp and enjoy every thrust more as he pounds her like a beast. She screams as she cums all over him.
He picks her up and sets her on the side of the tub, up against the back wall so she can support herself. They kiss deeply, their tongue circling around each others as their hands continue to explore, He starts to slide down her kissing and suckling on her neck, leaving little soft hickey marks. His lips travel down further to find her nipples, the one he pinched and pulled on is so swollen instead of easing the pain, he decides to suck and play with the other nipple. She moans out “Oh Jeremiah.” her fingers sliding through his hair.
Kneeling down in the tub, he looks up at his beautiful victim and gives her a wicked smile just as his tongue slides out and finds her clit instantly. She squeals as his tongue pokes and licks softly at first, but is then sucked into his mouth and assaulted with his tongue, caressing her hot sweet button against the roof of his mouth. She closes her eyes and gets completely lost and wrapped up in his energy, with only gasps and the occasional ‘fuck yes baby’ escaping her lips. As she begins to reach that sweet breaking point she screams and arches her back almost knocking him over as she cums and squirts all over his face.
He holds her as she shakes, his cock throbbing so fast and hard, then turns her around. Whispering in her ear softly he says, “Brace yourself my lil slut, this may hurt a little.”
He holds her tightly as he slowly pushes his cock into her tight ass. She is shocked and surprised, no one has ever taken her this way or rather she’s never let anyone until now. Excitedly, she bends over further allowing him easier access to her tight virgin ass.
“Oh fuck, Jeremiah, please be gentle. I’ve never let anyone take me like this” she says so coy and seductively. He slides out just a little to ease up on the pressure, and then pushes back in with a little more force, she screams out in pain and pleasure that starts to back into him, wanting him to open her up like a toy on Christmas Day. Never has she felt so completely lost in ecstasy as she gives in to him completely and she feels her body just open up and take every inch of him into her.
He starts to pound her ass hard and deep, her screaming and moaning getting louder and louder. He reaches up and grabs her hair, yanking her head back and wrapping his other hand around her throat again, pounding her ass relentlessly. Moaning, the horny little slut she is loves every inch that he drives into her; she screams for more when he starts slapping her ass cheeks back and forth, fiercely with something hard. In her head she is lost, completely giving herself to a man for the first time in her life. She’s screaming in her head and in the room.
“Don’t stop, fuck me yes. Don’t stop, Jeremiah. Oh god yes.” She rambles those same words over and over from time to time in between orgasms and catching her breath.
The pace slows, and she goes limp. “Oh my Jeremiah, I don’t know if I can take anymore” she whimpers softly.
“I find that hard to believe, you sexy lil bitch. I know you’ve got a lot more in you.” He picks her up and lifts her out of the bath and over to the bed, Before he can lay her in it she kneels in front of him, taking his hard thick throbbing cock in her hand and stroking it slowly.
“Oh yeah, you think so huh?” She smiles wickedly as she swallows his cock whole all the way down to his pelvis, and then some. She sucks hard and deep, her other hand taking his balls and softly caressing them between her fingers; she can feel how full they are, just waiting to be released. She bobs her head up and down quickly, sucking hard, then soft and then hard again, slowing down and enjoying every inch of his cock, like a hungry little animal waiting to be fed again.
She sucks his cock fast, then slow, adjusting her tongue pressure. Licking every inch of him, feeling his head slide down her throat and all she can think about is getting it in even further. She looks up at him; there is fire of passion in her eyes and she starts bobbing faster. He holds onto the bed post moaning out loud, his other hand wrapped in her hair as she lets go of his cock and lets him fuck her mouth. She closes her eyes and moans, enjoying the hard throbbing, pounding cock in her mouth and throat. She wants more, in her head she is screaming for more, give it all to me, I wanna be your whore.
He slides out and picks her up and kisses her deeply, she loves the taste of him in her mouth. He pushes her back to her bed lifting her legs up and curling her into a ball, she is spread wide open for him as he holds her ankles together, pushing her legs to her chest. He slaps her ass hard, she cries out softly. He does it again, she whimpers. He reaches over and grabs her hairbrush from the night stand and starts spanking her with it. Hitting her ass hard, over and over, she cries out.
