"George, when we gonna tend 'em rabbits?" Lennie asked, walking alongside the short man as he tilted his head.
"When we get a damn job. Shut up now." George mumbled back, lowering his eyes.
They were walking along the Salinas river, shoulder to shoulder. The grass rooted itself up high against the sand. Birds flew from different areas, pecking at certain rocks. The clouds moved silently above, with an occasional wind passing by. The two men were walking to their next job, the new ranch they were gonna work at. George wouldn't have wanted to keep walking all day if it wasn't for Lennie's blabbering.
"Tell em how you told it to me George. Tell em!" Lennie said excitedly, his eyes shining brightly in the sun that patched itself perfectly in the middle of the sky.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up already?" George glared at him. He stuffed a hand in his pocket.
"But.. George. Ain't you gonna tell me 'bout how we... how we tended the rabbits, George? How 'bout the..." Lennie thought long and hard for a moment, his brows furrowing.
"How 'bout the farm George? Tell 'em how we had a stove, and dogs. Tell 'em George!"
"Why don't 'chu tell 'em since you're always talkin' bout it?" George snapped, turning his head to the taller fellow.
Lennie looked down silently for a moment before smiling innocently at George. "Because you always tell 'em good Geroge. An' I wanna hear you talk 'bout it."
George rolled his eyes and kept his silence with him. He had gotten enough of this mindless chatter for hours now. He even tried giving Lennie a dead mouse, but nothing worked to shut him up.
"George?" Lennie then asked. "George!"
"What!" George scowled, his face hardening even more than it already has.
"...How about the story, George? How about the farm?"
"I already told you to shut the hell up, you crazy bastard!" George hit Lennie against his arm.
Lennie whimpered, but stayed silent after a while. The two men were walking continuously, the tension staying high between them. The heatwave then kicked in, and George took a stop as he went and sat against a rock, placing his hat on the top. Lennie saw this, and did the same. Lennie twiddled his thumbs as he asked, "What we doin' waitin' out here, George?"
"It's too hot out there to continue walkin', that's why."
"But... how 'bout the rabbits George?"
"To hell with the rabbits! You could go on walking a marathon for all I care! Burn ou' in the sun!" George waved his hand in the open area, staring at Lennie hard, before turning his gaze away again.
Lennie put his head down, and looked ahead. He then put his hand in his pocket. "George..." He finally said.
"What!" George was growing angrier by the second, his face now turning red with hatred. "What could be so important for you to keep wastin' my time like this!"
"I... I lost my mouse George. I ain't got no mice left."
George stared at him in disbelief as he suddenly turned around, kicking the rock behind him as full force. He kicked the sand, and threw his hat a few feet away from him as he sat down in defeat. He put his hands on his knees. He looked like he was gonna say something, but did not say anything in return. Lennie stared and got a bit startled but kept still.
"Are ya gonna give me hell George?" Lennie asked. "I.. I could leave ya alone, George. Y-yer right... to hell with the rabbits... I-I could go live in a cave an' have ketchup with beans....a-an'..."
"Lennie." George pulled up his shirt a bit, revealing his belt which carried a gun in the pocket. He pulled it out, as he stood up.
Lennie stared at it, as his face grew confused. "W-whatchu gonna do with that lugger, George..?"
George grabbed his hat, putting it on. He pulled it over his eyes, and said, "You could go to hell with the rabbits." And shot him.
The bullet perfectly went through Lennie's chest, as he fell to the ground, his head hitting a rock behind him. He started flopping like a fish, as he tried saying something, but George pulled the trigger a second time. Lennie's body then lay still, as George finally dropped the gun to the ground. He then cried, his face in his hands. The sounds of the shots echoed through the open skies, remaining a death to be remembered only by the birds.
