QUICK DRAW MACGRAW

SAVING THE SODA SHOPPE
BY DOVE

 It was a hot and dust day in the town of Painting , Arizona.  Everything was hot and dusty.  Yep! That’s what I said, hot and dusty! Ah mean to tell ya, it was one o’ the worst hot and dusty days that Ah had ever seen in ol’ Painting.

  You might ask me how dry it was that day in Painting.  Well, pardner, it was so dry that even the rattlers in the desert were gong crazy with thirst.  The Cactus were dryin up and cryin for water.  Yep pardner, it was dry all right.  Well to get on with my story.  I’m Story Jones, they just call me Story, yep, that’s what they call me.

Ya see, Painting was in real need of someone to help us.  We had to have water and fast.  People was going sun crazy real fast. Yep, they was.  Ya know, sun crazy is no fun. And them thar people were going sun crazy so fast that you couln’t even count em.

They knew it was just a matter of time, afore the ol’ horses had to go. Yes   sireee, they would have to shoot them thar horses cause they drank too  much water. Yes sireee, we was in a real tight fix alright.  And the whole town knew who done the deed that brought this here drought.  It was

QUICK DRAW  MACGRAW!  Why that feisty lil youngun.  He was always letting that paint brush get him in trouble.  But this time he’s done gone too far.

Ya see the night that Quick Draw was born, his mamma put a paint brush in his little hand, cause they didn’t have ‘nuf money for a rattle.  Well, we spect that there brush had magic in it.  If he awants to, he can paint the mountains with snow, by gall, them thar mountains will have real honest to God snow.  He can paint out a person if’n he’s a mind too.  Well this little varmit just turned our lil mountain town into a desert. Galdarn him.  All our trees are gone and the river and the creeks dried up too.  And we can’t even open the Soda Shoppe cause the horses can’t get to this here town.  There’s just no water tween here and the next town.

Well, Quick Draw knew just what he had done.  Boy was he scared.  He hadn’t meant to dry up the town.  He had just used the wrong brush.  He thought that he had the brush with the green paint on it, and instead, it was the brush with the turpentine.  When he brushed it across the trees and creeks, they disappeared.  He wanted to undo what he had done, but he didn’t quite know how.  Oh my what was he going to do now.  

What do you think he did?  Well, you’r close.  But here is what he did.  He laid down and went to sleep!  Yep, he just laid right down under a cactus and went to sleep.

While Quick Draw was sleeping, the magic man came to him in his dreams, you see that lil black bag that magic man has?  Well, in that bag is all kinds of magic things.  And sometimes when Quick Draw gets into trouble with that paint brush of his, the magic man will come and help him.  And if Quick Draw ever needed help, he sure needed it now.

“I say there old chap!  You have gotten yourself into real snit of trouble this time I see.” The magic man sounded like he was talking with a mouth full of marbles.  Quick Draw guessed all Englishmen sounded like that.  “I didn’t mean too, I just wasn’t paying attention and picked up the wrong brush.”

“I say there, that seems to be your biggest problem Quick Draw.  You are never paying attention.  I can’t keep popping in here to pluck you out of some sticky wicket or another you know!”

Quick Draw blinked back the tears, and said, “ I know you can’t but if you will help me this time I won’t ever call on you again.  And besides that, the whole town and all of the little critters are suffering because of what I did,”

“Well, I suppose that I can help you this time, but you must pay attention to what I am going to tell you now, you hear?”  Quick Draw nodded, blinked back the tears and smiled.

“You have to do exactly as I tell you or this sticky wicket will get a whole lot sticker.  Now then,  here is some magic dust, you are to mix it with your paint. And then you are to paint the trees, river and creek back into the picture.  Don’t paint anything else or you won’t have enough magic dust.  Do you understand ol’ chap?”

Quick Draw could only nod, the magic man patted him on the head, and when he did, Quick Draw woke up from his dream.

Why this little guy was so excited, that he went right to his paints.  But as he was getting the paints set up, he got this tremendous craving for a soda.  I know what I will do, he thought.  I will paint the creek first and then the Soda Shoppe, then I can go get a soda to drink while I finish painting the river and trees.  So that is just what Quick Draw did, forgetting all about what the magic man had told him.  When the painting of the Soda Shoppe was done, Quick Draw ambled over to get himself a sodepop.

When Quick Draw got back to his paints, he let out a cry ya could’a heard from Painting to the next town.  His paints had all dried up.  Now what was he gonna do?

Well, lil buckaroos,  if’n you want to know how lil Quick Draw gets outa this here mess, you’ll jest have to come on back and visit us again.  We’ll be lookin for ya!  Until then this is ol’ Story sayin, happy trails pardner!