The old man settled in his chair on the porch marveling at the beauty of the sunset and listened to the cicadas trill their strident mating call, he closed his eyes and recalled his youth.
His childhood heroes, Kit Carson, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers, the cowboys of the old west flooded his imagination as they tried to outshoot the bad guys, and he could see Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier with his musket and his coonskin hat.
He remembered emulating his heroes running through the bushes his cap gun ready to shoot those mean, ugly, skulking outlaws, or raising his wooden knife ‘old faithful’ ready to take down any grizzly that dared step in his path.
He was happy that the cowboys were now making a comeback with the screenwriting of Taylor Sheridan and his shows Yellowstone and 1883, though sadly these shows were strictly for adult viewing and not for children.
As the sun started to set below the horizon he imagined he saw Roy Rogers astride his horse Trigger galloping into the sunset and he began humming softly to himself ” happy trails to you until we meet again, happy trails to you keep smilen’ until then”.
His wife came out on the porch noticing the old man was sleeping, “come inside you old coot, it’s getting cold out here”, and she shook his shoulder, but he never heard her voice or felt her touch because he was riding the range with his heroes in Heaven.
wow, Len. great twist on the ending, had to read that twice. that was a nice way to part.
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Thanks, Audrine. It’s the way I would like to go.
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oh i would, too. it’s peaceful and it has a sense of contentment that you had done what you needed to, so you are granted a grand yet subtle exit.
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This should have come with a Trigger warning but beautifully realised. The old man was probably humming this song as he passed away. https://youtu.be/QRQJTFh4V2w
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Thanks, Doug. Roy Rogers also had a dog bullet which I failed to mention.
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Shades of Bang Gunleigh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_K4q5htc
Our local Australian off-shoot of the singing cowboy Roy Rogers was Smoky Dawson, with his sidekick, Jingles and his horse, Flash. I was a huge fan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Dawson
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Completed his last album at 92 is quite the accomplishment.
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Delightful read and a lovely way to start the day. Nicely done!
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Thanks, glad you liked it. Nostalgia eh.
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A different generation; I miss those simpler days.
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To go that final ride on the trail loved so long ago…
Maybe the wife joins him, saddled up and on her way, when her time comes.
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Beautiful, Len…just beautiful.
Couldn’t help but hearing this song by the end of your story…
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Thanks, Nick. I’m not really a country and western fan but there are a few that I like.
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Nice ending! I remember all of those names and even the Roy Roger’s song.
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Cowboy movies and TV were always my favorites, Rawhide, Wagon Train, Bonanza, etc.
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Absolutely beautiful and nostalgic story-telling, Len. Amazing use of the prompt. So heartwarming with the memories it brought to mind and the old man that was a young boy singing Happy Trails again.
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Thanks, Abi. Westerns have always been my favorite genre, although a close time with medieval knights in armor.
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I like and still watch Bonanza (loved Hoss), High Chaparral, and Big Valley…the only western with a matriarch and not a patriarch. The Rifleman is on in reruns and I watch it occasionally. Dr Quinn Medicine Woman is a fav of mine as well. Remember Grizzly Adam? I wish they would rerun that show.
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A wonderful story. What a nice way to go, reminiscing! And I liked the walk through his childhood even “as the sun started to set” — great foreshadowing, and the reader almost, not quite, anticipates what’s coming, not entirely surprised. This is the kind of gently-told story that truly satisfies on all counts.
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Thanks, Dora. We should all be so lucky to go out in such a peaceful way.
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really really great!
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Thanks, UP. Glad you liked it.
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On your own porch, humming a familiar tune? Not a bad way to go. A fine tale with a final ending.
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Thanks, D. They say it’s not the dying but the manner of death.
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It sounds like his dreams came true.
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Yes, he rode into Heaven on a horse instead of the wings of a dove.
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It is a surprise ending, isn’t it? I mean the guy just go to heaven with his old faithful knife, horse, his gun etc., leaving a woman who loves him heartbroken. Actually I often thought about it whenever I watched wild wild west movies. It is very unsafe for men, even worse for women, and the uncertainty is really really very high…
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I think the life of a cowboy in the Old West was pretty Short.
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Nice
(to weave a web of cultures passed delicately enough that the Reader might touch one (or two!) and be transported back in time.)
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A web of cultures indeed and the times they are a changing. Thanks, Clark.
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