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About the Author: More than 50 of Tom Tolnay's stories have appeared in consumer, university and literary periodicals (including Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Hard-Boiled) in the US, Canada, and UK. A collection of Tom's stories, PROFANE FEASTS, will be published later this year by Scarlet Leaf Publishing House in Toronto, Canada.
Chewing on a swig of cheap whiskey, Pug, a logger, sputtered to Brendan, the bartender: “Government’s barking … up the wrong goddamn tree again.”
“Every gun-owner in America knew there’d be a knee-jerk reaction soon as that psycho stole the automatic and tore up those folks.”
“Helluva tragedy,” said the logger, his red-checkered wool jacket unzipped halfway down his chest.
“Really feel bad for the families,” said the bartender, co-proprietor, with his wife, of the White Pines Saloon: With moss thriving on its cedar shingles and a dented sheet-metal-wrapped door loose on its hinges, the tavern seemed to have been dropped by mistake, with little prospect for economic gain, on a plot of scrub-brush west of Glens Falls, bordering millions of forested acres in upstate New York.
“Same here, only I’m getting fed up with feds blaming law-abiding citizens for what some lunatics did.”
“It’s gotten outta hand,” the bartender concurred, plucking the five-dollar bill off the bar and tucking it into the pocket of his denim apron.
“Did you catch that liberal columnist yesterday?—digging up that dead horse about early Americans using single-load muskets so the Second Amendment doesn’t cover today’s weapons.”
Quite an ending! Very realistic conversation... Well done!
Very realistic conversation, captured me. Not so sure about the ending, not quite right for me. But I would be very happy to read more of Tom Toinay's stories his observational skills and story telling are excellent.
Interesting story, but I felt it was too descriptive, over-written. Once some of the characters' names were introduced, it would have been better to stick with the names when they spoke instead of referring to the logger, the hunter, the man in camouflage, etc. I had to keep referring back to see who, exactly, was speaking.
Great Dialogue. I enjoyed the story. Gun control is a huge issue in this country and Tom depicted the animosity and attitudes with accuracy. However, the ending left me a little cold but it's not uncommon for alcohol fueled anger and foolish men to kill each other. Good work here.
Interesting bar room discussion. Covered several sides of a divisive issue, but the ending was unclear and thus disappointing. Really well written though. Holds your interest.
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