Tumbleweed — like me, he thought, we both keep moving.
He should have been in town by now.
Alejandro took another sip from his almost empty water-bottle.
Two days since last water. His mouth was sand and sawdust.
Far away a silhouette… Man or saguaro?
Yesterday he would have hid, but today he was out of options.
He walked closer and saw the man.
He saw the gun, saw his grin.
Alejandro raised both hands, but the man turned and strolled back to his truck.
Watching the dust-devils settle Alejandro realized that tomorrow would be a good day to die.
I tried to play around with the form on how the story was told this week. To me this could be a lot of different backgrounds but it is based on memories from how the desert looked when I first came there almost 26 years ago. I have also used a line from Robbie Robertson.
Each Wednesday we pretend that it’s Friday when Rochelle releases this weeks image and asks us to write a story in hundred words. This is one of favorite ways to tune my writing skills.
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September 6, 2017
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Wonder why he expected to get shot? Oh, “today is a good day to die,” is a Klingon sentiment. 😀
Ha.. had not thought of it as Klingon, but more as the title of the Robbie Robertson song.
I can hear Work saying it in my head now.
I always thought it was a Native American sentiment, like in the movie “Little Big Man”. On the other hand, I do remember a line from one of the movies about reading Hamlet in the original Klingon, so i guess the Klingons originated a lot of our culture 😉
Ah, sorry, didn’t see your comment. Same statement, different words. Yes, the Klingons claimed that To be or not to be was said by one of theirs. The greatest writer ever known. It’s in the movie ‘The undiscovered country’ — one of the best I think.
After I wrote the comment I looked up The Undiscovered Country on wikipedia. I knew the title was from Shakespeare, but I had forgotten how many quotes they used in the movie!
Oh yeah, I forgot to add – great minds think alike 😉 I think we’ve all answered a comment to find someone had already said the same thing.
Happens to me all the time. I open all the stories I want to read next in tabs, then get distracted, then get back, and once I post I see that others posted in the meantime and already said what I wanted to say. Oops. 🙂
The saying originates from native American tribes, AFAIK, possibly Lakota, but the Klingons would of course attribute it to their culture. After all, Shakespeare was a Klingon. 😀
You really pulled me in with this story, and that picture could have easily come from around where I live. I haven’t had the chance to stop by in a while, but I finally had a chance to breathe and take in some blog posts. Glad this is what I had to come back to. It’s a good one.
Thank you… I lived in Arizona for 8 months back in 1992… and I grew attached to the dessert.
Wow, Arizona. I never would have guessed you had once been so close. That’s just a few states away.
Great story and delivery. “Tomorrow” – the possibilities.
A good story I think should have a piece in past, the action in present and a hint at the future.
Perhaps it was his acceptance of his fate that spared him.
Or that he would certainly never make it anyway… why waste a bullet on a corpse.
Ouch….I am an optimist….perhaps he is resilient and there is a way out.
I think fate calls upon the ‘it was meant to be type’, although, in this case its much more twisted and yes, why waste a bullet on a corpse.
So dark, and vivid.
Question: Is tomorrow Open Link Night?
Tomorrow it’s OLN 🙂 hope to see you there,
Yes! Finally…okay. I’ll be there tomorrow. Can’t wait. I got a humor poem I want to share with you and everyone else. I posted it today. 🙂
I like this Bjorn. In Game of Thrones, one of the members of one of the main families is being trained in the sword by a master swordsman. He says to her, what do we say to death? She shakes her head and says solemnly, not today. And as my old lover taught me, when going into a situation, always take your death as a given….but again, why waste a bullet on a corpse? Very good!
For some reason your comment was lost (but i found it)… there is so many reasons to face death… maybe I was more in the mood of the Stranger by Camus.
Another good one! I’m doing all of this on my tablet so it is no telling where the comment went.
I really like your description of the desert and the flow of words. This is a well written piece.
I love and fear the desert,
There’s a dark humor at play here, with the thought that he might be dying on that day, only to know it would probably be tomorrow because he was spared today. Good story, Bjorn!
Humor… yes a very dark one indeed.
So much desperation captured in the line, “Yesterday he would have hid, but today he was out of options” — I shared that feeling, that it might be better to be shot at this point, at least the chance was worth trying, for water.
I think he realises that the desert will kill him and that it will be painful
That’s how I read it: nothing to lose.
