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Overdue
3Gun closed the door
And approached the counter
Harriet looked up and smiled
'Welcome back, Sheriff.
Was county a success?'
"For some, I guess.
What's this I hear about you and Strop?
And you carryin' a gun, that has to stop.'
'I guess you know the story about his murdered wife
and how it's plagued him for a lot of his life.'
'I do and how it's turned out. I'm happy for you,
Harriet, and wish you both the best.
But the gun business needs to be put to rest.'
'You know why I carry. When I first arrived I told you.'
'I do and then it was okay,
but this is now, another day.
You've settled in
and by all signs you've found a beau.
Time you let the bad past go.'
'Why are you so strict about guns in town?'
'Because of all the bad things I've seen go down.
Folks don't need guns to get along.
And thinkin' they do is just wrong.
Trust me, Harriet for a very long time
I've had to live by mine
and the taste it leaves you don't want,
bad dreams and memories that haunt.'
'My memories are just as bad
from all the misery that I've had.'
'I know but preventin' those memories is my job now.
It's what I'm paid to do
so folks don't have to suffer them
. . . folks like you.
Keep the gun here and not on the street,
the need you have will soon be beat.'
3Gun tipped his hat and left the shop
Next stop, barber Strop.
YOU ARE READING
Busted Gulch Volume 12
AdventureA stranger has come to Busted Gulch hoping to exploit the town. Will he succeed or will his past stand in his way. Come read Busted Gulch vol 12 a Western story told by a collaboration of authors and poets from around the globe in poetry and prose...