“NO! Daddy please!! No I’ll be a good girl, no please!!” But her cries fall on deaf ears and his spanking gets harder.
She thrashes her legs around, trying to get away from the hairbrush and the brutal spanking. She’s crying out, tears flowing from her eyes, begging him to stop, but all the while in her head she secretly begs for more. The spanking suddenly stops and he shoves his cock deep into her throbbing wet pussy. He puts his hands behind her knees pushing them all the way back to her shoulders, using his weight against her to pound his cock deeper. She can feel him hitting that spot deep inside her playfully; he keeps getting closer.
“Yes, fuck me deeper damn it, fuck me harder” she says.
Trying to get him angry so he would pound that cock of his deeper still. He starts grunting really loud, slamming his cock deeper and deeper into her.
“Yes fuck me, Daddy, fuck me like the lil whore I am. Cum for me, cum deep inside me Daddy.” She starts whispering, coaxing him on.
He snarls, she grabs onto his arms and he power drives his cock with everything he has left in him. They can both feel the tension building and she knows he is getting closer and closer.
“Yes baby….. give it all to me, let me have it. Fuck me baby” she continues to whisper.
He lets out a loud grunting roar as he explodes deep inside her, coating her hot wet throbbing walls. He slumps down into her arms and they lay there breathing hard. After a moment, they roll over and just bask in that after glow.
Moments pass before either of them say anything. He looks down, and watches her breath, she lays there listening to his heartbeat. They relax awhile, listening to the sounds of the bar below reaching up to them. The music is lively and they can hear a woman singing, getting the crowd involved. The men yell and cheer, the women in the crowd follow suit and shout loudly when it’s their turn. Then the whole group gets going. Coraline slowly gets up, and starts to get dressed.
Jeremiah rolls to his side. “So is that the end of this evening lovely lady?”
She smiles as she pulls on her clothes. “Why not at all, my good sir, I am the owner of this fine establishment. You are more than welcome to come down with me, or after me if you wish.”
“I suppose this is the only place still open this time a night huh?” He asks, as he rolls to the side of the bed and starts to put his clothes back on.
She rolls over, and slides out of bed. Picking up her cloths and dressing slowly. “Yea, I like to keep it open all night.” She buttons her skirt, and tucks her shirt in. Adjusting her coat and hat, looking into the mirror making sure she looks alright.
They walk down the stairs together, talking to each other, the saloon is still alive with singing, drinking and yelling. There are a couple of card games going at some tables in the back. At the bar there’s a steady rush of drinks.
—————————————————————-
A man sits behind a laptop, his glasses in hand and squeezing the bridge of his nose. He sighs in frustration as he can’t seem to find the inspiration to write the next chapter of his book. He picks up a glass with two fingers of jamensons still left. Finishing the drink, he picks up the bottle to pour himsefl another glass, only to find the bottle is empty. He sighs, looking down and petting his siamese cat sleeping at his feet. He stands, stretches and yawns.
The cat is woken by sudden movement, stands and streches herself. He walks into the kitchen tossing the empty bottle into the trash with a loud clank as it hit another empty bottle. He grabs a bag of catfood from the pantry and fills the bowl next to it. Putting the catfood away, he reaches back in and retrieves another bottle. Suddenly his own stomach gives that familiar growl of hunger.
He walks over to the desk, placing the second bottle of irish whiskey down. Walks into the bathroom and checks to make sure he isn’t a total wreck. He stares at himself for what seems like hours. Can this really what he looks like? He thinks to himself.
Rubbing his face and scratching his beard. He could probably use a shave, it’s been a few months since… come to think of it he can’t remember the last time he actually saw himself in the mirror.
