lone cowpoke of the hills

You might could say if he had any poor intentions he'd have sprung up like a spooked cat, hair on end and all. Giddy Rae didn't do nothin' of the sort though. He took his time standing up from where he'd been crouched by the satchel left at their bedside and didn't deny having been rifilin' through it.

"Lookit you, mornin' sleepyhead. Maybe you can tell me what your stuff ain't," he beamed, smile as wide as an ocean shore and eyes gleaming bottle blue bright.

❝ what's your favorite color and why? ❞

❝ can i come with you? ❞

❝ you have a nice smile, has anyone ever told you that before? ❞

❝ how do you take your coffee? ❞

❝ sorry, what was your name again? ❞

❝ it just occurred to me i never asked you what your last name is. ❞

❝ actually we've met before. ❞

❝ i've heard a few things about you. ❞

❝ care to join me? ❞

❝ i'm not really sure why i trust you. ❞

❝ i don't usually talk this much, it just feels easy to say stuff when you're listening. ❞

❝ i know we don't know each other that well but if you wanna talk about it... ❞

❝ could you help me with something? ❞

❝ do you like it here? ❞

❝ are you new around here? ❞

❝ you can ask me anything you want. i promise i'll answer truthfully except the things i feel like lying about. ❞

❝ i don't mean to be too forward, you just seem like you could use a friend right now. ❞

❝ you can come with me. i mean if you don't have anyone waiting for you. ❞

❝ we're friends now. you can ask me for help. ❞

❝ do you like this music? i can change it. ❞

❝ what are your favorite snacks? ❞

❝ really? i wouldn't have guessed that about you. ❞

❝ do you mind if i ask about it? ❞

ACTIONS:

VISIT: for sender to go to receiver's home for the first time

VISITED: for receiver to go to sender's home for the first time

CRYING: for sender to see receiver cry for the first time

CRIED: for receiver to see sender cry for the first time

BEGIN: sender and receiver are on their first date together

TRIP: our muses go on a group trip but end up stuck together, away from the rest of their friends.

SITUATION: our muses are acquainted because one of them is their friend's roommate. muse a shows up when their friend isn't there and ends up hanging out with muse b one on one.

GO: our muses go to a zoo or theme park together and get lost.

INVITE: sender cooks for receiver for the first time

INVITED: receiver cooks for sender for the first time

TOGETHER: our muses spend the night for the first time

TRY: our muses hooked up and are hanging out the next day

COMFORT: sender is going through a break up and receiver offers to cheer them up

COMFORTED: receiver is going through a break up and sender offers to cheer them up

OFFER: sender gives receiver a ride to the airport/picks them up

OFERED: receiver gives sender a ride to the airport/picks them up

AID: sender helps receiver redecorate

a liquor store with barred windows and a bulletproof counter.

a decommissioned lodge overtaken by weeds.

a bathroom in a run-down apartment building.

a roller rink playing the same songs on loop.

a flea market at dawn, vendors still setting up.

a motel pool glowing turquoise after midnight.

a hiking trail where the signs stop making sense.

a dive bar that smells like smoke and regret.

a bridal shop filled with mirrors.

a county fair after the crowds thin.

a courthouse hallway that smells faintly of old paper and stress.

an amusement park in the rain.

a confessional booth that smells like old wood.

a high school gym during a pep rally.

a chapel with the lights off except for candles.

a fire lookout tower miles from anything else.

a laundry room humming with fluorescent lights.

a city rooftop slick with rain.

an arcade humming with old machines.

a bowling alley with sticky floors and neon lights.

a gas station at the edge of nowhere.

a fallout shelter forgotten by time.

a chairlift stalled above the slopes.

a church basement set up for a meeting.

a newsroom just before deadline.

a basement stacked with old boxes.

a desert highway shimmering with heat.

a funeral home parlor arranged too perfectly.

a brewery patio strung with cheap lights.

a physical therapy clinic that smells like antiseptic and rubber bands.

a greenhouse fogged with humidity.

a community garden at sunset.

a prison visitation room divided by glass.

a tattoo parlor buzzing late into the night.

a photography darkroom glowing red.

a summer carnival at night, lights too bright.

a power substation crackling with electricity.

a toll booth lit like an aquarium.

a half-abandoned shopping mall with only one store still open.