The last line made me smile, glad he is alive . With tomorrow, comes new hope and he may not have to die.🙂Miracles happen!
Great writing.
As long as there is life there is hope….
I almost thought he met his end, until I saw the grin. Good one!
Your title drew me in. You will see why when you read mine!
Ah.. I look forward to read yours.
👍
Great scene. I would be intrigued to know the back story of both men in the scene, and how they came to be in the desert.
Isn’t that a fun side of stories… sometimes the big one is the one you never tell.
I got a very real sense of his desolation and isolation. Good one.
Yes.. I got that from the image… and from many other stories.
He lives to die another day… sounds like a very desolate place.
Like every day you live, you might die the next
Seems like the guy with the gun didn’t want waste a bullet on an almost dead man. Great scene set here, Bjorn. Good one.
I think so too… why shoot at a corpse?
I feel for Alejandro, but perhaps he was not a good man; perhaps he deserved to have his agony prolonged…
I don’t think anyone deserves to have his agony prolonged… but I think Alejandro was a decent man…
Seems like the onset of delirium. A very sad way to die.
There are very few good ways to die.
Perhaps the guy with the gun had other plans or a change of heart. Either way… tomorrow… Great story!
Yes… a tomorrow… love to give you more questions than answers.
Perhaps the truck-driver with the gun was frightened of Alejandro? It’s a thought-provoking piece, and fluently written. Nice one, Bjorn!
There are so many options I leave to you.
Seems he’s given in and now awaits his inevitable demise.Excellent
Click to read my FriFic
Tomorrow there might be rain.
“Hokei” – It is a good day to die. A phrase, if I remember correctly was a battle cry of Sitting Bull at his last battle, or something like that. It’s also a Klingon phrase. Live each day as if it were your last… a good sentiment, indeed.
I think it was Crazy Horse but it has been used in many places since….
Thanks, I’m sure you’re correct. It is used so much and it so common, it’s hard to tell it’s origins. Perhaps it goes all the way back to Neanderthals.
Beautifully written, as per usual, Björn! Wretched man could have given him a drop or two… even if he left him behind…
I think there was some reason he didn’t want Alejandro to live.
Must be a time when it’s each man for himself…
the border patrol guy knew he wouldn’t make it, so there’s no point of wasting a bullet and shortening his suffering.
Border patrol is actually what I first thought about… but I left it open, so it could be anyone….
Dear Björn,
The bullet might’ve been kinder. Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
If that is the case it’s another story…
I really like this one, Bjorn. This is one scenario where a bullet would have been a kind option. Well done.
I thought so too… but maybe there will be something better happening tomorrow.
I like it. As gritty as the windblown sand. Will he make it or succumb to the elements? Hint – follow the tire tracks…
I think the tracks might lead away…. but maybe not.
What a cruel guy that gunman is. I hope he gets his punishment and Aleyandro finds water soon. If there’s a road, it must lead to somewhere… Great atmosphere, Björn, feels like a Western.
I felt the picture was a (south)western one… so that is where my story took me.
Like gahlearner, I really hate that gunman. He’s torturing poor Alejandro. I think 🙂
Yup… a cruel man…
Love the feel in this piece. I was wondering how you captured the feel of the desert until I read you had lived in Arizona for a while. I guess the sand got into your blood and you’ve cared it with you. Being from Canadian and now living in Arizona I often wonder which wilderness is more deadly, usually I lean towards the desert. Like others I really like the reference to tomorrow.
Yes that image reminded me of some of the areas in the Southwest.
Nice one, brings back memories of the “Western” genre of movies.
Yes I think this could be a movie.
Western or Klingon, it seems he has avoided death another day. I wonder if he’s glad or upset about that? Great tale Bjorn
Maybe he has accepted death, but maybe that’s the best way to survive.
A fatalistic approach -you’re right maybe that does work
Great story. A very western feel. I feel the mystery man realised he was basically dead already
I think so, and maybe he rather have Alejandro suffer a bit more than give him the mercy of a bullet.
Why waste a bullet?
Good tale of hopelessness and the “end of the line”.
And just maybe there’s an end with a new beginning
I loved the structure of the story, and the release of the last line. And the desert really is beautiful!
The desert is a wonderful place. Some day I miss it.
This is so dry – the tight writing and parched mouth. Great tension, with brief respite, maybe, at the end.