Poem 15: Live Free

The stars hang in the sky
White speckled dark canvas hovers overhead
Slowly revolving it turns
An ever emerging symphony

It makes me feel connected
To this vast eternal infinite where I find myself

I appreciate this source of light
Forever away from me
Yet it still illuminates my life
The stars in the night’s sky
Burn so bright tonight
They stir up an emotion in me
It is the hope to one day live free

Chapter 15: Poetic Justice

“We are all born into this universe with no inherent meaning or purpose. We come in as blank slates; biological machines with the modus operandi of survival through passing on our somewhat immortal genes. Some people think that this is a depressing fact, but in fact it is the greatest gift. We create our own meaning. We create our own purpose. The question of freewill is not relevant. Time is not linear. Everything that has ever happened or will ever happen is happening right now. The choice you make/made yesterday, today, or tomorrow has already been made, but the choice was/is yours. I often have dreams were I am going somewhere or doing something. I do not know where I am going or what I am doing but I know that in the dream there is a purpose and there is meaning in my actions. When I wake up that purpose and meaning is gone. It is forgotten. In this waking dream we call life we are free to live our lives any which way we choose. So… tell me. How do you live yours?”
David Clegg, Murky, and O-B looked at each other. As they arrived into town they were greeted by me wearing my purple cotton corduroy dress with my usual hat. I was dressed to kill. I could tell that my nonchalance had perturbed the three members of the D-MOB. Their horses had stopped right where I wanted them too. The three horses were bunched up against each other making any attempt at a change in direction difficult.
“What is the problem? Cat got your tongue?” I teased attempting to get a reaction.
I removed my hat and brought it down to my waist. I wanted their eyes to be solely on my face.
O-B clapped. I could tell who each member was. They each matched their description. O-B was a tall dark and dangerous snake, David Clegg was like a boy wearing his father’s clothes, and Murky… she was… conservative.
O-B continued to clap as he said “Bravo! Bravo! Is this some sort of prank?”
“Prank? No! Call for justice? Yes” I defiantly stated.
O-B stopped clapping.
“Do you know who we are?” David Clegg asked.
“The D-MOB; a most dangerous criminal posse comprised of thieves, liars, killers, and rapists” I spoke.
“You compliment us well” O-B responded with a snake’s charm.
I lambasted with all my heart “I was not finished! The D-MOB is the most dangerous criminal posse not because they are thieves, liars, killers, and rapists, but instead because the D-MOB is nothing but a collection of parasites and leeches. The D-MOB is a collective of weak individuals who prey on the innocent. That is what you are; weak and pathetic human beings! You do not have the strength for empathy, the strength to care, or the strength to believe in a better world.”
O-B smiled as he said “Is that why you are here? You want to stand up to us?”
“No… actually I just want to collect my bounty” I replied with a smile.
“A bounty hunter?” David Clegg questioned.
“Yes. Now you three can either choose to drop your weapons, dismount from your horses and come with me or…”
O-B pulled his revolver out of his holster and held it aiming towards the sky.
“How did you think this would end?” O-B asked.
“With blood” I responded in kind as I slowly moved my hat away from my waist exposing the revolver I had aimed at him.
The hat had successfully covered my movements as I had removed my revolver from the hidden holster in my dress. O-B was holding his revolver but he was not yet aiming it. I had my revolver drawn on the three. Perhaps this would end without any bloodshed.
“Where did you pull that out of?” O-B questioned.
“Thin air! Now drop the gun!” I demanded.
O-B was more of a snake than I could have imagined. He dropped his gun. He was on his horse between Murky and David Clegg. I imagined having him boxed in the middle would make him less of a formidable foe, but I was wrong…
Chaos ensued as he tilted to his left while holding onto the reins bringing his horse closer to Murky’s. When he was within range he elbowed her in the face. A broken tooth flew through the air. I could do nothing but watch as she fell off her horse. O-B slid off the back of his horse and slapped Murky’s horse. It charged at me and I was forced to dive out of the way. I looked up to see O-B turning his horse around while using it as a shield. David Clegg was racing on his horse down the cul-de-sac towards the Bank. I had no idea what he was doing, and I imagined he did not know either. He was going nowhere fast. I tried to get my sights back on O-B. He clung onto the side of his horse still using it as a shield as it began to head in the direction out of town. Murky tried to grab onto him.
“Do not leave me O-B!” she screamed.
He kicked her in her already bleeding face. She fell flat on her backside. I did not care for Murky. O-B was escaping. I ran past her and gave chase. I stopped as I took aim at O-B. He was not getting away from me.
“Watch out!” shouted Gan.
I turned to see Murky pulling her revolver on me. Gan had been laying in wait on the hotel roof. Michael John was across from her on top of the saloon. We had Sheriff Putin lying in wait outside of the law firm to take Little Boy Blair into custody if he came outside. I was about to get shot and O-B was about to get away.
BANG!
Murky toppled over as blood seeped from her head. Gan had shot her. The bullet went through the back of her head and out where her eye used to be.
I wanted to take aim at O-B but I did not have the time. David Clegg was coming back. His horse charged down the street towards me. He bounced up and down as he clung to the reins. He managed to fire several shots in my general direction.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
His shooting spooked the horse and he was thrown off it. His neck snapped as he hit the ground. His body convulsed. Within moments Michael John descended from the saloon’s roof careful not to rip his dress. He was then standing over the convulsing David Clegg. Michael John smiled as he mercifully fired a single shot into David Clegg’s chest. It stopped him from convulsing and within seconds he was dead. It was a pathetic death of a pathetic man.
I turned back towards O-B, but he was too far away for my revolver.
“Damn it!” I cursed.
“Do not worry. He is mine!” Sheriff Putin said.
I turned to see Sheriff Putin aiming down a long barrelled rifle. There was no way he could hit O-B from this distance.
BANG!
He fired a single shot, but I could still see the silhouette of O-B riding off into the distance.
“Damn…” I cursed once more.
“I said do not worry” Sheriff Putin said to me in a relaxed matter.
After several seconds from the shot being fired O-B’s body slumped off the horse. The sheriff had got him. But who had Little Boy Blair?
“You got Little Boy Blair?” I asked the stone cold sheriff.
“He never came out, and I saw that you were letting one of them go so I came over.”

