Simp.sonns

It had already happened. It was too late to save Jim. He was the victor and he was about to claim his price. A part of him knew something was wrong, he could tell by the eagerness of officer rick, hand resting on his gun.

He looked down through the crowd of people dancing, all the happiness and love shared by the people that made the room warm and humid. Then he saw her, the girl who came to stop this stupid tradition. But the animalistic nature of teenage boys was too much for one girl to stop.

She had a-lot of rumors around. People said she went off the deep end after her only friend, the winner of last year’s run left town. Jim always admired her from a far, the beauty of the girl was something he had never witnessed before. It was like the universe had made him just for her. He never looked in her eyes until after he killed sawtooth jack, when he did, he saw someone who looked as though someone had just savagely murdered their best friend. And in a way he did.

After the crowd lifted him the air and the wave of adrenaline came down, he went to her as she wept over sawtooths body.

She explained everything.

He was going to die.

Jim walked through the crowd to the girl. Letting her magnetism pull him in. She walked to him, because in this universe she felt the same. Meeting in the middle of the dance floor they made a plan. To leave this stupid town.

He knew what needed to be done, but she was the one who had the heart to do it. They met at the crossing, a shotgun and pistol were loaded into the car and they simply drove away.

The sheriff wasn’t far behind, but they knew what they had to do to stop him. The car reached a screeching halt, one look was shared between the two. After Jim left the car and followed the sheriff to grave that had been dug dozens of times. She followed. And so did death.

One shot for the sheriff, and one for the farmer.

Once back on the road it was clear, even though they had stopped the cycle, all they had become was monsters themselves.

As they drove to freedom through the night there were no words shared just grief for the people they left behind, the people who didn’t get the treatment of a victor.