Showdown - Another 250 word short story by Jack Petree

Showdown 

Arizona Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens

 

The Kid and I had drawn against each other a thousand times; this would be the last.

Fate playing out on a dusty street.  

Growing up together, the Kid had always been the wild one and I’d always been the straight shooter.  Today, only one of us would walk away alive.

From the beginning he’d always been just that tiny bit faster than me, whether with the carved out wooden guns we’d used when we were little, or with the cast off Civil War revolvers we’d managed to beg, borrow, or steal in our youth.  The memory rested, uneasy, in the back of my mind as I prepared for today’s work.

Different from one another as night is to day, we’d been tighter than most natural brothers.  We were that still but, he remained the wild one and I was still the straight shooter; too late to change that!

The Kid left home first, blazing a trail of death, theft, and destruction through three territories.  When it came to gun work no one was faster, or more willing.

I’d gone in to the lawman’s trade, deputy for too short a time and now, town marshal; courtesy of the Kid and his fast gun.

No words.  It was past time for conversation.

I felt the tug of the burning bullet on my shirt sleeve.  The Kid crumpled to the ground; dead.  He’d been faster than me.  But then, he’d always been the wild one; and I’d always been the straight shooter.

Twas the Night Before Election

Everyone needs to have a little fun now and then.  Here's a bit of political poetry.  I'm hoping to have a book of political poetry out next year but then I hoped that last year too.  

Anyway, enjoy.

 

The Ballad Of The Vagrant Voter - 2016

T’was the night of election and all through the day,

Voters filled out their ballots; “An obligation,” they say.

The mailings were done, the attack ads were launched,

In hopes partisan voters remained ever staunch;

Party faithful were seated before celebratory spreads, 

While visions of appointments danced in their heads;

When from the television there arose such a chatter,

All sprang to the screen to see what was the matter.

The pundits had spoken, the polls had been taken;

But something was wrong, the press was forsaken.

Despite all predictions the voters expressed ire;

“How could this have happened? Who lit this huge fire?”

On LAUER, on PELLY, on WILLIAMS and KOPPEL;

On KELLY, on BLITZER, this trend we must topple.

It’s time to unite, show the power of TV;

The polls are still open in the far West you see!

And then in a twinkling all noticed the proof;

The maps clearly showing, the people had goofed.

The underdog candidate; he who could not win;

Had dealt the anointed a blow to the chin.

The results were announced with many a tear,

The pundits pronounced, “Now we’ll all live in fear,”

Then strode to the podium, the person of note;

Basked in the results of a big electoral vote.

His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the color round his eyes was as white as the snow.

“Now you’ll see the economy come back with a roar;

We’ll get people working, that’s a help to the poor.

We’ll roll back the taxes, build infrastructure;

You’ll all find life better, under this, my ducture.”

Pundits still wonder how this all had occurred;

The truth of the matter? The opponent was lured.

Disaster? Apocalypse? Perhaps even worses;

Resulting in hubris and on then, to voter curses!

 

Pay It Forward

Indian On The Sound - 1895

The old Indian wrapped himself in the trade blanket; his most prized possession.  Over and over he mumbled his death song; struggling towards the cave he’d found as a young man.  The last of his tribe, the old man had buried his grandson, skin eroded with pustules, just hours ago.

Finally reaching the well-hidden high mountain cave the old man expended the last of his strength  crawling inside.  He discarded the blanket despite the bitter cold, chanting his death song one final time.   

Seventeen decades later the young couple enjoying the last adventure vacation of the summer found the cave.

“Look Ken!  There’s something inside!”

“It looks like an old dead person!  Don’t touch it.  I think it’s been here for a very long time.  We’ll report to the ranger station when we get back down the mountain.”

“Look at this blanket!  It’s so beautiful.  He’s got no use for it anymore.  I want it!”  Donna wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and twirled.  “Let’s take it along.”

“Ok, but only until we rejoin the group.  We’ll give it to the park ranger on the way down.”

The blanket was a sensation.  All the girls in the international tour group wanted a picture. They posed, wearing the ancient artifact; boyfriends draping arms causally around the girl’s shoulders.

