The Bettermost Drabblefest: Please Join In!

[MaineWriter]

July 31, 1976
Lazy L Farm, Quanah, TX

“Daddy, I’m bored.” Jenny looked up at her father from her seat on the porch floor.

“Yer bored, you can come give me a hand in the stable.”

“Okay,” she said, jumping to her feet.

Ennis and his daughter walked to the stable together, the girl practically running to keep up with her father’s long strides. “Daddy,” she said breathlessly, “tell me about how ya met Uncle Jack.”

Ennis stopped abruptly and looked at her. “I told ya before. It was the summer we was herdin sheep together, up on Brokeback Mountain.”

“Did ya know you were gonna fall in love?”

“Sweetheart, that came outta the clear blue sky, I didn’t have a clue.”

She smiled as her father ruffled her hair. “Is he the same as he was then?”

Ennis nodded. “Yeah, I think. Still makes the same stupid jokes.” He laughed to himself. “Why would ya think he’d change?”

“Well, you changed, Daddy.”

“What d’ya mean? I’m the same old daddy I always was.”

Jenny shook her head. “No yer not. Yer smilin and happy now but in the old days, you were a super grouch.” Her hand flew to cover her mouth as she said this, her eyes widening. Jennifer Del Mar, she thought to herself, yer gonna get a whuppin now.

Ennis paused and looked at her, a sad look on his face. “That’s cuz, darlin, back then, I thought I was scapin the bottom a the barrel.” He paused. “I didn’t know a whole other full barrel was waitin for me.”

“A barrel a what?” she asked. “Monkeys?”

Ennis laughed. “Somedays he feels like a monkey but no, sweetheart, I got me a barrel a Jack. Now, c’mon,” he said, grabbing her hand and resuming his long legged stride. “Those horses ain’t gonna feed themselves.”

(308 words)

[mariez]

I got me a barrel a Jack.

    That he does.  I'm so happy the boys are talking to you again, L.

Marie

[ifyoucantfixit]

                        interlude

      " Let me make this clear Jack ," Ennis said.  "We're scrapin the bottom of the barrel here.  There ain't no more food left sept the beans!!  We got beans, and more beans."  "Well beans is the most boring food god ever made.  Jus about anything else would be better.  Don't we have no other stuff left?"  "Well we got some of those mountain oysters you brung with ya." " Well that would be ok if we had somethin else to go with."  "I ain't eating them goddamned things."  "Well I got some related things you could chew on if you like."  "Jack fucking Twist, you are a bad man."  "Hee hee."

106wds

[mariez]

"Well I got some related things you could chew on if you like."  "Jack fucking Twist, you are a bad man."  "Hee hee."

  OMG, Janice, that's priceless.  You are something else!

Thanks!
Marie

[Cameron]

The Dark Road

(July 1986)
The night was clear and dark.  Tom was driving, Ennis was sitting beside him, with his hand on Tom’s thigh, the duffel bag in his lap.  He sat there looking out of the window, watching it all pass by him.

“Hey, you okay?  Hope ya not getting real bored” Tom said.

Ennis turned to him, but he didn’t say anything.  He shook his head and squeezed Tom’s knee.  Tom smiled, and gently patted Ennis’s hand.

“Can’t believe ya never left Wyoming before, didn’t you ever want to? Tom asked and quickly turned to Ennis, then looked back at the dark road.  “Yeah, I guess not, we’ve been through this before.”

Ennis again didn’t answer, he just kept looking out of the window.

“Hey, but we're goin’ now” Tom said, with a chuckle.  He glanced at Ennis once more.  “You know, you sure were in the bottom of the barrel when I first met you, and now…..” Tom said, his voice trailing off, as the road sharply curved.

“In all this time, you still never told me, not really” Tom said.

Ennis turned to him.  “But you…... you never told me…..” Ennis said, but now Tom didn't reply.

With the curve now behind them, Tom took Ennis’s hand in his and held on to it tight.  They drove on in silence.  Tom kept his eyes on the dark road in front of them.  Ennis kept looking through the window beside him, at all of the dreams passing by.

[Clyde-B]

      “It sure is desolate out here.  People are few and far between.”
      “Gettin bored?”
      “No it’s beautiful.  A clear sky and grass so high it looks like waves at sea.”
      “Be borin you had a see it ever day.  Almost there, want a stop a spell?”
      “Sure, I could use something to drink.”
      He pulled into the gravelled lot at Woody’s Tavern.
      “Ennis, this looks a little bottom of the barrel.”
       He laughed.  “All look that way round here.  Least an hour’s drive for we'd hit another.”
       He pulled open the wood door.
      “Howdy folks, come right in.” 
       Ennis froze.

       100 words

[MaineWriter]

Hi Drabblers,

I am leaving on a trip in the next two minutes, so let's try these today:

• leaving on a jet plane
• that long lonesome highway
• Route 66

L

[mariez]

The Dark Road

....
With the curve now behind them, Tom took Ennis’s hand in his and held on to it tight.  They drove on in silence.  Tom kept his eyes on the dark road in front of them.  Ennis kept looking through the window beside him, at all of the dreams passing by.

Really nice, Marl.  Looks like they both are watching some dreams pass by. 

....
       He pulled open the wood door.
      “Howdy folks, come right in.” 
       Ennis froze.

I was right, Clyde.  We have turned up in an interesting place! 

Thanks,
Marie

[mariez]

Route 66

Ennis flicked on the TV and settled back as "Route 66" appeared on the screen along with that fancy sports car.  He liked these re-runs best of all.  Two young guys - one dark-haired, one fair - wandering the country together with nothing tying them down.  They never settled in one place, though.  Nope.  Tod and Buz would only stay long enough to get mixed up in the mess some poor locals had gotten themselves into, straighten it all out, and move on.  'Cause even in the make-believe world of TV, two guys didn't settle down together.  No way, no how. 

~~~~~~~~
100 Words

[ifyoucantfixit]

        Great job Marie.  Great job, and right on the money.  100 words.
  Loved it.                                                                     janice