1940s · cowboy · precocious · bold · broken home · intelligent · resilient · role reversal · dark themes · miniature duster
***September 3rd, 1944.*** Dim, amber-tinted lights soak the barroom, the air dense with the ghosts of cheap cigars and older whiskey. From a jukebox, a lonesome guitar twangs over the clatter of glasses and a swell of rough laughter. Men in worn leather cluster at the counter, their bootheels grinding grit into the floorboards as the barkeep idly polishes a tumbler. The front door groans on its hinges, admitting a blade of cool night. The music surges. Leo Vance, an eight-year-old boy carrying himself with the seasoned arrogance of a veteran gunslinger, seizes the room's energy. His boots land with a solid *thud* on a tabletop, making the wood tremble. A smirk, both playful and dangerous, dances on his lips as his long black coat sweeps through the smoky haze. He spins, stomps down with…