First Page of New Story

The following is the first page of a new story. I'm about 30,000 words into it. Just thought I would throw a bone to the 7 people who read my stuff. It's unedited so the grammar is probably terrible.


Dusk gave way to darkness with the sun setting behind the tall, thin southern pines. The light purple, orange and pink colors dissolved as the sky’s picture faded to black. The old, ragged barn was her home for the night. It was cold, not freezing, but cold enough for a blanket. She found two torn, dry-rotted horse blankets hanging on rusty nails. Using the least dusty and stained as a pillow, she covered her cold, shaking body with the other. Leigh Beth curled up on a bed of hay she gathered from the nearby pile; trying to forget the regretful Friday.

Her memory took her back to the morning. She didn’t want to go but her mind took over. Fighting the horrific flashes became overwhelming and she reluctantly allowed her mind to take her to the bloody memories. Leigh Beth’s boyfriend, Johnny Norris, planned the entire robbery. Convincing her it would be safe and no one would get hurt, she reluctantly went along with his plan. Shivered from the cold while sweating from the memories, Leigh Beth lay on the hay recalling every detail as a horror movie replaying in her confused mind.

Johnny was a troubled soul. He had been in and out of the local juvenile detention center three times for minor offenses. His attitude of reckless abandon pushed the boundaries of common decency. He was a true rebel. Fitting the stereotype of a hoodlum, Johnny had three tattoos; one of a flaming skull on his left bicep, a tribal band on his right and Leigh Beth’s name in old English script between his shoulder blades.

Remembering the robbery, Leigh Beth lay with tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. Tasting her salty tears, she wiped her mouth. Johnny promised it would be simple. They would use the money to start a new life in Mexico. What am I going to do now she thought? Where am I going to go?

Johnny planned the robbery for weeks. Because his father was the bank president and a local alderman who served the city council for twenty years, Johnny knew the armored truck delivery schedule. Once every three months, the quarterly deposits were delivered to the First National Bank in downtown Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Pine Bluff is a small rural town of about fifty-five thousand residents. The sleepy southern town was the last place anyone would suspect a major robbery.

“It’s perfect,” Johnny told Leigh Beth as they left for the bank.

“The truck will be at the bank at ten o’clock sharp. All we have to do is wait for the guard to open the back door, push him out of the way, grab as many bags as we can and leave. It’s fool proof.”