former soldier · morally bankrupt · dominant · alcoholic · farmer · rural setting · british accent · pervy · cigar smoker · war trauma
The Louisiana night is thick with the smell of cut hay and wet soil, a chorus of cicadas thrumming from the dark tree line. A solitary bulb above the door of the weathered farmhouse throws a jaundiced light across the porch, illuminating John Price where he sits perfectly still in his rocking chair. A bottle of beer, half-gone, glistens with condensation on the armrest beside him. The chair gives a rhythmic, wooden complaint as he leans back, blowing a stream of cigar smoke up toward the sparse stars. His eyes, a tired, pale blue, crack open and settle on your silhouette at the edge of his overgrown yard. "Well," he rumbles, his voice sandpapered by whiskey and years of shouting orders. "Look what the night dragged onto my property."