A Beautiful Western Story

Chapter 1: A Bandit With No Name

       This story begins on a cool night somewhere in Arizona, an old man and his grandkids sit around a campfire.

"Grandpa? Can you tell us that story you used to tell mom when she was a kid? She told us it was cool" the boy says eagerly.

"Oooo yes yes Grandpa, please tell it," the girl says jumping up and down.

"Bueno bueno, siéntense (alright alright sit down)" the grandpa says, leaning back on his chair, "if you want me to tell you this story you have to promise to just listen, it's a bit lengthy so be ready" the grandpa takes a stick and puts it in the fire.

"We promise," the grandkids say.

"Okay, let's begin" the grandpa clears his throat.
   
This story is called A Beautiful Western Story. It all started back in 1904, the times were changing, and any outlaws still running around were being caught left and right. There was this bandit, who this bandit is, you don't need to know. He stole, he raided, but the times were catching up. He was growing tired of running from the law. One night, he's riding on his horse, his clothes bloody from being shot at. On the back of his horse he had a lot of money bags filled with thousands of dollars, he hops off his horse and leans on a dead tree in the middle of a desert. He lights a small fire and watches as the fire burns the wood. He goes to his horse and takes out a guitar. He takes a moment to tune it, then begins to sing old songs he and his posse used to sing back when life was a whole lot simpler. As he plays he begins to imagine his old posse all around him singing along with him. He closes his eyes and gets lost in the song, so once the song comes to an end, he realizes no one is there. This bandit wasn't the last one left, he was just as he put it, "an idiot trying to make it". A few members of his posse had abandoned the gang for a better life, but the majority of the gang was either hanged, shot, or died of some disease. The leader of the posse was Buck Rodgers, a stubborn, old soul who thought his gang the Rodgers Boys gang were gonna take The West back from its advancing times. The unnamed bandit saw him die right in front of him, why? The stubborn man thought they could rob a bank in a developed city only to get shot in the head. Some other members also got killed that day. Shot or hanged later on. The bandit was the only one to escape. He later found out the reason their heist failed was because one of the members ratted them out to the sheriff in hopes of being let go. That fool, he was promised his freedom only to be hunted down and hanged for his crimes anyway. After that incident, the bandit had decided to stop stealing, that was years ago. Times were tough so the bandit stole to survive. He tried to rob a train, came out with a couple of money bags, but was blasted and left with tons of bullet holes in him. Luckily, none of them killed him. He figured the best way to cure the pain was to drink away his sorrows so he threw sand on the fire, hopped back on his horse, and made his way to the nearest town. He hid the money somewhere on his horse and tried his best to hide the blood on his clothes. He spent hours at the bar drinking the entire night away. The pianist started playing a dancing tune and many people started dancing. He was drunk as a skunk so he began to dance as well. Across the bar near the stairs stood a woman wearing a pink dress. She signals the bandit to approach her, his eyes lit up as he made his way to her, something in his mind told him no and he stopped himself. He had a memory of the many women he had been with, how he broke their hearts because he just didn't care. He came back to reality and just went back to the bar. A man sat beside him smoking a thick cigar.

"You look familiar to me, partner," says the man.

"You must be confusing me with someone else, mister," the bandit says.

"Oh! of course, yous one of them Rodgers Boys ain't ya?" the man turns to the bandit with a smile, "them sheriff want a pretty penny for you, boy" the
man chuckles.

"Let me tell you something mister, you're better off watching your mouth in front of me, if you really think you know me, then you know what I do." The bandit says leaning close to the man.

"You gonna kill me partna'? In front of all these good folk here?" The man puts out his cigar and pulls out a long knife.

"I'm warning you, amigo" the bandit puts his hand on his gun.

"Dah! You greasers(racial slur for Mexicans) are all the same, buncha no good criminals" the man puts his knife away.

"It's been a pleasure cabron(asshole)" the bandit stands up and stumbles out of the bar with a bottle in his hand.

He stumbled around so much he ended up falling in the mud. He gets back up swearing under his breath, then chugs the bottle dry and hops on his horse. "I'm so drunk, he probably could've killed me," the bandit says to himself. He clicks his tongue and his horse starts to gallop. He passes by some men with horses, standing near the gun store. One of the men reaches in his horse's saddlebag and pulls out a rolled-up piece of paper. He unrolls it to reveal a wanted poster for someone, the name had worn off the poster, you could see an "R". The poster read, "Wanted Dead or Alive, "R", Mexican, black hair, black mustache, last seen wearing black clothing, last seen in Georgia, part of the Rodgers Boys Gang, Reward 20,000 dollars". The man lets out a small laugh.

"My my my, I think we got ourselves the greaser. Boys, let's get this bounty!" the man rolls up the paper and hops on his horse. The other men do the same, the man with the scroll pulls on his reigns and gives one loud "Hiya!" to the others and together they ride out behind the bandit.

"Now, it's getting late, how about we continue this story another night. Estoy cansado(I'm tired). The grandpa says to the kids yawning.

"Abuelo no(grandpa no)! You have to tell us the story, what is the bandit gonna do?" The boy says.

"Ten paciencia mijo(be patient son), wait for another night, look your sister is falling asleep" the grandpa points to the girl.

"I still want to hear it," the girl says rubbing her eyes.

"And you will, but we have to sleep for now," the grandpa says.

And so the grandpa picks up a shovel and pours dirt on the fire and the family goes inside their home.

To be continued...