I sprinted towards the law firm. Little Boy Blair was still at large. Michael John and Gan had already mounted their horses and were heading to make sure O-B was dead, and the stone cold sheriff was patrolling the streets. I would be alone as I entered the law firm.
As I approached the law firm I could not help but look up to the large looming gallows that hung outside. This building was the epicentre of everything evil that had come this town’s way. I did not know what to expect as I entered, but what I saw boiled my blood. It was an absurd abuse of power. They had been sucking any wealth they could from the town’s inhabitants and for what? Middle Eastern carpets, antique Chinese vases, priceless Parisian paintings, and much more…
It was absurd.
The inside of the law firm looked like an over stocked exotic antique store mixed with the incongruous nature of a gold plated vanity church.
I first checked the ground floor revolver in hand ready to shoot down anyone who challenged me. Each room sickened me. I was about to investigate the cellar when I heard a noise coming from upstairs. I silently ascended the stairs. My breathing was heavy. I was tense but calm. Upstairs towards the back of the building was Little Boy Blair’s office. I could hear the noise coming from in there. The noise did not sound right. It sounded like an animal being pleasured. I could have never prepared myself for what lay behind that door. I kicked it open and quickly entered ready to shoot.
“Who is that?” Little Boy Blair demanded to know.
He could not see me because he was wearing a hollowed deer head with antlers. Little Boy Blair was leaning against his desk with his trousers around his ankles as a little boy…
“So that is why they call you…”
“Get out!” Little Boy Blair screamed as he tried to remove his deer head.
It was too cumbersome for him to remove it immediately.
“Get out of here kid!” I commanded.
The little boy left. As he walked passed me I noticed that his eyes had a glazed over look. The little boy looked dead inside.
“You vile human being!” I screamed.
“What are you doing here?” Little Boy Blair questioned me after he finally removed the deer head.
Little Boy Blair moved to pull his trousers up.
“Let us just leave them down for now” I said as I pointed my gun at his face.
“What do you want? Money?” Little Boy Blair asked.
“Is that your answer to everything?” I retorted.
“Everyone can be bought for a price!” Little Boy Blair reassured me.
“You sound like you believe that a human life is worth currency! Currency is nothing but metal and paper! And I can tell you for a fact that human life is worth more than that!” I shouted as I took aim for his head.
My blood was boiling. My trigger finger was ready to shoot. Little Boy Blair’s day of reckoning had finally come. He knew it, and I knew it.
“Any regrets?” I asked.
“I should have been a politician!” he cried.
“Wrong answer!” I said as I went to pull the trigger.
But it was too late. The window to Little Boy Blair’s office had been left open, and somehow the duck had got out of the hotel room. It flew in through the window. I could do nothing but watch as it took its revenge on Little Boy Blair. Little Boy Blair flailed wildly screaming as the duck attacked him. He rolled backwards over his desk awkwardly stumbling from the trousers that hung around his ankles. The duck was relentless and did not give up. It continued its assault until Little Boy Blair crashed through the balcony window that oversaw the garden. He screamed as he fell into his garden. I did not want to see him get away. He was probably injured or dead, but I had to be sure. I ran towards the balcony window and jumped out past the duck. The duck was quacking a thousand years of hatred at Little Boy Blair.
I rolled as I hit the ground. The soft soil from the garden had broken my fall. Little Boy Blair though had not been so fortunate. He had landed in his pond. His body had cracked against the pond’s pumping mechanism. The pump had been shattered by Little Boy Blair’s body and in turn his body had been shattered by the pump. The fresh flow of water stopped as the pond became stained with Little Boy Blair’s sins. I thought he was dead. His body lay lifeless. His head submerged underwater. Suddenly his arm moved. A shard of glass had been pierced through his hand. His pierced hand grabbed the edge of the pond as he tried to pull himself out. Only parts of his body were functioning. It seemed that he had been pierced several times by broken shards of glass. One of the shards cut through his cheek and out through his jaw. I stood over him aiming my gun at his head. He was barely alive.
“Please kill me” he gargled as he spat up blood and chunks of crimson red.
“I have wanted to do this for a long time…” I confessed.
Blues had told me to choose life or to perish forever. Although I wanted to shoot Little Boy Blair I did not. I slowly lowered my revolver and stepped back. Little Boy Blair looked up at me with eyes demanding the now seemingly sweet release of death.
“Live and die in the filth you have surrounded yourself with. I choose not to kill” I said with resolve beyond resolve.
Never again would I kill from this day.
“Quack!” warned the duck.
I jumped out of the way narrowly avoiding the falling shards of glass that the duck was brushing out the window. Each of the shards penetrated Little Boy Blair across his body. He squealed. Blood oozed from each stab wound. The pond turned a darkened red, and after a few seconds Little Boy Blair stopped moving.
The duck had killed… again.

