THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
GOES WEST
The Trusty Three-Shooter
By Bob Allen
“The fruit of the
Spirit is…faith.” (Galatians 5:22)
“Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 1:2
Rocky Rhodes – A true-blue, rootin’-tootin’
Western cowboy.
Billy,
the Kid -
A young, un-tested gun-slinger.
BILLY
WALKS DOWN THE CENTER
OF TOWN, GUN AND HOLSTER
STRAPPED TO HIS SIDE, LOOKING FOR THE LOCAL GUNSLINGER, DEVLIN. HE STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, TRIES A
QUICK-DRAW WITH HIS REVOLVER, ATTEMPTS TO SPIN IT AROUND HIS FINGER, AND
REPLACES IT IN THE HOLSTER. THEN HE
STARES DOWN THE STREET WAIITNG FOR DEVLIN TO APPEAR. ROCKY WALKS UP BEHIND HIM AND STARTLES HIM WITH
A TAP ON THE SHOULDER. BILLY GRABS FOR
HIS GUN AND SPINS AROUND TO SEE WHO IS IT, BUT HE CAN’T GET THE GUN FROM THE
HOLSTER.
BILLY: Rocky! Confound it.
Don’t scare a feller like that. I
might have blown
you to kingdom come.
ROCKY: I
reckoned that was a risk worth takin’. (ROCKY
HELPS HIM GET HIS
GUN LOOSE FROM THE HOLSTER, AND THEN HELPS HIM
PUT IT BACK INTO THE HOLSTER.) What do
you think you’re
doin’ out here looking’ for trouble like a one-armed bandit.
BILLY: I am
lookin’ for trouble. And his name is
Devlin.
ROCKY: Been
practicin’?
BILLY: Yup!
ROCKY: Ready
for the big show?
BILLY: Yessiree! It’s showtime. (DRAWS GUN.) Thought I might as well just start at the
top.
ROCKY: (HELPS
HIM REPLACE THE GUN IN THE HOLSTER AND THEN
WALKS A FEW PACES AWAY AND TURNS TOWARD BILLY.)
All right. Let’s see your form. On three.
One, two. You’re dead.
BILLY: What
do you mean I’m dead. You didn’t say
three.
ROCKY: You
think Devlin is going to count three?
Where did you study gun- slinging,
on Rocky and Bullwinkle? How about
accuracy? See those six cans over on
the fence to your left?
BILLY: (LOOKING
RIGHT) What cans?
ROCKY: Uh,
try your other left.
BILLY: (LOOKS
LEFT.) Well, why didn’t you say so in
the first place. There’s three Hires Root Beer, two
Classic Cokes and a Dr. Pepper.
ROCKY: That
is accurate, but I was thinking about your shooting accuracy. Do
you think you can hit them all?
BILLY: The
cokes and Dr. Pepper, but not the root beer.
ROCKY: Don’t
tell me. You prefer A and W to Hires?
BILLY: Nah. It’s my gun.
It’s a trusty three-shooter.
ROCKY: Looks
like a six-shooter to me.
BILLY: Right. But I can only trust it to shoot half the
time. If I put six shells in the chamber I can
be sure that it will fire three times.
Pretty good, huh?
ROCKY: And
that’s the gun you’re planning to use against Devlin the gunslinger?
BILLY: It
has deadly accuracy. Those Classic Coke
cans and poor Dr. Pepper
don’t stand a chance. (DOES A QUICK DRAW
AND AIMS AT THE CANS.)
ROCKY: And in
the meantime the Hires guns have each placed six of their own bullets through your
skull.
BILLY: (REPLACES
THE GUN.) But I trust my gun. It works perfectly half of the time.
ROCKY: You
can trust that gun all you want. But
trusting your gun ain’t gonna’
save you from Devlin. His guns don’t
mis-fire.
BILLY: What
if I go for the Dr. Pepper first?
ROCKY: (WALKS
BEHIND BILLY AND TAKES THE GUN FROM HIS HOLSTER.) Let me
give you a piece of free advice, Billy.
Never put your
faith in something that doesn’t work every time.
BILLY: Hey,
give me back my pistol. (TRIES TO TAKE
THE GUN FROM ROCKY.)
ROCKY: If you
promise me that you’ll stay away from Devlin.
(PUTS THE GUN
BACK IN BILLY’S HOLSTER.)
BILLY: Oh,
all right. (PULLS THE PISTOL AND AIMS AT
THE FENCE.) What
if I take out the Root Beers and leave the Cokes and Dr. Pepper?
ROCKY: (WALKS
UP BEHIND HIM AND TAPS HIM ON THE SHOULDER.) Still want to see Devlin? I think he’s coming down the
road.
BILLY: (LOOKS
AROUND WILDLY.) Devlin?
Really? Not really. Guess I’ll
be seein’ you. Don’t tell him I was lookin’ for him. OK?
ROCKY: It’s
mighty hard to be strong in faith when ya’ only got a three- shooter.
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