As Westerns Go
The dirty saloon fell silent as a dark mountain of a man blustered through the swinging doors. With heavy strides he came to the bar and surveyed the motley…
A Goodbye Of Sorts
Bella approached the boy with trepidation. He was sitting up on the jailhouse roof, looking off into the distance. He looked thin and small, like a baby bird…
Western Swing...
The dusty cowpoke set his hat on the bar and ordered up a drink, was about to pound it back when he heard the salon doors open. Not turning to even see who it…
Unrepentant Arithmetic
The sheriff sauntered toward the dark farmhouse with his thumbs in his gun-belt. He looked over one shoulder, then the other, at the rows of armed men who had…
Yulie the Slick's Bounty
Yulie the Slick was a wanted man in the Town of Razorock. Six rangers were on his tail. Yulie had climbed a cliff no horse could ride up. The rangers would…
Showdown in the End Times
The octopus-headed man looked at her with its large, inky black pupil-less eyes. It held a gun in every single one of its tentacles. “Do you truly think you…
A Deal
The demon harrumphs. “So either I take your unwilling soul or lead you to the One you seek and get nothing at all. That does not sound like a good deal.” Tom…
off the path
“What do we do?” Tom whispers, zipping up his pants, watching the eyes. “Ow! Sonofa-” he yelps, catching himself in his zipper. The eyes leap at the noise…
Who Needs a Sermon?
From the floor Sid let out a noise, somewhere between a moan and an inarticulate cursing of either his bad luck, Randon’s uncouth nature, or both. The preacher…
The Horizon, Hens, and a Fool
The horizon taunted me, far enough to be uncertain, close enough to be dangerous. Back and forth my eyes swept looking for anything. Birds would rustle if they…
Transfiguration
He was riding his motorcycle on a bright summer day when he first saw the ineluctable. He was roaring down a lonely stretch of highway and a field of…
The End Part 4
The five men took a step back on instinct, but soon recovered and raised their rifles to take aim. He raised his pistol, which in truth wasn’t his having taken…
The End Part 3
He was looking paler and paler as more sweat poured from him to wash away the old, staining clothes that felt heavier and heavier on his body as the minutes…
The End part 2
He pulled a rumpled pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and bit one out, realizing too late that he didn’t have a lighter anymore. He willed his sore…
The End part 1
Luke sat down amongst the newly dead and leaned back against the crumbling stone wall, its bullet scars a testament to the recent battle. Bits of grimy plaster…
Black Hood
Dang, my neck itches. I bobbed my head left and right, trying to scratch. It would be a lot easier if my hands weren’t tied behind my back. At least that…
Brinniger's Brag
I could have been a cowboy. I could have rode a quarterhorse and sung to dogies late at night when the full moon glowed and the coyotes howled the lonesome…
Wagon's Rest
The outline of a stranger could be seen from a ways out. The setting sun silhouetted him like some shadow creeping in off the prairie to Wagon’s Rest, the last…
Going After the Rustlers
Johnny’s hands clenched into tight fists around the horse’s reins. He fought not to let the tears in his eyes drop, turning his face down so the old man in the…
Few Choices in Dark Hell
A foul smelling dust choked his gasps. A wash of heat replaced the sudden chill. A dull ache remained, just by his heart, a heart he could swear wasn’t beating…