Just as quickly as he looked into the mirror, he looks away, unable to really look at himself in the mirror anymore. Never really could actually. The sight of his own reflection causes too much chaos in his mind. Picking up his jacket, keys, and wallet, he shuts the door and makes sure it’s locked. He stands in hall, it smells of piss, baby shit, something someone’s cooking, and several other foul smells.
The great thing about living alone, not having to deal with other people’s shit. He steps out onto the cold snowy street of Chicago. The city is alive even at this time of the night, You can hear the clubs a few blocks over, the laughter and cheers from the bar a few doors down. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a joint, lighting it and starts down the street.
In the distance a few gun shots go off, seconds later the sirens of the police chasing follow. Screams and shouts for help, someone shouts to dial 911. He keeps his head down and just walks on. There’s no real reason to stop and rubberneck it anyway. The wind cuts through him like a swift knife. Chicago wind in the middle of winter is just amazingly cold. He loves it tho, Has since the day he moved here.
The snow piled high from the trucks, Some blocks have so much snow there are tunnels built through for the sidewalkers. He makes his way to his favorite place, picking up his dinner. Just another block and he picks up a couple of bottles of his favorite whiskey, and heads back home. When he gets there one of the alley cats is waiting on the step for him.
“Hello Murphy. How are you today?” he asks.
“Meow, mew mew.” Murphy the cat says.
“That’s good to hear bud, How are you today? It’s kind of cold for you to be out here huh?” He asks.
“Meow.” Murphy replies.
He reaches out and pets the cats head. He can feel the mange and months of outdoor living. The cat is happy, and purrs. He reaches into one of the bags and pulls out carton of milk. He looks around him, then reaches into a small hole under the stairs and pulls out a small plastic dish and pours some milk into it. He sits on the steps and decides to smoke another joint before going back in.
Murphy laps at the milk, looking up at the man to meow every few moments. He sits and smokes, across the street is a large empty parking lot. During the summer the kids use it as their play field, football, baseball, or socceer. Sometimes someone would wheel down a portable basketball hoop. Most times it ends up being filled with more adults than kids then.
People would stand around drinking and smoking, someone might bring a grill even. The big lot was a great place for everyone to hang out and drink. But tonight it’s there is an earie silence coming from it, the darkness seems deeper. He sits there, staring into the dark lot puffing at his joint. Something moves, catching his eye. He blinks and shakes it off, looking at Murphy, he picks up the plastic dish and put it into the bag, and heads back in.
He decides to stop and check the mail, nothing as usual. He isn’t surprised, he has no one left in his life that would bother to send him anything. Maybe a bill collector or the usual junk mail. Shutting the box, turns and at the end of the hallway, stands a small child. He stops and stares, he didn’t know there were any kids in the building. The kid doesn’t move, and he can’t make out the face, but he knows its a small child maybe of 6 years old.
The outer door hits him in the back almost knocking the bag out of his arm, he jumps, turns to find out whose coming in the door.
“Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there.” Says a young woman, her long reddish brown hair falls over her eyes and an orange falls out of her back, Without even a thought he reaches out and catches the orange. Her eyes meet his, shock and amazment on her face. He puts the orange into her bag and quickly runs up the stairs.
“Hey wait!” She calls out, He stops, but doesn’t turn around. “What’s your name? She asks.
“Edward.” He says. And continues to run up the stairs, she leans over to watch him out of curiousity, she listens and counts then waits for the door to close.
He reaches into his pocket nerves, panicking, his hands shaking. The keys jiggling loudly as he tries so hard to get them into the lock, turn the key, slam the door and he leans up against it. Closing his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, over and over. His eyes closed, muttering something to himself. His breathing slows and he realizes Paddy is pawing at his leg.
He looks down and takes one last deep breath. He walks over and sets the bag down on the kitchen counter. Paddy follows him and rubs up against his leg. He puts away the things he bought. He goes over and takes a look out the window, looking over the city. He takes a sip of his irish whiskey, he begins to relax. He looks down at his cat.
