Story One: The Preacher in the West

Back when the west was still wild and the buffalo still roamed free, there was a town named Little Delhi in Montana that had become the place to come to. People from the east heard of their terrific shops, meat markets, hotels, and saloons. What was even better was all the farmland that was available just outside of the town. The lands were flat and wide and had many streams flowing. This made it great for raising crops. For many years people flocked to this town. Everyone worked together to help one another and this created a town that did not only thrive economically but also just felt safe. That was, until one day someone showed up to town.

One day in the middle of July the infamous bandit Joel rode into town. He was called the man of many faces because he would try to hide his persona from town to town. Nonetheless, some of the citizens knew his face immediately and packed up their things and fled. Others that weren't so lucky welcomed him as a new guest. Joel was known for going town to town in the west, pillaging and taking everything from thriving towns. It was early in the days of the west. Sheriffs and marshals were not implemented at this time. Joel was also smart about the towns that he decided to come upon too. He knew what towns were vulnerable by the way the people treated and looked at one another. He knew right as he rode into this town that these people would not fight back but instead would be fearful for their lives and do as he pleased. Joel rode up to the saloon and after hitching his black horse to the post out front, walked inside. Right as he walked through the double hanging doors of the bar he pulled his pistol from his side as quick as lightning and shot the bartender between the eyes.

Everyone froze, struck by disbelief. Joel asked in a low rumbling voice, "Well, look y'all's barmaid decided to clock out early. Can someone fetch me a drink?" Still in disbelief everyone just stood and sat where they were. When no one moved Joel pointed his pistol to a man in the back and shot him right in the chest. "How 'bout that drink now folks?" he said. This time a man sitting at the bar leaped behind the bar and with shaking hands poured a glass of whiskey for the bandit. Joel holstered his weapon and walked up to the bar with a crooked smile on his face. Sitting down to drink his whiskey his eye caught a woman holding the man he shot in the corner. She was mighty beautiful and he took her and went to stay in the hotel next door.

That same night, fate had it that a man that had been wandering about in the forest of Canada had made his way down to Montana. No one really knew his name but most just called him R. He quietly stepped into town and made his way to the saloon. He had had a long journey and needed something to drink. No, not the drink you may be thinking because this man wore a white collar around his neck. Yes, he was a preacher. The man that had served Joel at the bar was still there when the preacher entered. The preacher man could see the distress in everyone's faces and asked what troubled their souls. The man told the preacher what had happened that day. As this was told to the preacher, he began to think. "Well," the preacher said, "let me pray about these things tonight and tomorrow I would like to meet this Joel".

The next day the preacher made his way to the hotel where he knew that Joel was staying at and asked for his room. He went up to talk to Joel and see what kind of demons this man must have in his heart to do such horrible acts. He knocked on the door of the room and was confronted by Joel swinging open the door. The preacher could see a whimpering lady in the back. Joel said "what you

Preacher with his bible and pistol

want preacher?" The Preacher told him, "Sir, I am here on behalf of God to ask you to leave this town now. If you do not do this, well, I'm afraid you might find your spot in hell today." Joel did not take kindly to this and tried to punch the preacher in the face. Instead the preacher ducked to miss it and then challenged the bandit to a duel. This was comical to Joel because he was the quickest shot in the west. The two went down to the street where they paced back twenty steps and then stared one another in the eyes. Joel went for his gun first, trying to get the first shot. The preacher was quick though. He seemed to glow like fire as if the Holy Spirit of God came about him and he drew a gleaming gold pistol from underneath his sheepskin clothing. R fired and shot the bandit between the eyes before Joel could fully lift his gun to aim. The town was now rid of the bandit Joel for good and the preacher went back to check on the now widowed woman.

Author's Notes

This story came from the final battle of Rama and Ravana. Obviously it is very different but I used ideas from that story along with stories throughout the Ramayana. For instance I used the idea that the preacher had been out in the woods traveling much like Rama did. He battled against a foe that stole a wife away from her husband. There was an end battle where the hero used a celestial weapon to defeat his foe like Rama in Ravana's Death.
I had been listening to a bunch of country and western songs while I was reading the last section of the Ramayana and could not help but picture in my mind everything that was going down as a western movie. In fact I thought that this story could be a great candidate to make into a western all together. So, with a word limit that I tried to stay close to (sorry it is a little long) I used the last battle as an inspiration but also incorporated many aspects of the Ramayana into this western story. There is so much one could add to this, such as adding in a partner for the preacher, making the story a longer period of time, and giving the magical gun a better back story but due to a word limit these would be great ideas for other stories perhaps.  

Bibliography

 Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913), and the verse portion comes from Ramayana,    The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899)