|
“Hot? Did you say hot?”
“Sure did, Windy, have a seat and join us,” said Doc. We were
huddled up in the coolth of the air conditioner blast in that
certain part of the dining room at the Mule Barn truck stop. Yes. It
was hot.
“Ain’t like Death Valley, howsomever,” Windy said. “Now boys, that
there’s HOT!”
“You been to Death Valley, Windy?”
“Shore did, Steve. Wellsir, it was a long time back, ‘bout the time
of when I ferget who was president. One of them guys who ain’t
president any more. But I was jest percolatin’ ‘round and got me
this here wranglin’ job over there at Furnace Crick. Hot? Say, it
was so hot it melted your whiskers! But they needed these dudes
wrangled and I packed mules for ‘em … until the accident …”
“Accident?”
“Oh Doc, it was terrible. One day I was packin’ pic-a-nic supplies
for ‘em, and I had me eight mule loads of that Jiffy Pop popcorn,
you know … ‘cuz they liked popcorn, ya see. Wellsir, it were so
danged hot that popcorn started a-poppin’ inside them cans, and it
flat blew the lids off them cans. Right out there in the dang desert
…”
[to top of second
column] |
Windy paused a moment to wipe away
a tear.
“And that there popcorn went all over the ground … and … and them
mules saw it and thought it was snow … and froze to death!” [Text from file received from
Slim Randles]
Brought to you by
“Sun Dog Days,” by Slim Randles. Mustanging and mule packing novel.
|
Slim Randles' Home Country