She lays on the floor, licking her paw and rubbing her head. She looks up and meows at him. He smiles. Looking back out the window down at the empty black lot. He takes another sip, and gets lost in thought staring at the lot. Again something in the darkness begins to move, he leans in trying to make sure he isn’t seeing something.
Again something moves in the blackness. It doesn’t have much shape but it stirs. He blinks again, even reaches up with a hand and rubs his eyes to make sure. But he sees it there in the darkness, some kind of thing growing under the surface. He doesn’t feel scared, or worried. He just stares, knowing this is all probably just in his head.
Things like that tend to happen when he tries to leave his apartment, the world doesn’t appear the same to him as everyone else. Everything around him seems to move in waves, merging together, sometimes even looks like water. He doesn’t mind so much now, over the years he has just become used to it. It doesn’t really bother him to much, he kind of likes it the way the world just seems to blur together.
Most of the time he just stays inside, its easier for him. The stress of going out and seeing the world the way he does can be hard on his mind. It’s not easy trying to always make sense of what he is seeing, things have to stay somewhat the same. He sneezes turns away from the window and goes back to watching something on TV.
Paddy jumps onto the couch next to him, and curls up in her favorite spot. He sits there, sipping his drink, flipping through the channels til he finds something worth leaving on. Tossing the remote next to him, he pulls his laptop back into his lap. Flipping through some webpages, he comes back to the blank page of his book, the cursor just blinking at him. *Blang Blang Blang* The alarm clock screams 9:00 am, Edward jumps up awake. The local new on the TV, Paddy pawing at his leg, looking for her food.
The sun is just starting to part the skyline as he looks out the window to the big lot. Thinking to himself the movements in the lot last night were just the junk in there. Rubbing his eyes, he heads for the coffee and begins his morning ritual. A few sit ups, pushups to get the blood flowing. He picks up the trash around the place, feeds Paddy. He decides that he is going to try and get out to look around today, the weather news said that it was going to be cool and dry today. Grabbing and stuffing his laptop into his bag, picking up a few other gadgets he likes to tinker with, along with several rolls of film, and his 450 Polaroid. This is his baby, made in the 70’s but still in amazing working condition.
Murphy greets him as he steps on to the front stoop, checking to make sure he has everything. He hits the streets and heads for the “L”. Chicago’s amazing transit system, There isn’t a place in Chicago you can’t get too. He grabs the “L” downtown, listening to the latest music he’s found and downloaded into his sony walkman, he finds a rhythm that helps him slip in and out of the people coming and going to or from work, or to games, events. Anything is happening in this city. He turns the corner on Canal and 89th St, begins to walk past a high rise corporate building with the 30 feet windows from the ground up.
Edward looks across the street, the traffic is moving at a steady pace, people just as packed on that street as his. He turns to walk down the street and notices out the corner of his eye. He turns, In the window is the town, The same town Jeremiah came to, and got into the fight. The whore house where Coraline took him and they spent the night together. He can’t blink his eyes won’t let him, his mind races, trying to make rational sense out of it. This is my book, This is the town in the book, the whore house. This can’t really be happening, this is just a dream I will wake up, won’t I?
Someone bumps into him, almost knocking him over. He’s forced to look away in order to catch himself. “Asshole!” He shouts.
He straightens himself and looks back to the window, remembering what he saw. But there, in the window, stands a woman in a conference room giving a speech, to a bunch of stuff suits. He looks around, still trying to find himself.
—————————————————————-
The town is quiet, every door is closed right now except for one. The church, as you get closer you can hear the people inside singing their hymn’s, And then the preacher starts to talk.
“Today I thought I’d come to you today to talk about Hope.” Father Stevens begins. “Hope is a very precious thing. It’s almost as precious as the love of God, Without either none of us would survive. Before the world turned to dust in the winds, there were tests done with babies. Some of them we left alone with very minimal human contact, Some had more than they could really use.”