a city park at sunrise.

a holding cell with peeling paint.

a rest stop bathroom off a desolate highway.

a rental cabin buried in snow.

a costume shop crowded with masks.

a city planning office full of maps.

a college dorm hallway echoing with laughter and shouting.

a ghost town baking under the sun.

an underground nightclub where the bass rattles your ribs.

a security office watching too many screens.

a pawn shop cluttered with other people's memories.

a wake held in someone's living room.

a quiet cul-de-sac after a storm.

a recruitment office in a strip mall.

a courtroom bathroom where no one speaks.

a courtroom with the jury absent.

a sauna where the air is too thick.

a summer camp cabin long after the campers left.

a video rental store frozen in time.

an evidence room packed floor to ceiling.

a judge's chambers after hours.

a speakeasy hidden behind a false wall.

a cemetery at dusk, cicadas screaming.

a public restroom lit by flickering fluorescents.

a psychiatric ward common room with bolted furniture.

a tide pool exposed by low tide.

a storm cellar during a tornado warning.

a natural history exhibit after closing.

a zoo maintenance corridor behind exhibits.

a museum storage room full of artifacts.

a firing range ringing with gunshots.

a locker room echoing and empty.

an aquarium tunnel at night.

a karaoke bar at its most unhinged hour.

a suburban backyard during a barbecue.

a stairwell no one uses.

a junkyard full of stripped cars.

a hotel elevator stalled between floors.

a police station break room with stale donuts.

an abandoned warehouse tagged with graffiti.

a hockey arena during overtime, air sharp with ice and spilled beer.

a shrine built by someone who wouldn't let go.

a car wash tunnel swallowing a vehicle whole.

a haunted house attraction mid-season.

a movie theater lobby after the last showing.

a roadside attraction shaped like something absurd.

a dog park during golden hour.

a muddy riverbank after heavy rain.

a courthouse stairwell where voices echo too loudly.

a school parking lot under buzzing streetlights.

a planetarium during a private showing.

a cheap motel room with floral bedspreads and a flickering lamp.

a roadside diner at 3 a.m., neon buzzing, coffee burnt.

a city bus idling at the end of the line.

a penthouse balcony overlooking the city at night.

a wine cellar beneath a historic building.

a lifeguard tower at night.

a municipal pool pump room.

a tailor's back room full of pins and fabric.

a public swimming pool drained for repairs.

a fenced-in yard littered with dog toys.

a thrift store where the air smells like dust and old perfume.

a witness stand under harsh lights.

a crowded subway platform just before the last train.

a piercing studio that smells like disinfectant.

a beach boardwalk after tourist season ends.

a tow truck yard lit by security lamps.

a loading dock behind a closed business.

a recording studio cluttered with cables.

a barber shop mid-conversation.

a radio tower hill overlooking everything.

a classroom long after the final bell.

a drive-in theater with a cracked screen.

a fire escape overlooking an alley.

a passenger ferry cutting through fog.

a hospital waiting room at 2 a.m.

a pharmacy open all night.

a mechanic's garage smelling of oil and metal.

a hallway between two locked doors.

a public records office that no one visits.

a pet adoption center during feeding time.

a crematorium hallway humming quietly.

a border crossing checkpoint at night.

a locker-lined hallway in a community center.

a ski lodge during a whiteout.

a courthouse records archive underground.

a water treatment facility humming endlessly.

a forest trail choked with fog before sunrise.

a playground after dark.

a train platform dusted with snow.

a radio station during the graveyard shift.

a military barracks just before lights-out.

a front porch with a single rocking chair.

a mom-and-pop ice cream parlor on a scorching summer's day.

an emergency room hallway curtained off from sight.

a small-town grocery store minutes before closing.

a farmer's market just as it opens.

a lake dock at dawn, water perfectly still.

a nail salon filled with chemical sweetness.

a bus terminal that never quite sleeps.

 “We’re thieves in a world that don’t want us no more.”

“Vengeance is an idiot’s game.”

“We can’t change what’s done. We can only move on.”

 “You know, all that ever mattered to me was loyalty. It was all I knew.”

You don’t get to live a bad life and have good things happen to you.”

 “Lack of something to feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a man may have.”

“There’s a good man within you.”

“If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging.”

