The red hot sun was bearing down on the barren earth. A crowd of men stood off in the distance as a dark figure sat on his black stallion studying the group atop a ridge. The crowd was separated into two distinct groups facing each other in a stand-off. Curiosity got the mysterious figure so he headed down the ridge towards the two groups that were in a stalemate against each other.
As he slowly pulled up to the group, they turned to see who in their right mind would get in the middle of their altercation. They peered at the shadowy figure whose face was hidden by the shadow created by the brim of his worn black hat. A rough looking cowboy stepped out of one group towards the dark figure, “It might be smart for you to get on”, he recommended.
A grin crept across the figures face, “Now why would I do that? I happen to love me a good gun fight.” At hearing this comment the two groups all turned their attention to the new stranger that had come upon them. “Are you looking to take your last breath today?” the cowboy questioned. The dark figure chuckled at this, making the cowboy increasingly mad. The cowboy moved his hand to his gun, “Sure you want to do that?” the dark figure quickly remarked.
The cowboy’s face went from a slight pink to a bright glowing red. He screamed, “Get off that horse and let’s settle this like men!” The hostile crowd that had been separated all moved together as the tables had turned and they found themselves all with a common enemy for the moment. The grim figure slowly stepped off of his horse, “Sure you want to settle this, might not turn out so well for you?”
“What are you, scared?!” the cowboy screamed. Seeing that the cowboy was on edge, the dark figure prepared for the assault that he could only assume was coming. As he started to turn from his steed, he caught out of the corner of his eye that the cowboy was standing, gun pulled, ready to fire. The dark figure quickly spun towards the cowboy but wasn’t fast enough as he had already fired off his first shot.
The bullet hit the dark figure in the left shoulder. The pain made him grit his teeth and then rage filled his body. In one fluid and lightning fast motion, the figure stood straight up from his hunch after taking the bullet and whipped out his black pistol. By the time the crowd took notice, smoke was trailing from the nose of the grim figure’s pistol and the cowboy now laid flat on the ground.
Hands dropped from the handles of their pistols as the crowd had realized they wanted nothing to do with this mysterious stranger that brought a darkness into their lives. Seeing this, the figure cautiously holstered his pistol and slowly made his way over to the cowboy but still with his eyes on the crowd.
He stepped up to where the cowboy lied, gasping for each breath. “I guess you are the one that will be taking their last breath today”, grimly said the figure. Soon after the remark, the cowboy’s chest stopped moving and his heart would beat no more. At the sight of this, a chilling silence filled the air and the dark figure began to make his way back to his horse that had meandered looking for some grass. The crowd was in shell shock due to how the events had unfolded in front of them. All of them just stood still as stone in the hopes that they didn’t offend the grim figure in some way.
When figure reached his horse, he gave one last glance to the frozen crowd to see if anyone else was feeling brave. Seeing that there were no other contestants, the cowboy climbed up onto the horse and got comfortable in his saddle. He picked up the reigns to his black stallion and started to head off towards the horizon with no destination in mind, leaving the grim aftermath behind.
