“this fellow here with the shotgun looks like he has some plans too.”
“darn straight i do,” the clerk shouted. he pointed the shotgun at thelma and pulled the trigger.
a bird, a blue bird, flew out of the left barrel and away into the sky.
“look what you did, pop,” thelma said. “that was the bluebird of happiness, and now he has flown away.”
the clerk pulled the other trigger on his old side by side. a white bird flew out of the right barrel and into the sky after the first bird.
thelma turned and watched it. “what bird was that?” she asked.
“probably the dove going back to noah,” slim said. “to tell him the flood is over.”
the general laughed. “you really know your bible, slim.”
the old man dropped the shotgun and sat down on the ground and started to cry.
thelma snickered. “that’s right, old man, “ she told him, “sit down and weep, like moses at the rivers of babylon.”
“it wasn’t moses that wept at the rivers of babylon,” slim told her. “it was the whole of the children of israel.”
“if you say so.”
“don’t argue with slim,” the general told her. “ i told you, he knows his bible.”
slim looked up at the sky. the blue bird and the white bird had both disappeared. “this is all well and good,” he said to the general. “but now what? what’s this great change of plans?”
“i will tell you later.” the general took a watch out of his pocket and looked at it. “right now, i think we should just get a move on.”
“where to?” thelma asked.
“yeah, where to?” slim repeated.
“the circus is coming to town,” the general told them. “i think it would be a good idea if we joined it.”
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