“The “scientists” of this time, were cruel, they found that a child left alone most of the time, with very little human contact. Would not live for more than a few months. However, the ones that were given all the human contact they could need thrived.” Father Stevens continues. “Now this, this was not the kind of things that should be done. Ever again. But what it shows us, is that without human contact, without hope, we would die very quickly and easily.”
The congregation shouts “Amen! Praise Jesus!”
Father Stevens continues to preach raising the people’s hope for the week ahead. Knowing that there is very little hope in the world around then. They sing more, some of the congregation come up and testify. The whole church is alive with the spirit and the hope of a better tomorrow. Jeremiah stands outside down the road, knowing that no matter how hard they pray nor matter how much the preacher brings them hope, this world is not long for the present. Many towns have died out, Most of the worlds population is dead, or settled in bigger cities that have been able to thrive under lawlessness. If you were lucky enough, you’d become part of the right gang.
Jeremiah pulls out his little leather pouch and rolls him a smoke, strikes the match against the heel of his boat. Taking a few puffs, that familiar nasty taste hits his tongue, then becomes a welcomed feeling. The warm smoke, filling his lungs, and then that smooth rush of lightheadedness comes. He smiles looking up as the people spill out of their pinewood church, dressed in what one could really only consider their sunday best.
Coraline comes up to him smiling, “Good morning Mr. McGowan. How are you this fine Sunday morning?”
“Well, I am just a bit better now Miss. Bethal.” He says not really looking at her, but off in the distance. “The Pearcherman give you the strength for another week?”
“You can’t hold it against him, he means well, but you and I both know there is something wrong with this town.” She looks off into the distance he is, and says.
She reaches up and takes the rolls cig from his rough fingers, her fingers toughing his. She takes a few drags of it and give it back to him. “Something on the horizon, isn’t it?”
He nods taking a long drag, tossing it and crushing it under his boot. “Something bad, big. But not sure what it may be.” He holds out his hand for her to step up to the boardwalk.
“I’ve been speaking with some of the council members, Some of them are very interested in meeting you. It’s not often a gunslinger reaches our town, the last one came thru way before I was ever here. Would you be willing to speak with them?” She asks.
“What is it they want to speak with me about?” Jeremiah asks.
“Right now I think some of them are just very curious to meet you period. Marshall and Sunshine however, they are the town’s founding family. I believe they may try to offer you a position here in our town. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a lawman.” She look at him, and notices he grinds his teeth hearing this kind of news. “You will just thinking about it won’t you?’
“I will, just don’t let them get their hopes up, alright. Last time I accepted something like this, it didn’t end well. And that is all I say on the subject.” He says, not looking at her. They enter the tavern together for the big Sunday meal.
The towns folk enjoy being able to eat together all the time. Seems to make things easier, they know everyone gets feed this way, and no one goes without. Even Ginny, the towns oldest living resident of 118 years. Some of the younger woman and girls help take care of her, feeding her and helping her around the town. Then the farmers, can’t really call them that, since there really isn’t much that can grow in the desert, sitting together laughing and sharing stories of years long past. Then they spread out into their own little family trees. The children running around laughing and carrying on.
Coraline and Jeremiah walk in together and some of the people stop to look, but quickly go back to their meals. They walk over and pick up plates, forks, and cups, then proceed to fall in line with the others, the food is served buffet style with some options served by the chef and other cooks. Jeremiah leads her through the tables of people and children looking up at him with curiosity in their eyes. Some of the kids smile brightly, he scares a few into tears, others look on quietly possibly trying to figure out what he is really doing here. They take a table that just had a family leave. Jeremiah stacks up whats left of the dishes helping the young boy, Jeb, working hard to bus the tables as fast as they empty.
They sit across from each other and begin to enjoy their meal, the places starts to empty faster, Jeb scurries from table to table and he notices this grim look on his face. Some of the people actually try to walk through him as tho he wasn’t even there. Further still some of the older folks push him, or hit him, one man even spat at him.
“Whats wrong with him?” Jeremiah asks nodding in Jeb’s direction.
