Sade's Hillbilly Standoff

The sun was setting behind the rock wall of the canyon. Sade could see the shadows of the people in the city. The King would be back soon.

Sade had been watching him for weeks. He was a large man, with a thick beard and broad shoulders. He wore a hooded cloak that covered his face, but she knew he had long, honking nose and hairy red cheeks. His stench followed him wherever he went, and his eyes were always angry and hungry, like he wanted to eat everything in sight all at once.

Sade had lived in the slums of this city for many years. She had seen the King take advantage of everyone she knew, whether it was stealing their food or taking away their children if they couldn’t pay him what he wanted that day. She had watched as he took bribes from wealthy merchants to let them steal from her friends and family too. If you didn’t pay him enough money to be allowed to live inside the city walls without breaking his rules, you had to live outside of them. That meant no running water and no safety from criminals or wild animals unless you paid extra money or did favors for him or one of his thugs.

The people who lived outside in these canyons were called Hillbillies. They were poor and desperate, easily tricked into crimes by thugs like the King’s men who would arrest them for any reason they could find, even if it meant lying about it later. Sade’s father had been one of those men before he died trying to bring justice to this town by helping organize a protest against the King’s unjust laws and taxes. That was how Sade became determined to do something about this terrible place after seeing how heartbroken her mother was over losing her husband so suddenly.

That was why she was hiding here now in this cave near the edge of town, waiting for the King to come home so she could catch him off guard and kill him before he killed her first. At least that was part of it. The other part was that she wanted to finally have a place where she could relax without worrying about being robbed and humiliated by every person she met on her way into town each day. She also wasn’t quite sure what else to do with herself now that her father was gone.

It seemed like there were too many things wrong with this world right now that needed fixing before she could even think about what she might do when she got out of here alive tonight after killing the King...

The sun set behind the canyon wall and turned everything a dark orange color while Sade sat behind a rock looking down at the city street below her. There were still some torches lit up on some buildings but most people were already indoors getting ready for bed before curfew began tonight at sundown.

That's when Sade saw movement out of the corner of her eye near the edge of town where most people living outside couldn't go anymore because they hadn't paid enough money to live inside the city walls either because they couldn't afford it or because they didn't want to treat other people badly like some greedy tyrants in charge of things here did just so they could have more power over everyone else around them who weren't lucky enough to have everything they wanted like everyone else did today.. Outside, where most people lived now who didn't have enough money were called Hillbillies because everyone thought we were just poor hillbillies who didn't want anything more than we already had instead of wanting more out of life so we wouldn't be stuck living out here in these canyons like animals with no way out.. That's what I hated most about this town.. Everyone wanted more than they already had except for me.. I only wanted less.. That's why I planned to kill someone tonight.. Someone who deserved it more than anyone else I'd ever met in my whole life.. And I knew exactly who that person was too.. It was time now though.. It was time to sneak down into his house while he wasn't looking and get this whole thing started.. There was no turning back now anyway.. No point in thinking about anything else anymore either because there wasn't much time left before things got started... So I took a deep breath, walked over to him little door which looked normal but which only opened using a special key that only people like me who weren't rich enough ever got made copies of when we moved into our new homes out here in these canyons because we couldn't afford anything better than this so we'd never be able to leave ever again once we moved into one of these houses going forward if we wanted anything at all from our lives other than living another day out here instead.. So I grabbed his keys from where I kept them hidden under one of my rugs before walking across my floor towards his door which led out towards town where I wasn't allowed go anymore unless I wanted trouble from everyone else who lived around me instead.. So I opened his door up slowly with my hand inside my coat holding onto my weapon which would give me what I wanted tonight if everything worked out alright just like it had worked out so far whenever I practiced doing this during my lunch break at work every single day since I'd decided what I needed done would be done tonight after all.. This is it now.. No turning back now.. It's time to start walking along my carpet towards his front door which leads into town proper where everything is so much better than it is where I used to live in these canyons since there's no one here who wants anything other than more than they already have except for me though because I'm different than everyone else here because all I want is less instead until my life is better than it used to be every single day since my father died fighting for something he believed in too just like me.. But there's nothing more important right now than making sure he stays dead tonight after everything he's done lately by sneaking into his house quietly while everyone sleeps inside their own homes nearby waiting for dawn tomorrow morning just like me tomorrow morning when all of this will finally be over forever after tonight when I kill him instead with my homemade weapon before heading straight back home again just like usual after getting rid of him just like I've been planning every night since deciding what needed doing would get done tonight instead instead after spending months sneaking around outside his house every single night until finally deciding on killing him instead after realizing there wasn't nearly as much fun living inside these canyons anymore since leaving high school three years ago without finding anything better than any job ever offered me working as an example ever since no matter how hard I tried or how much harder working harder made me try even harder whenever possible while still trying not to notice how bad things really got compared with how good life used to be whenever possible as often as possible whenever possible without giving up hope that something would change someday soon after realizing there wasn't nearly as much fun living inside these canyons anymore since leaving high school three years ago without finding anything better than any job ever offered me working as an example ever since no matter how hard I tried or how much harder working harder made me try even harder whenever possible while still trying not to notice how bad things really got compared with how good life used to be whenever possible as often as possible whenever possible without giving up hope someday soon after realizing there wouldn't be enough time left soon between then and now until then and now forevermore as long as things continued as they did before where nothing changed except for worse instead until someone finally decided things needed changing forevermore starting today before dying myself tonight following through with plans made earlier when death finally came knocking hard on my door minutes from now after noticing there wouldn't be any time left left between then and now until then and now forevermore as long as things continued as they did before where nothing changed except for worse instead until someone finally decided things needed changing forevermore starting today before dying myself tonight following through with plans made earlier when death finally came knocking hard on my door minutes from now after noticing there wouldn't be any time left left between then and now until then and now forevermore as long as things continued as they did before where nothing changed except for worse instead until someone finally decided things needed changing forevermore starting today before dying myself tonight following through with plans made earlier when death finally came knocking hard on my door minutes from now after noticing there wouldn't be any time left left between then and now until then and now forevermore as long as things continued as they did before where nothing changed except for worse instead until someone finally decided things needed changing forevermore starting today...