According to Word this is 1,000 words including the title. Where Fanfic gets 1051 is beyond me, but that's what it counted. Anyway and that was before I wrote this part. This was my response to a challenge revolving around the seven deadly sins. I never do things half way so mine includes all 7! Enjoy! ~Jan~
Sin Most Deadly
Golden sparks twirled into the darkness. "Greedy, isn't it?" Scott spoke mostly to himself as he watched the last glowing embers vanish. Once more he stirred the fire, sending forth another spray. Again he watched the dance only to have the delicate beacons swallowed by the black night.
"What's greedy?" Johnny asked, coming back to life from his state of near sleep. He lifted his hat from his face and rolled on his side, propping up on one elbow.
"The way dark nights, like this, devour every speck of light." He jabbed at the fire again and this time both men watched the sparks fly up and disappear. "Gluttonous."
"That's sure a five dollar word," Johnny said with a yawn.
"I suppose it is. Gluttony," Scott rephrased. "One of the seven deadly sins."
"Deadly huh? That's eatin', right? Not near as deadly as this." He tapped the Colt that lay by his side. "Can't imagine a man eatin' himself to death. Though Mayor Higgs comes to mind as a man who wouldn't mind tryin'."
Scott laughed softly. "I suppose you're right. Gluttony would be just one of the sins he exemplifies. You can add greed, envy, and pride to his list as well."
"That's four, what's the others?"
"Lust, sloth, and wrath."
"Except for the one I don't know, think I've done 'em all and I'm still breathin' but poor Cesar wasn't guilty a none, near as I can figure, and…"
"It was a senseless death." Scott said with a sigh, reflecting on the reason they were out on this moonless night, heading home from a particularly difficult journey. Cesar, a Lancer hand but more importantly a friend, was dead. The boys had just returned him to his family. It was a somber moment, to say the least, but to Scott and Johnny, it was the only right thing to do.
"Most are senseless, Scott. You know that."
"True, though some men, are, more deserving than others."
"Bet you're wishin' we didn't drag him inta town, huh?"
Another heavy sigh was Scott's only response.
"Maybe it was one of them sins that did kill Cesar. I've seen pride be the reason behind a lot a men dying."
"I'm sure you have." Scott studied his brother through the fire's dart and weave. How many times had pride pushed a man to draw his gun against such an irrefutable foe? "It appears Cesar did suffer from that particular affliction. I confess to never seeing his pride as a sin."
"He was a man of honor and he found pride in that," Johnny mulled
"Now, Salvador will hang. Which was his sin? Wrath, envy, greed?"
"Reckon all three. Mad as hell Cesar was winnin', jealous of the luck the man was havin' and greedily wanting all that cash for himself. Yup all three. He never should a called Cesar a cheat though. Think a man could call Cesar anything else and he wouldn't a cared, but a cheat…"
Silence filled their small camp and Scott stabbed at the flames once more.
"That leaves two more, Scott. The one I don't know and probably the one I'm most guilty of."
An irrepressible smile pulled on Scott's lips. "Now, Johnny, surely I don't need to educate you on lust?"
"You know damn well that one's my favorite," he said with a smile. "It's the other one I don't know."
"That would be sloth, which is something you have never been guilty of nor will you ever be," Scott chuckled.
"Still wouldn't mind knowin' what it is."
"It's funny but many people think it means lazy, which you most certainly are not."
"Shhh, Scott, don't let that get out. I work hard to look lazy.
"And you do a fine job," Scott said with a nod and a smile. "But it goes beyond that. Laziness in the defense of virtue, that's where the true sin lies. And you, my dear brother, do as much to defend virtue as anyone I've ever known."
"If that was true, Salvador would be dead now."
"He's only alive because I stopped you, Johnny. It would have been a regrettable situation. He'd dropped the knife. If pride killed Cesar I wasn't about to let wrath do the same to you."
"Anger is a good thing, Scott. It's saved me more than once." He lay back down and covered his eyes with his hat. "Guess that make you wrong."
"Wrong? About what?"
"You once told me, you can't have enough of a good thing, but here's two times, Cesar's pride and my wrath, that proves you can."
"It would appear overindulgence can prove hazardous. I stand corrected." Scott settled into his bed roll, positioned his hat and threaded his fingers together over his belly. "I was a bit of a glutton tonight when Cesar's mother served us dinner. She was proud to serve up his favorite meal and found pleasure in watching us eat it. With such fine food it can be enjoyable pushing that particular sin to the limits. Don't you think?" Scott baited his brother knowing full well he would not agree.
"Oh I don't know, I enjoy eatin' and all but that's not the one I like pushing to the limit."
"No, Johnny, I don't imagine it is." Scott closed his eyes. "Let's see. I'd say you'd like to push Carmen, Maggie, Bonita, and the redhead Frank calls, Oh My God, to their limits."
"You've got that right. Only not in that order. Don't need ta tell you where I'll be tomorrow night."
"And I'll be right beside you, Brother, in the next room of course."
"I knew you shared my lust for fine women over fine food, Scott." He wiggled into a more comfortable position. "All I gotta say is, if lust ends up being deadly, I can't think of a better way to go."
"Tell me, Little Brother, who should be the one to wipe the smile off your face?"
"Just let it stand."