She looks up to see what he is talking about, “Oh who? Jeb? Honestly I can’t say, he just kind of showed up here from the desert one day. No one knows where he came from or why. He doesn’t speak to anyone, really doesn’t like to be touched. But he is a hard worker and Mandy is happy to have him. She scared away the bullies in town one day, she took one look into his eyes and she didn’t even have to say anything. He just came with her and started working.” She explains. “He is a good person, I think the desert did something to him or something was done to him and then left in the desert.”
“Hm.” He mutters, and goes back to eating. The two finish their meals and head back to the motel where Jeremiah has arranged to stay for awhile, Since Coraline also owns that as well.
—————————————————————
A roster crows as the sun breaks into the dark night sky, the clouds ripple as the air slowly begins to heat. The rays of sunlight flicker and fall against the barn of the Durham ranch. Men have been up for hours already, feeding the horses, letting the cattle graze in the field and doing the rest of the every day chores for a busy ranch like this one. Jeb struggles to keep up with his father Royal and Ben, his uncle. Together they run the ranch, the two men continue to talk about the many projects that need to be finished before the winter season comes.
“We need to get that new well dug before the ground freezes.” Royal says, “We also got 40 miles of fence that needs mending, and not to mention the 30 head of cattle that have gone missing, they couldn’t have just disappeared, there has to be a trail. I want you to put Weeping Willow on this, he’s out best tracker give him anything he needs.” He tells his brother some more details as they walk the the huge garage where the farm tractors are maintained. The noise is so loud it drowns out the conversation of his father and uncle.
Jeb is always curious about whats going on, so he wanders from tractor to tractor, looking at whats going on. The men say hello and talk to Jeb what they are working on. There’s Fred whose rebuilding a transmission, then there’s Tom who knows everything about mechanical stuff. He’s trying to improve the farms tractors and harvesters to run better, faster, more efficient.
They walk into the
“Alright, so who do you want to put on the fence mending?” Ben asks.
“Who hasn’t been carrying their weight around here lately?” Royal asks. “Anyone who you feel hasn’t been putting in, they get the fence job, makwe sure they got camping equipment,” he thinks for a moment, “How long you think that will take them?””well it all depends on who we put on it, what are you thinking?” Ben replies.
“Well, Round them up and then we will see where we go from there.” Royal nods. Anything else we need to discuss?”
“Some of the men have been asking about getting some time off, maybe go into the city for some fun. The ‘Autumn Harvest’ ids coming up lotta the guys are looking forward to their pay and being able to go. Something to think about.”
“Yes, very true, it is that time again isn’t it.” Royal mutters, he isn’t particularly thrilled about having to take time off from the farm. For hime its a way of life, from sun up til sun down he is always thinking and doing the work of the farm. “I will think about it more than likely I’ll hear it from the Mrs.’s tonight.”
“Aye probably, other than that, I don’t think there is anything major going on. I’ve got some minor tasks that need to be done” Ben tells him.
—————————————————————
Knock knock!!
Knock knock knock!!
Edward rolls off the couch and on to the floor, dazed for a moment, Paddy jumps on him for good measure.
KNOCK KNOCK!
“Yea! Hold on!” He shouts, hefting himself back up and tossing the blanket back onto the couch. He goes to open the door realizes he doesn’t have any pants on, grabbing the closest thing he can, a bath towel lazily left out, and wraps it around himself. Click, click, snap, thump thump, clank clank, he begins to unlock his door. He opens it the chain stops it, he looks out and sees the short blonde haired girl, she smiles and her cute buck teeth show, and her braces shine.
“He…. ” Before she can even finish the word, the door shuts. “llo?” She says.
She knocks again, “Well now I know your in there, so please don’t let me stand out here forever?” She asks.
“Wha… ” his lungs feel like they are about to collapse, “Wha.. What d d..dddoo you w ww want?” Edward stammers out as best he can. For him this is quiet possibly one of his worst nightmares.
“Well, I noticed you don’t go out a lot. I live just across from you.” She begins to say.
