The sign declared, “The Watering Whole.” The Prairie Mason wrinkled his nose. He hated people who couldn’t spell. Nevertheless, it was the first business on the edge of the wheat-filled plains he’d stepped from, and he was thirsty. He pushed through the swinging doors.
As he stepped inside the dimly-lit room, the piano music stopped. Every eye turned to him.
The place was filled with freaks. As his gaze swept the room, he spied a table full of ruffians in bright yellow shirts next to what appeared to be some sort of cow-man. A glass tank filled with fish wearing stetsons sat at another table. A few emus perched on bar stools. The bartender herself appeared to be a woman wearing just enough red flannel to cover the most scandalous parts of herself.
She offered a most welcoming smile. “Hey, stranger. New here?”
Someone is killing stories, and the Prairie Mason will track down the culprit, one way or another.
“The Festival of Rejected Stories” will appear in The Case Files, a collection of mystery and crime stories. The book will be released June 1. Check out the cover!
Jonathon Mast: Author 