The Hobo Jungle

The old hobo staggered tiredly into the camp site,a loose conglomeration of cardboard shelters,and shacks made up of wooden packing crates and even a few canvass tents,there was a huge fire burning in an old metal drum which was lit mostly for light as the night was quiet warm.The camp was situated on the outskirts of town,and down by the river that flowed through this particular small town.He asiduously and quietly set up his small camp,he always tried to stay on the fringes of the camp so as to avoid other travelers,for he had long ago learned not to trust his fellow man,not when it came to the sort of people that had lately began to frequent the camp sites of the less fortunate,as they were sometimes called.He built his own little fire and boiled up a small pot of canned soup,the soup and a can of sardines would make up his supper this particular night.It was a meager fare to be sure,but he had existed on less for a longer time,tomorrow he would visit the local salvation army shelter and listen to and even say the prayers,and perhaps come away with a full belly and a clean set of hand me down clothing,hell maybe he would get really lucky and find a pair of shoes that fit,for the ones he now had on had seen better days.He ate in silent solitude,with the raucous sound of homeless men echoing in the back ground.He was engaged in rolling out his sleeping blanket and getting ready to lay down for the night when he was startled by a soft voice from the darkness.Hey Bo!ya gotta drink?the voice said,
he jumped and looked quickly from side to side,like a frightened animal,for it was dangerous here in the camp,and he was unaccoustomed to people sneaking up on him,in fact he prided himself on his alertness,having escaped many a dangerous circumstances by being
quick.A young man emerged from the dark shadows of the surrounding bushes.The older man quickly noticed how the younger one,surrupticiously glanced around his camp,taking stock of every thing in view,the older one did not like the young man on sight,in fact did not want to be any where near him,however he decided that maybe
if he gave the young man a drink of his four roses,the young man would leave and he could try
to get on to sleep.Opening up his worn pack,he bought forth his bottle of bourbon and offerd it to his unwanted guest,the young man drank down half of the firey licquid in one long and thirsty gulp,handing the bottle back to it's owner,he sat down next to the fire.Irritated,the old hobo told the younger man to get away and
find his own place to camp.The young man smiled
a curt smile and obliged the the old hobo by moving about twenty feet away,laying down on the ground,and promptly fell asleep and started snoring.The old man,feeling vendicated,continued
rolling out his blanket,laid down and fell into
an uneasy sleep.During the dark night,a form moved from the vicinity near where the young
man had camped,stealthily and slowly, it moved toward the place where the old man was sleeping,
creeping silently toward the shadowy form of the old hobo,it suddenly sprang upon him,with a sharp cry the old man awakend,but the younger man was faster and stronger,he silenced the cry almost before it escaped the old mans lips with one hand clamped tightly over the older mans nose and mouth and one hand drawing a sharp hunting knife from it's sheath,he stabbed the old man twice,slicing upward,beneath the rib cage,and into the heart with the first thrust,and into the old mans liver with the second.The old man died without uttering another
sound.The young man quickly found the half bottle of bourbon,drank it and threw the empty container into the bushes.Standing,he went to the still bleeding form laying on the ground,looked upon his handy work,smiled his enigmatic smile and viciously kicked the dead man in the head,still smiling,he wiped the blade
on the old mans blanket,turned and disappeared
into the dark night,as silently and mysteriously
as he had arrived....(the end)

Story ID:	1481
Written by:	Bobby O'neill Mitchum (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Fiction
Location:	phenix city Alabama U.S.A.
Year:	2007
Person:	SELF