For this drabble
challenge, I decided to write seven, each including the title of a movie that
one of the Mag7 actors appeared in. J
ATF
“Duck!”
Ezra hit the deck just as something
struck right where his head had been. “What the hell?”
“We walked out of the
building and into the middle of an ambush!” Buck shouted.
Ezra flinched as another projectile
hit the car they were hiding behind.
“Vegetables?” he said in disbelief.
Vin cursed. “It’s return of the killer tomatoes or
something!”
Just then, a particularly fat
specimen splattered juice on Ezra’s suit.
Outraged, he fired a shot,
exploding the next in mid-air.
Yelping fearfully, the
attackers took off running.
Ezra stood, examining his
stained sleeve with distaste. “Nobody assaults
my Armani.”
OW
“Josiah, I’m telling you,
it was an accident!” Nathan begged, trying for his own protection not to laugh
at his dripping friend. “Just a fluke!”
“How do you figure?”
Josiah demanded, swiping at the liquid dripping down his face. “You’re the one who set that water bucket up
on the roof and told me to wait at the bottom of the stairs while you went to
fetch extra lumber. You’re also the one
who thought it’d be funny to throw a rock and knock the bucket down on my
head!”
Nathan grinned sheepishly. “Thought I saw a crow up
there.”
ATF
Chris glanced up at the
billboard. “How about
that place?”
“Too expensive,” Vin said.
Trying to be patient,
Chris kept silent until they passed another.
“IHOP, you like them.”
Vin waved him off.
“Not that one. Service is bad.”
“
“Shut down. Rodents.”
Chris grimaced. “Wasn’t in the mood for
barbecue anyway. Denny’s?”
“Chincy
portions,” Vin dismissed, driving past the exit.
“Goddamn it, Tanner,
that’s the seventh sign we’ve passed up!
I’m hungry!”
“Keep your shirt on,
cowboy. Ah, there it is!”
Chris smiled, patting his
growling stomach in anticipation. Nettie’s diner. He should have known.
OW
Drawing a lungful of cool
air, Vin sighed.
“Love nights like this.”
JD glanced at him,
surprised that Vin had broken the companionable
silence they had been sharing as they rode from Eagle Bend. “Why?”
“Clear sky, soft breeze,
night critters singin’ and a million stars shinin’ bright.”
JD nodded. “Sure is pretty.”
“My mama used to say that
on a night like this, no matter how far away you’d roamed, you could just look
up and follow the stars home.”
“Yeah, sure nice to know
that home is waiting for you too,” JD said softly.
Vin smiled.
“Reckon so.”
LB AU
Vin walked up the path to the house, stopping short at
the sight of Buck sitting on the steps glumly petting JD’s dog.
“What’s wrong?” he asked,
plopping down.
“Elvis and me are having a
little time out,” Buck admitted. “Tried to teach him a new trick
in the kitchen.”
“Uh,
oh.”
“Yep. Broke the house rules and a few dishes too.”
“Swear jar?” Vin asked.
“You guys made about ten
bucks.”
Vin whistled.
Chris must’ve been mad. “He’ll
forgive you if you say you’re really sorry.”
Buck smiled ruefully. “Probably, but for now I think I’m safer out
here.”
OW
As the two men rode
towards the small town, JD pulled up sharply.
“We’re stopping here?”
Buck frowned. “Sure.
Doesn’t a few hours’ rest sound good?”
“Not here!”
“What’s wrong, kid?” Buck
demanded.
“They’ve got a ghost!”
Buck chortled. “JD, the Meeksville Ghost is a legend!”
“They say anyone who rides
in with ill intent never lives to ride out again!”
“Kid,” he snorted. “My only ‘intent’ is to get a beer and a
little feminine company. What’s wrong
with that?”
“Nothing, I guess,” JD
agreed, but he could not stop the finger of dread that shivered up his spine.
OW
As he descended the
stairs, Ezra paused mid-stretch, frowning at the four bodies littering the
saloon floor. “Nathan?” he asked. “Have I missed some calamity?”
“Nothing
much. While you were sleeping, a bunch of cowhands
decided to raid the place and rob the till.”
“Who killed them?” he
asked, noticing that nobody except Nathan and Inez were
present.
“They are not dead,” Inez
told him, contemptuously kicking the nearest body.
“They’re out cold,” Nathan
told him. “Inez clocked three with
whiskey bottles, and I punched out the fourth.”
“Excellent
work. Allow me to help escort our guests to the
jail.”
The Films:
Return of the Killer Tomatoes – Anthony Starke
Fluke – Ron Perlman
The Seventh Sign – Michael Biehn
Follow the Stars Home – Eric Close
Elvis & Me – Dale Midkiff
The Meeksville Ghost –
Andrew Kavovit
While You Were Sleeping – Rick Worthy