The dust from the last car to drive through the crossroads had settled days before the rusty pickup rumbled to a halt across from the El Camino.
'Did you remember to bring it?" questioned the crooked, weathered old man in the cowboy hat, as he stepped out of his truck and hobbled over to meet the man wearing the torn, blue baseball cap.
The dirty hand holding out the offering betrayed the sarcastic "No, I forgot this time.", which spat out from between tobacco stained teeth.
The man in the cowboy hat slowly reached out his gnarled hand, took what was offered, studied it long, hard, and silently, then slipped it in the pocket of his worn denim.
"I won't be back" he offered, staring intently at the frayed design sewn onto the toe of his battered cowboy boot, but his whispered words were lost in the roar of the engine and the scattering of gravel as the El Camino pulled away.
Kathy, what an awesome tale. Interesting take on the word prompt. I can see that gnarled hand reaching for the offering and feel his sorrow as he accepts it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb! This week's prompt was difficult for me. This was the first story that popped into my head from the prompt, but I wasn't sure anyone else would get the relation to "angle". I kept trying to come up with something else, but this was the story that wanted to come out.
DeleteI really appreciate your input. I'm glad to know you felt the sorrow of the old man as deeply while reading the story as I felt the sorrow while writing it.