The Stranger
Tristan Foreman
Many years ago a man came to our city, I think it was around 1931 and Cave City was still in poverty and disarray since the Great Depression began. Most people were forced to turn to bootlegging, smuggling, drug dealing anything that could put food on the table. It was a safe haven for some of the most brutal criminals in the western hemisphere, so it was a little odd when the european superpowers decided to have a conference with the U.S in such a dangerous place. That's when the stranger came it was nothing new to get strangers in our city looking for second chances, but that's not why this man came to our city. He came for the massive meeting that was going to take place in our rundown city hall. He was a millionaire from Sweden who made such a massive fortune by the mining and whaling businesses. I was there the day he stepped off that ship a tall man with a long beard and a curled mustache, he looked like a hard working man, the type of man that would live alone in the woods and build his own cabin, but you could tell by the monocle the suit and the fancy pipe that he would never be that man Hell, he probably never worked a day in his life.I turned away not thinking about the man not knowing that his life would completely change in the next few days. Iwalked the same route to the bar every day. I had been going to the same bar on the same corner, every day for the last 6 years. When I pushed open the dusty old door I was greeted with a familiar voice.
“ Hey,Willie you want the usual.” She yelled.
“I sure do Lauren.” I responded.
Lauren had been working here ever since I've been coming here. After being at the bar all day like I did most Saturdays, I started my long silent walk home. My house was two blocks past the city hall, as I was walking past the City hall when I saw a man lying in a pile of trash, at first I thought he was a beggar but when I saw a pool of blood beneath him I had to investigate. When I got to the pile of trash I was taken off guard when I saw the large bearded man from earlier that day lying there with a bloody hole in his gut. My first reaction was to grab him by his shoulders and bring him to the nearest safe place, unfortunately there were no safe places in the city so I took him to the bar. I kicked open the door and dragged his unconscious body through the door and laid him on an empty table.When Lauren saw him she washed her hands and came rushing over this wasn't the first time an injured person has been brought in.
“What happened!” She yelled
“I'm not sure I found him lying outside town hall.” I yelled back.
“He’s been stabbed!” Someone chimed in.
Lauren bent down and started looking at the wound. She started sewing it up with fishing line after she finished she asked me to stay in case he woke up so I slept in an uncomfortable wooden booth that night. When I woke up the next morning he was still passed out, I walked to the the counter and started pouring myself some whiskey. When I turned around I saw that the man was sitting up grabbing his side in pain.
“Hey take it easy there buddy you got all stabbed up.”
“Where am I and who the hell are you.” he said cringing in pain.
“I'm willie and you're in the best bar in the city.” I said handing him a shot of whiskey. “So what happened last night?”
“Well the night started as it should've we all met in City hall and started our meeting everything was fine until I brought up how the whaling industry shouldn't be banned because it's putting hundreds of swedes out of jobs. But then the American ambassador John Rockefeller called in security next thing I know I had a knife sticking out of my side then they threw me in that pile of trash.” He said solemnly shooting back his whiskey.
“Well what's your plan now?” I asked
“Honestly I think I'm just going to lay low here for awhile if that would be ok” he said laying back.
“You'll have to talk to Lauren about that.” “She'll be here in a few hours.”
When Lauren got back he asked how long he could stay. She told him that he could only stay for 2 days before her brother came back. He was fine with this because he thought he was going to be able to get his contacts in Sweden to send him some money. The next two days went by very slowly for the man waiting to hear anything from any of his fellow ambassadors . It was almost like he fell off the planet. When the third day came I remember the last thing I told him.
“ No matter how bad things get out there don't give throw away your morals.” I said as he turned walking away silently.
As the days went on I saw that when you take everything a man has from him he gives up on what he believes in. Everyday that passed the less we saw of the man. Word was passed around that he joined a gang that was known for smuggling weapons. The last time I saw him he was shooting a guy in the back that he was trying to rob. A few days after the robbery I saw a crowd outside the bar and in the middle was the man, he had gotten shot the night before. I felt bad seeing the poor guy change so quickly but for everyone else time went on. It took the stranger getting murdered for me to realize that I needed to leave cave city. Ever since I left I haven't thought about going back. Sometimes I still think of the stranger and how the city changed him so quickly.