"We are not criminals. We are outlaws."

"I wish I'd acquired wisdom at less of a price."

“If we have to fight, we fight. If we have to run, we’ll run. If we must die, we’ll die. But … we’ll stay free.”

"I believe there's winners and losers, and nothing else besides."

"I have a saying, my friend: we shoot fellers as need shooting, save fellers as need saving, and feed 'em as need feeding. We are going to figure out what you need."

"This place, ain't no such thing as civilized. It's man so in love with greed he has forgotten himself, and found only appetites."

"Be loyal to what matters."

"Forgive me, but... that's the problem. You don't know you."

"Life is full of pain. But there is also love, and beauty."

" I guess I... I'm afraid."

"Take a gamble that love exists, and do a loving act."

"Do not die for pride, my son! "

"We're more ghosts than people."

"I have been in a lot of pain.”

“I’ve killed things... and I wish I hadn’t.”

“There ain’t no more good days, [ name ].”

“Guess I’m just afraid I’ll die with nothing to show for it.”

“We're just ghosts in a world that don't remember us.”

“You morons really think you’re tough, huh?”

“If I had a dollar for every time I heard that…”

“Feels like the world’s moved on without us.”

"You'll damn us all."

"5000 dollars? For me?... can I turn myself in?

"Course, if everything goes wrong you can wave your guns around like you normally do"

"Does this seem like a good time for sarcasm to you, [ name ]?"

"They turned me into a monster."

"Don't try anything stupid and we won't do anything unkind."

"Guess about all I've got left now is doubts. Doubts and scars."

"They're chasing us because we represent everything they fear."

"When I'm gone, they'll just find another monster. They have to."

"You'll betray me in the end, [ name ]. You seem the type."

"Stay strong. Stay with me."

"The game ain't over... I ain't played my final move."

"You might be the first bastard to ever have half his brains eaten by a wolf and end up more intelligent."

"You’re my favorite parasite… No wait, ringworm’s my favorite parasite, you’re my second-favorite parasite…"

"Forgive me if I slip and stab you in the face."

"Sometimes the law ain’t what’s right."

"Justice is a commodity, easily bought."

"Justice requires action, not just words."

"We spend our lives lost in those dreams."

"Every fall demands a rise, every failure demands persistence."

tucked away in a valley between the hills rests a series of six wooden planks, worn down and battered by time and the elements. they were long forgotten pieces on the environment for most people, but not for wit. they were intimately familiar with the scene. this was the boot yard they had carefully built for their friends over the years after each one had met their fate and gone up the flume.

wit dismounted their horse and hitched her to nearby tree, pausing to dig around in the saddle bags for something. they found what they were looking for fairly quickly -- a small canvas drawstring bag, and an assortment of wildflowers wrapped in a discoloured piece of paper -- and turned to look over the carefully maintained site. they let out a shaky sigh and stepped forward, ready to begin what they had come here to do.

the painted names on the wood had been bleached from long days spent in the sun, and the intricate carvings had become shallow and barely visible, having been buffed out by sand and dust carried on the strong winds that blew through the canyon. the oldest of the modest monuments had been here for 138 years, and it certainly looked it. wit didn't even need to read the fading writing to know who it belonged to -- they had memorized the layout of the graves many years ago. their friends, resting in the order they fell.

they made their way through the small memorial, stopping to kneel in front of each grave marker. using a fallen twig, they begin to trace out various symbols at each place in silence, slowly inscribing the ground with sigils for protection, peace, and safe travels. wit knew that it wouldn't do much, that their magic would never reach to their friends in the great beyond, but the practice gave them a sense of comfort. on each grave, they placed a carved river rock and a single cut wildflower. there were many of these tokens and offerings throughout the site, each left by wit on previous visits. if one looked closely at the carved stones and other objects, it would be easy to see a stylistic evolution as the artist became more adept at the skill. wit had, unfortunately, had a long time to be able to practice. the newest ones were quite complex, with some open-work and finer details carved onto the surface.

as the sun began to slowly sink towards the horizon, wit finally stood up and brushed the dirt from their clothes, and in a rare moment removed their hat, holding it against their chest in an open, almost prayer-like gesture. the quiet of the scene was broken when they finally spoke, voice little more than a whisper.

"i'll see you again further down the trail, my dear friends."