The Broken Rifle
Copyright© 2024 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 15
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, (That’s literal ... the cabin IS on a ranch.) the rifle was lonely ... stuck in the secret closet with no visitors ... not even the mice, rats and roaches that used to visit in the tunnel. The roaches were at least friendly ... until there was nothing left to eat. When dead Jason had nothing left to snack on...
Some people think that inanimate objects cannot carry a curse. That the object must be imbued with human qualities ... so ... the rifle, he, sorta had a soul ... at the bare minimum, awareness ... situational awareness.
He knew the buyer was defunct. The rifle also knew it wasn’t his fault. Somebody had fucked with him. Had messed with his innards ... even left filings in his works.
The works ‘fuckerwith’ didn’t have a presence ... a physical presence anyway. But ... she did whistle while she worked. Seemed to enjoy what she was doing. The happy whistle was accompanied with darkness... revenge and duty and a touch of obedience. Not a single drop of regret though. It was a pleasure, a chore out of the way.
Fulfillment.
Until next time.
But ... she had been noticed ... always nice to be noticed. And there was the joy of her witch when the task was complete.
The J&S Hawken may have liked the company, she was gone too sudden. Not even a, “It was nice fuckin’ wid ya, bud.” on leaving.
Over the years, after even the roaches stopped stopping-by, he would have been grateful for the company.
When the collapse had covered the tunnel mouth, he missed the light. When the quasi flood washed away part of the base and began the long slow reveal the sliver of light was welcome. The first reveal wasn’t enough to attract the hunter but the message sent, ‘you need to look at that crack,’ was remembered years later. He heard the struggle of boots in the wrack and ruin of the fall and hoped for companionship again. The climb of the climber uncovered more of the gap.
More light.
Boots on the wall and the thud of the jump excited him.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.