“Hmmm…. W.. w.. why arrrrrreee you…uuu… dooooing knocking on mmm… my d..d…d..ooor?” His mind is racing he can’t stop, everything in him wants to run and scream, Why is this person knocking!! Please just let them leave!!
“Are you alright in there?” She asks. She can hear him speaking to himself, or at least she thinks he is. “How about this, I sit down here on the floor next to your door for awhile. And we just talk. Would that be alright Edward?”
She said my name! How did she know my name! Paranoia starts to makes it presence known through the madness of his racing mind. “H..h..how do y..y..you know my name?” He asks afraid of what the answers may be. Is this real? Edward starts to question whether he has taking his meds today or not. He slaps his head, muttering to himself.
She chuckles to herself. “You told me the other day remember? I bumped you, I dropped some stuff out of my bag and you caught it all. How did you do that by the way?” she asks.
“D.. d.. don’t know.” He stammers again. “W… w.. why arrree y..y..you sitting at m.. m.. my door?” He asks her.
“Between me you and the door. I don’t know. You seemed like a really nice guy and so I baked you some cookies. To say thank you and to meet you.” She says.
“Y…y… you w…w…want to come in?!” He ask in surprise.
“Only if you want me to Edward. If not, I will just leave these cookies here, and whoever wants them can have them.” she says with a smile.
“N… N… No you no coming in..” His voice begins to fill with anger. “No never let anyone in, Never let anyone in.” He begins to repeat over and over.
“It’s okay Edward, I understand, I have my fears too.” She says, she stands but leaves the cookies by the door. “I’ll leave these here, and you can get them when you want. Okay?”
“Y… y… yess please go now, go now… no more talk.” Edward says.
She smiles, and walks back into her apartment and shuts the door. She turns around and watches from her peep hole, the door opens a crack, then closes, opens a crack again and closes. She smiles and just watches, this poor man going through this ritual. She can’t think of what it must be like to live in his world, but there is a feeling in her, that she is supposed to be here to help him, or be in his world. Finally after what seems like forever the door opens and she sees him, holding his cat tightly to him, watching him whisper to her, she tries to hard not to say “awww” but she can’t help it.
Edward looks up, directly into her peep hole. She pulls back and gasps, He keeps looking. Did he hear me she thinks, She leans in to look again. She jumps but catches the scream in her throat as she realizes she is looking directly into his eye trying to see in. She holds back the laughter, watching this man, this man who seems to fear the world around him, look into her peep hole as tho he really sees something, then turn around grab the plate of cookies and slam the door behind him. She opens and listens as he starts the process of locking his door again.
He finishes locking the door and leans against it, his heart feels as tho its about to jump into his eye balls. She is out to get me I know it, he thinks to himself. He sniffs the plate of cookies, takes them over to the kitchen table and pulls the wrap off them. He puts Paddy down on the table too, she goes over to investigate the plate of cookies. She sniffs and sniffs, gives them a lick or two, and then like most cats, just losses interest in them. She lays down on the table and starts to lick a paw and rub her ear. Edward kneels down inspecting the plate and talking to Paddy.
“She is trying to poison me isn’t she, Paddy?” He asks. The cat looks up and then goes right back to grooming. “Why would she, How could she know, I even liked cookies? She’s hacked my brain hasn’t she, Paddy?”
“Meoow” Paddy says.
“No no that can’t be it, why would she try to do that. There would be no gain for her. What is she after, my books?” Edward ponders, walking over to the fridgerator, reaching for the gallon of milk and finding the small brown vile of LCD still in the door. “Oooh. I forgot I left this in here.” He picks up the vile, unscrews the dropper, tilting his head back and squeezes two drops one in each eye. “We are gonna have some fun tonight,” He says to Paddy. “Yes we are!” He sets the milk down and pours a glass, pouring it to the top and begins to eat them without fear. Paddy jumps down and goes off to her own lil world.
Edward sits there eating the cookies, still talking with himself, pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what the girl next store is after.
The Stained Glass Shroom 