Thank you to Marie, for single handedly keeping the drabblefest going! Even though things have slowed down, I still check in every day and read all the wonderful stuff that people are writing.
Way back when, in the IMDb days, John Gallagher started a wonderful thread called "Cowboy Etiquette." The first entry was, "Sauteed elk should be served well salted." I thought of that when I saw today's prompts, and wrote this little bit of whimsy for all of you. Enjoy!
Brokeback Mountain
July, 1963
Jack picked up the generous piece of elk meat and gnawed on it, ravenously hungry and happy to have some filling protein to eat. “Thanks for shooting that elk, Ennis, this is damn good,” he mumbled, his mouth full of food.
“Ain’t too salty, is it?”
Jack’s head shot up and he looked at Ennis, not really comprehending what he heard. “Huh?” he asked, stupidly.
“I was thinking I was a little heavy handed with the salt shaker, I hope I didn’t wreck it.”
Jack shook his head. “No, Ennis, it tastes fine. In fact,” he said, grabbing another piece of meat from the pan, “I’m gonna have seconds…and prob’ly thirds, too.”
“I ain’t much of a cook,” Ennis said, chewing the meat off a rib bone.
“Tell ya what, when you and I are livin on a farm down in Texas, I’ll do the cookin. Deal?”
Now it was Ennis’s turn to look puzzled. “What the fuck are ya talking about, Jack?”
“I don’t know, just a little feeling I had—lookin inta the future.”
“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear what ya just said. You must be drunk.”
Jack shrugged. “Whatever…” he said, this voice trailing off. But he tucked his head down and smiled to himself. He wasn’t drunk, and somehow, he knew it was all true.
(224 words)