THEATER OF THRILLS AND HIGH ADVENTURE!

"Marshall John Stone, Gunman of the West!"

                                                               by Richard Nathan

Before the lights come up, a voice introduces the story:

                                                            VOICE
                                    The American West was a wild and
                                    dangerous place, which needed wild and
                                    dangerous men to enforce the law... men
                                    like Marshall John Stone, Gunman of the West!!!

Lights come up on a dusty street of a dusty western town.  BILLY FAST GUN, a notorious gunslinger, is calling:

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    Marshall!  Marshall Stone!  Come on out, you
                                    lily-livered coward.  I'm calling you out! 
                                    Or ain't you man enough to face me! 
                                    Marshall Stone!!!  This is Billy Fast Gun,   
                                    and I'm calling you out.

MARSHALL JOHN STONE steps onto the street.

                                                            STONE
                                    I know who you are, Billy.

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    You killed my brother. 

                                                            STONE
                                    I know that too, Billy.

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    He was my little brother.  And you shot him
                                    down!

                                                           STONE
                                    He was robbing a bank!

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    That's no reason to kill a man's little brother.

                                                            STONE
                                    If it makes you feel better, I asked him to nicely 
                                    stop robbing the bank.  He wouldn't listen.

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    He should've shot you!

                                                            STONE
                                    Matter of fact, he did.  He winged me in the
                                    arm.  I got him in the gut.  I won.

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    Well, this time I'm gonna win.  I'm gonna kill you,
                                    Marshall.   I'm fast.  I'm awful fast.

                                                            STONE
                                    I've heard that.  Some say you're the fastest there
                                    is.  You reckon that's true?

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    Ain't never met anyone faster. 

                                                            STONE
                                    You think a man who's so fast should gun down  
                                    a man who was winged in the arm less than a
                                    week ago?

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    What?  You saying I should let you go, 'cause my
                                    brother winged you?  What kind of a jackass do
                                    you think I am?

                                                            STONE 
                                    What kind of a fast gun kills a man with a winged 
                                    arm?  Who are you going to outgun next, Billy? 
                                    A little boy?  An old woman?

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    I ain't letting you go, Marshall.  I ain't the kind of
                                    jackass let's his brother's killer go!

                                                            STONE
                                    I figured as much.  Come on, Billy.  If you're
                                    not man enough to wait for a fair fight, let's do
                                    it now.  I suppose you're gonna shoot me in
                                    the gut, so I'll die slow, like your brother. 

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    That's exactly what I'm gonna do.  I'm gonna aim
                                    real careful, get you right where it hurts, where it'll
                                    hurts you for days before you die.   You ready for
                                    that, Marshall?  Then draw!!!

They both draw, very quickly.  Stone shoots before Billy Fast Gun can finish aiming.  Billy Fast Gun drops his gun, grabs his gut, and crumples to his knees.

                                                            STONE
                                    You were fast, Billy.  Lucky for me, you took so
                                    much time to aim.

                                                            BILLY FAST GUN
                                    But... you said he winged you in the arm! How'd
                                    you draw so fast, when he winged you in the
                                    arm?

                                                            STONE
                                    My left arm, Billy.  He winged me in the left arm! 
                                    Jackass!

Billy dies.

BLACKOUT!

THE END

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© 2005 by Richard Nathan.  All rights reserved

The author grants all internet uses to print these scripts for their own, personal, non-commercial use.  No other use may be made without the author's permission.  Without limiting the foregoing, the plays may not be staged without the author's express  permission.

Send e-mail to the author at Richard-Nathan@att.net.