I looked over the bizarre Garden of Eden that Little Boy Blair had created for himself. With the pumping mechanism destroyed the garden would die. There was nothing left for me here. The D-MOB were now all dead. I left Little Boy Blair’s floating corpse. As I headed through the ground floor of the law firm I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from one of the many liquor cabinets.
“I need a drink…”
I swigged it straight from the bottle. My hands were shaking. The duck had almost killed me in its quest for revenge, but luckily everything had worked out…
I heard a large commotion coming from in front of the law firm. I gulped a few swigs down and then went to investigate. The street was now filled with people celebrating.
Michael John and Gan met me at the entrance.
“Did you get ‘em?” Gan asked.
“No…”
“He got away?” Michael John questioned.
“The duck got him” I told them.
They both laughed. After a few seconds they saw how serious my face was.
“Again?” Gan questioned.
“Yeah. She almost took me out with him…”
“I am glad you survived” Michael John said with a big smile.
“Me too” I said smiling back at him.
The crowd of people on the street were cheering. I soon realised they were cheering for us. They were cheering for two men wearing dresses and a woman wearing trousers. I had hoped that we had managed to show the town who we are. We are three individuals not confined by the society that attempts to enslave. We seek the society that embraces individuality.
Sheriff Putin pushed through the crowd and approached us.
“I think it is time we get out of here” Michael John said.
“You have to leave so soon?” Sheriff Putin questioned.
“You sound sad to hear that we are leaving” Michael John teased with a smile.
The crowd went quiet as Michael John kissed Sheriff Putin on the lips…
After the kiss Sheriff Putin pulled away, but I saw a genuine smile forming.

His emotions he resisted
But his facial muscles twisted
He tried to hide it behind his stone cold wall
But the stone cold wall did fall
He was vulnerable like a child
As he gave in and smiled
I saw the man that was always there
He was the Great Spirit’s black bear

I now knew who Sheriff Putin was deep down. It was the first time I was able to see beyond his stone cold exterior. Behind the cold hard exterior he was nothing but an ordinary man. He was the protector of the town. The townspeople cheered after the kiss. In fact I saw Bill and Mark in the crowd kissing. All the hate they had thrown our way was self hate. The monsters of this world had twisted their love. They were the victims of the most evil kind of men. The preacher before Blakheart was one such man. Although I had never met him I knew the kind of man he was. They often disguise themselves as men of God. They make their flock feel bad about being human so that they can milk them for all the money they are worth.

