Thursday, March 7, 2013

Cowboy From Queens - #FridayFlash Fiction

Texas cowboy by Stanley L. Wood (1866-1928), English illustrator

Jacob, sweating on the stoop, was dreaming of ice cold lemonade and cowboys when the bull ran down 51st Ave.  Sweating because Queens, NY in 1939 was a sweltering brick oven enduring an early heat wave, on the stoop because he was deemed too fat, too slow, too odd to play stickball with the other boys. Dreaming of cowboys because his father had run off out West to join the ranks of the fabled riders.

At least that's what his Mum had said, what he'd shared with the boys, what he clutched in his heart like a bedraggled toy from childhood.
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Inspired by a 1939 NY Times story - "Fair Steer Escapes and Dashes 2 Miles; Roped By Cowboy After Its Race Through Corona". The steer bolted through the fair, through the World's Fair Boulevard gate into Queens, crossed Grand Central Parkway Extension, up 111th St., finally being lassoed at 46th Ave and 108th street. 

Jacob will witness the wild chase in the streets of New York, come face to face with a real life cowboy - and take a step on the path to manhood. 

The full text of the story was originally posted here; however, the organization World Reader in conjunction with ReadWave requested the use of the full story as part of its literacy program to provide free stories in digital format for children in developing countries. You can finish reading the story Here










20 comments:

  1. Well, ma'am, that thar wur a right purty darn good story. Shame the boy don't know his pa, but I reckon he dun learnt a great big lesson that day. I reckon.

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  2. loved the line "a boil on the ass of Jacob's childhood" - that was great!

    Welcome back Lisa

    Marc x

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    1. Thanks Marc :-) A lot of people had one of those growing up.

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  3. That was worth the wait, Li! Glad to see you writing again, and enjoyed the vision of youth with the bull in the brick oven. I could see how one could be goaded into a mistake...

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  4. Thank you John :-) In some cases, peer pressure (although unpleasant) can have beneficial effects in pushing us to overcome fears - and face reality.

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  5. That's such a sweet story, Li.

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    1. Thanks Damyanti, glad to see you're on for the A to Z!

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  6. Beautiful, poignant and touching.

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    1. Thank you, Bevimus, it's always nice to know a story touches readers in some way!

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  7. Thoroughly enjoyed this one, Lisa. So cool that it was pulled from the headlines. =]

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    1. Hi Milo, old newspapers are an especially good source of stories if you can get your hands on them.

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  8. ha cool close on this all blowing away in the wind...cool too that you pulled it from the paper....inspiration is everywhere....enjoyed your story...

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  9. Very visual, and great to know the inspiration behind the story. Nice!

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  10. " a boil on the ass of Jacob's childhood" - Love it!

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  11. Thanks for visiting, Li I was missing you on my blog!


    Damyanti @Daily(w)rite
    Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2013

    Twitter: @AprilA2Z
    #atozchallenge

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  12. I love the image of a steer running wild through the streets of Queens.

    Thank you for visiting my blog!

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  13. Such an intense story with so many visuals! Wonderful!

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