Of Men and Whores
Max exhaled his guilt into the night air. A soft cry or plea escaped from the saloon window. They had forced their mounts to exhaustion today.
Ridden hard and forgotten, the upstairs doves enjoyed none of the appreciation and reverence reserved for the rider’s horses.
Come mornin’ the rough necks would swagger back to camp, spewing tales of conquest.
Who would tell their stories?
Max cast off his remorse and gathered the stories of the fallen angels; of loveless coupling washed down with strong whiskey and self loathing, of sisters and daughters, and desperation.
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There are more stories about Max, The Storyman at WWW.WhatsForDinnerDoc.Com
An Emptiness
Whiskey For My Men
For more Friday Fictioneers tales of 100 words or less go to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ website for instructions and to find other writers to fall in love with.
Tracey Delaplain, MD 
I love the comparison between compassion for the horses and distaste for the whores. Max may be a character you’ve used before, but he was new to me and as such I found myself wondering exactly where he fits in – the guilt of the first line suggests he’s one of the ‘riders’, but then he doesn’t appear to be forgetting the women as suggested, so I’m not sure.
Note a typo – upstairs doves (which I love as a description, by the way,) doesn’t need an apostrophe
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Jennifer,
Max is conflicted because he is one of the guys and I think he left a girl weeping upstairs, but he’s also a compassionate story teller. I’m glad that you felt the tension. Thanks for the typo alert. I have written for Max on my old blog. http://wp.me/p4oHp4-Kk
Thanks for stopping by,
Tracey
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This is gritty and powerful stuff. The “upstairs doves” was a lovely piece of imagery
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Thanks Neil. “Gritty” Great word.
Tracey
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That’s really well-described, Tracey. I could almost feel myself being there among the attitudes and situations. Classy, Doc!
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Thanks, I hope you were channeling Max and not the other cowboys. We are after all story tellers.
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Hahaha! True dat!
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Sounds so much like my life, how did you know? Super writing as always; “Ridden hard and forgotten” and it doesn’t mean the horses. Max has done a great job gathering the stories.
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Still riding these days Perry?
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A vivid reflection on life at its lowest ebb. And I too liked the use of the ‘upstairs doves’. 🙂 Well done.
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Thank you. It must have been a rough life for all in the Old West but especially for the women.
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A disturbing scene. The image of the ‘upstairs doves’ is beautiful – shows them as fragile and vulnerable. I also like the depth of character in Max – he’s one of the guilty ones, but able to ‘cast off his remorse’ and do something to make things better. Telling their stories is a wonderful way to validate the women.
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I like to think that Max is a thinking man and probably not guilty of abuse.
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I’m so relieved about that.
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Good tale!
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Thanks
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Dear Tracey,
Oh dear. A cowboy with a conscience. Well told.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’ve known a few good cowboys in my day. Thank you for reading and commenting Rochelle.
Tracey
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Gripping and gritty. Well done
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Thanks Mick.
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How well you depict the difference between the roughnecks’ attitudes.
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Thank you kindly ma’am. I’m glad that Max made it clear.
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Desperate time well described.
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I’m glad you liked it Sir.
Tracey
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Tracey, You took me back in time to a different era. If only one could “Exhale guilt”. Very well done. Enjoyed this !
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My people are Catholic so exhaling guilt is entirely possible and necessary. 😉
Thanks for commenting and reading.
Tracey
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I loved your opening line and thought it set the stage for the rest of the story extremely well. Drugs, alcohol, and derringers were an old west prostitute’s best friends. Not every house was as elegant or strictly ran as the Cheyenne Social Club (my favorite Jimmy Stewart/Henry Fonda movie).
I thought this was one of your best pieces to date, Tracey. Five stars from me.
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Thank you Russell. Perhaps Max is a Jimmy Stewart. I like to think he’s really a gentleman at heart and was just led astray by lust. It happens. 🙂
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Yes, sometimes we men tend to think with the wrong organ.
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This is most chilling… and I think most men are doing things they really don’t like just from sheer peer pressure… sharing those stories is a good beginning.. Love how you described the scene.
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Thanks Bjorn. Lust and peer pressure – powerful motivators. Throw in good old catholic guilt and voila a story is born.
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Sounds like a rough life for Max, horses and “upstairs doves” alike. Great piece!
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I think you’re right Ali.
Thanks,
Tracey
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I loved unraveling this – beautifully written. A hard life for all I would think with women at the bottom of that pecking order.
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I think so. It seems that women have always been at the bottom.
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This is so good on so many levels, I don’t know where to begin. I love Max, and the way he tells his stories. If only more men were like him. And women too, because looking down on, and sniffing noses at desperate women who sell their bodies, treating them like dirt, isn’t only a cowboy thing. And sadly, it’s still very much an issue. Great story, Tracey.
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It has always been so unfortunately.
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I could just hear Max’s inner conflict, swimming in guilt and torn between these two groups. He sounds like a loner type and a complex character. I can see why you’ve written about him before, Tracey. Great work.
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Things are never black and white for Max which is why I love him and give him free rein to use words like “whore’ in the title. Thanks Amy
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Reminds me of Clint Eastwood and The Good, Bad and the Ugly. I can even hear the soundtrack. 🙂
Lily
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I’d let Clint star in my movie.
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Fantastic writing this week! Max is aware of the situation, and rather ashamed of himself from partaking. Great story!
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Thank you, yes he is torn.
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A great story, delivered with slick penmanship. Well done! 🙂
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Thank you J
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I followed the link back to your first story about this character, Tracey. This sounds like a true tale of the old West. My dad was an armchair cowboy. I read about the real old West in magazines and saw a lot of western TV shows and movies. Well written. —- Suzanne
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I’m glad that you followed the bread crumbs. 🙂 Patricia.
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