At the airport there were goodbye hugs all round then everyone hurried to catch flights to home towns all over the world. 

The Mayo Clinic, 2018; “No cure, or treatment for smallpox exists.”

To Sooth The Savage Breast

The young man played, unaware of the hundreds of watchers in the nearby wood.  The boy’s fingers flew as he skillfully sent the intricate harmonies of the mouth harp floating off into the ether.  


The boy had worked all summer on the instrument, carefully selecting just the right bone from the dead animal he’d found in the forest, drying the bone under the hot sun, then splitting and carving the dissected result; itself a delicate operation he’d worked at for weeks, to the disdain of the men and other boys of the village. 

In the wood Attila, “the scourge of all lands,” stood, entranced by the intricate melodies coming from the tiny village before him.  Beside him the horses and men of the horde shifted silently, eager for the signal.  The village was too insignificant to put up much of a fight; the battle should be over in minutes, the men dead, the plunder and the women on their way back to the evening camp to be enjoyed; the food consumed, the treasures meted out, the women left for dead in the morning as the horde moved on.

Finally, Attila lifted his hand, signaling a withdrawal, not the sign the men had anticipated.  The horde withdrew, confused but, unquestioning.

Once away, Attila’s officers crowded about, puzzlement in their eyes.  “This village is under my protection,” he said, offering no explanation.

In the village father had had enough.  “Stop that caterwauling,” he demanded, crushing the instrument underfoot.  “I’ve heard Attila’s about!”

Free 250 Word Short Story...

Wait! There’s A Hair In My Soup!

Or

Fowl Play

The call logged in at 10 o’clock.  When I showed up the paramedics were just leaving.   “Looks like blunt force trauma,” one of them said, “Someone wacked him good.”

Mary Weber, Fred’s wife, said she’d been making the bed when she heard shouting and then a slamming door.

It was hard to keep my mind on the questions I needed to ask; the delicious smell of soup on the boil wafted through the house.  Mary said she’d chucked a whole frozen chicken into a pot with water and spices then left Fred reading the morning paper while she tended to neatening the bedroom.  “Fred never helped me no matter how poorly I felt,” she sniffed.  “Now I’ll never get to tell him I’m sorry for the terrible things I shouted at him.”

“Blunt force trauma,” the Medical Examiner confirmed.  “Someone nailed him hard up alongside the head.”

“Any sign of a weapon?”

“No, but look for something rounded and hard enough to crush a skull; I’d say maybe about six inches in diameter.”

I hated to leave Mary in the kitchen.  Damn that soup smelled good!

An hour’s search yielded no weapon. 

Mary had made a remarkable recovery, even offered me some soup.  “Best I’ve ever made,” she smiled.  Then came the frown.  “Oh, look, it’s awful!  There’s a hair in my soup!” 

It hit me an hour later.  Mary had long, flowing locks.  The hair she’d spooned from the soup and washed down the sink was short; like Fred’s.

Thin Kerf Band Sawmilling - A Carbon Reduction Giant

How much fun is it to get to write a book with your son about a huge environmental enhancement he is deeply involved in; thin kerf band sawmilling.  Here's the proposed cover:

You might not own a thin kerf, band sawmill but, if you're interested in practical environmental enhancements you'll like the following "sample story" written so users of the book (sawmill owners) can, without having to write something for themselves, tell others through the medium of the press, about the benefits they are bringing to community in operating a small sawmill business.

We expect to have the book available within the next 30 days.

 

Thin Kerf Sawmilling – An Environmentally Friendly Harvest

“Kerf” is the thickness of the cut a saw blade makes as it passes through wood fiber when lumber is milled.  The ratio of usable lumber to sawdust generated in sawmill operations has a direct relationship to kerf.  Thinner kerfs yield more lumber and generate less sawdust from a given volume of wood fiber.  Over the past quarter century very thin kerf, band sawmills, like those operated by (your business name here) capable of being operated by one or two people have become increasingly important tools in the worldwide quest to achieve numerous environmental goals commonly held to be of value by both governments and peoples of this earth. 