Gan grabbed me as she said “Let us go Whiskey.”
Sheriff Putin stopped us and said “I cannot let you three leave so soon. I need to know, how much was the bounty for?”
“Oh that?” Michael John said laughing.
“We did this for free” I confessed.
“So there was no bounty?” Sheriff Putin questioned.
“They all had small fines levied against them. So there was a bounty. It just was not worth anything” Gan explained.
“Ha!” Sheriff Putin laughed.
It was the first time I had heard him laugh.
“See you around sheriff!” Michael John said with a wave.
“Goodbye…” Sheriff Putin wished us.
As we walked off we heard the Banker screaming. The townspeople had grabbed him when he came out to investigate the commotion. He did not expect their audacity.
“Let go of me! This is my town!! My town!!!” he screamed like a fat spoiled child.
I turned to look at his pathetic face. It was gripped with fear; the same fear I had seen him and Little Boy Blair instill on this town.
He made eye contact with me as he screamed “Help me! Please you must!”
I felt sorry for him as I said “I am sorry, but you defaulted on your life a long time ago…”
He then screamed at Sheriff Putin “Get them! I order you to!”
“You are guilty of corruption. You sold stolen public gold” Sheriff Putin said condemning the Banker to his death.
“The gold was sold back to the government! It is not corruption! I assure you everything we do is within the legal definitions of the law!” the Banker protested.
His protest fell on deaf ears. The townspeople did not care. All that mattered to them was justice. They led him up the gallows as we walked over to the stables. I was not in the mood to watch a public hanging.
“Where is the duck?” Gan questioned.
“Quack!” the duck quacked.
Jojo had prepared our horses for a quick escape. We mounted our horses and then exited the stables. Hanging around after a bounty was not our style.
I heard someone shout “The bone dry well ain’t so bone dry anymore!” as we rode off.
Perhaps with the pond’s pump destroyed the well would recover. The town’s future was uncertain. I did not want to speculate what would happen next. Tomorrow is best left for the soothsayers.

We rode out of town. I could not help but think about the Banker. He got to experience firsthand the gallows that he had paid for. Poetic justice had been served.

…

The mescaline before the bounty sharpened my senses. It allowed me to perceive all dangers and see all opportunities. It showed me the way to safety. It showed me the way to success. I found peace and solace in it. But looking back and seeing it all… seeing the complete past and the complete present I see things for how they are.
Ultimately limited…
I am left with a profound sorrow; a sorrow that no matter how much I know, I will never know it all. Not in this form. More than that I see the world for how it is… and with my vast infinite imagination I see the world as it should be. There is a vast chasm between how the world is and how the world should be.
I would almost say that I regret taking the mescaline as it has allowed me to see too much; I now see the worst in people. But on the contrary I now also see the best in people. I believe in humanity.
This is a realm not for cowards. I have never felt so human!

Epilogue: What Lies in Wait

We all have a limited amount of time in our brief existence, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to spend your time around the people that you really care about. After the bounty at the town I spent the next three months with Michael John and Gan. Every moment was beautiful. We did nothing and everything. Time seemed to last forever. I thought that the good times would never end, but a debt needed to be repaid… he called to me in my sleep.

“It is time…”

It has been months since I fell through the open roof and into the ruins yet it feels like an eternity ago.
I am now at the ruins, sitting in front of the portal door. The full moon light shines through the open roof and illuminates the portal entrance. I am ready. I ingest the mescaline and I wait for it to take effect.

I cannot help but watch the clouds that float above. They hang in the sky looking like grey silk cloths. As they pass over the moon it remains visible. Its radiant soft white light penetrates through the silk sheets. The potency and sheer brightness of the moon brings me to awe. Eventually the grey silk blanket is drawn and the moon shines full force. The pure white light from the moon seems to shimmer and trickle down the portal door. Ancient runes appear in its carving. They are always there, but only now are they visible…

The portal begins to open as the soft light from the moon illuminates the passage. The moonlight focuses on the portal. It almost becomes blinding, but still I watch intently. I feel the pressure of a hand pressing down on my shoulder. I am not alone. I look to my left, but there is no one there. I look to my right. Blues is standing beside me. He does not look like an apparition from a dream, but instead like a solid flesh and blood being. He smiles at me, but the smile quickly fades as his face turns sober. He and I both know that this will be no walk in the park, but then again neither of us truly knows what lies in wait.
The portal door has fully opened. The blinding moonlight shines the way. I see it all… everything and nothing. Blues and I both stare into the vast realm of the infinite. We enter.

Our journey has just begun…

Epipoem: The Infinity

There is no ending of beginning
Just the infinity ever continuing...

THE END

Previously...

Chapter 1

@RiskDebonair
Irish Writer, Poet, & Lover

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