Lil’ Ugly

The dust is already visible on the western horizon.  Those aren’t sleigh bells, that’s the
jingling of spurs; it’s Cowboy Christmas, that’s right, the Carrot Ranch Rodeo is coming back in October. The slack rounds have already begun with Charli’s TUFF challenge, which continues through September. Check out Carrot Ranch for fun and free writing competitions.

The August 30, 2018, prompt is to, “in 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about a bottleneck. You can be literal or use the term to describe congestion. Go where the prompt leads.” I was led to a bull riding event at an arena where the riders are less supportive than those at the Ranch.

 

Lil’ Ugly

When he drew a bull called Lil’ Ugly the other cowboys laughed.

Bow legged, barrel-chested, with a bottle neck and a jug head, he’d always endured a great deal of ribbing. They angered him but could never get him to throw a punch. He disappointed his tormentors by just walking away. So in addition to picking on his looks they rudely questioned his manhood.

As he approached the chute the others wondered which lil’ ugly was going to be on top.

For a full eight seconds they stopped wondering, marveling at what he did with his bottled up rage.