The environmental advantages of thin kerf sawmilling are substantial and demonstrable.  As just one example, former United States Forest Service researcher, Stephen Bratkovich of the Service’s  Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry division, found, based on a study in Missouri that, “We could save the equivalent of 69 million trees annually,” based on the increase in recovery efficiency thin kerf sawmilling offers.  Those unharvested trees, according to Bratkovich at the time of the study, would continue to absorb about 900,000 tons of carbon dioxide and produce about 650,000 tons of oxygen each year as they continue to grow.  Similar studies at sawmills in other places, including Russia, have produced similar findings.

From an environmental standpoint the source of much of the lumber sawn on thin kerf equipment is more important than the quantity.  Sawmills operated by companies like (your name) are more

often than not milling high quality lumber from logs and other tree parts

conventional sawmills cannot, or will not, accept – lumber that would, absent the services of a thin kerf sawmill, be left in the woods to rot, be turned into firewood, or otherwise under utilized.

Numerous Benefits Create Important Environmental Enhancements

Since even small changes in the atmospheric carbon balance are believed by some to have significant impacts on the earth’s climate, portable sawmills can, and do, play an important role in some of the carbon mitigation strategies many believe to be critical in reducing atmospheric carbon.  Some of the reduction strategies thin kerf mills have proved to be invaluable in pursuing include:

Thin Kerf Sawmilling – An Environmentally Friendly Harvest

“Kerf” is the thickness of the cut a saw blade makes as it passes through wood fiber when lumber is milled.  The ratio of usable lumber to sawdust generated in sawmill operations has a direct relationship to kerf.  Thinner kerfs yield more lumber and generate less sawdust from a given volume of wood fiber.  Over the past quarter century very thin kerf, band sawmills, like those operated by (your business name here) capable of being operated by one or two people have become increasingly important tools in the worldwide quest to achieve numerous environmental goals commonly held to be of value by both governments and peoples of this earth. 

The environmental advantages of thin kerf sawmilling are substantial and demonstrable.  As just one example, former United States Forest Service researcher, Stephen Bratkovich of the Service’s  Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry division, found, based on a study in Missouri that, “We could save the equivalent of 69 million trees annually,” based on the increase in recovery efficiency thin kerf sawmilling offers.  Those unharvested trees, according to Bratkovich at the time of the study, would continue to absorb about 900,000 tons of carbon dioxide and produce about 650,000 tons of oxygen each year as they continue to grow.  Similar studies at sawmills in other places, including Russia, have produced similar findings.

From an environmental standpoint the source of much of the lumber sawn on thin kerf equipment is more important than the quantity.  Sawmills operated by companies like (your name) are more

often than not milling high quality lumber from logs and other tree parts

conventional sawmills cannot, or will not, accept – lumber that would, absent the services of a thin kerf sawmill, be left in the woods to rot, be turned into firewood, or otherwise under utilized.

Numerous Benefits Create Important Environmental Enhancements

Since even small changes in the atmospheric carbon balance are believed by some to have significant impacts on the earth’s climate, portable sawmills can, and do, play an important role in some of the carbon mitigation strategies many believe to be critical in reducing atmospheric carbon.  Some of the reduction strategies thin kerf mills have proved to be invaluable in pursuing include:

Substituting wood products for more energy intensive products and reducing demand for energy in growing timber, harvesting timber, and wood processing;

Reducing carbon emissions in wildfires;

Afforestation of marginal crop land and pasture to forest, reducing conversion of forest land to non-forest use, and increased agroforestry;

Improved forest and habitat management;

Reduced harvest in healthy forests; 

Increasing the proportion and retention of carbon in durable wood products;

Allows landowners of all financial means to affordably manage their land to achieve both environmental enhancements and financial goals.

Affordable thin kerf, portable, sawmills were perfected and brought to market about the same time companies like Microsoft and Apple began their corporate lives.  In the intervening years sawmills like the one (your name) utilizes to mill lumber, millwork, timbers, and other forest products have become widely recognized as being one of the most significant of all locally based tools in achieving greenhouse gas emission reductions as well as national, regional and local goals for waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.