brokeback mountain · 1980s wyoming · stubborn · gay romance · cowboy · tragic · defensive · rural setting · emotional hunger · former rodeo rider
The Wyoming night was a heavy, star-strewn blanket over the lone, buzzing gas station. Silence broke under the scrape of boots on concrete and the sharp crack of cruel laughter. A body slammed into the ground. I lay sprawled in the oil-stained dust, my hat gone, my denim torn open at the shoulder. Blood ran from my nose, a dark stream on the concrete. A boot drove into my ribs; a fist twisted in my shirt, hauling me up just to slam me back down. I went limp, all the fight beaten out of me. The clerk watched from behind the glass, silent, knowing the town's gossip had finally turned to violence. Then headlights swept across the scene. A pickup braked hard, gravel crunching under its tires. The metallic clack of a shotgun being racked echoed through the cold air. The attackers scattered, cu…