By: Connor Pohlman, Creative Corner & Opinion Editor
Last time, in Admix...
Moose and his distasteful companion Buffalo trudged along the blazing New Mexico road after Buffalo's car broke down in pursuit of their targets. While traversing the lonely roads, the two men come across a hospitable stranger, who offered a meal and place to spend the cold desert night. The mysterious man called himself Cobb.
Moose rubbed his eyes tiredly, and rose to his feet, squinting his eyes to perceive his surroundings in the dark and cold night. The stars in the sky were so heavy there could've been a million.
“What are you doing?” Moose asked him.
He watched as Buffalo picked up a last item on the ground and stuffed it into his bag, turning around to face him. Moose crept forward on the dry ground, like a sheep following his herder. He looked down at Cobb, whose bountiful possessions were now barren, just as the desert ground he laid on. The only item left on the ground was an open book, blazing the titles, “LUKE 10” and “LUKE 11" in each corner. A yellow highlighter covered the parables from lines 25-37 on the welcoming pages. Moose shifted his gaze back to Buffalo, who carried two bags on each of his shoulders. As he confronted him, Moose held one of the bags directly into his chest, which stumbled him for a moment. When he looked into it, he found his own belongings, already prepared for the expedition. Moose walked next to his counterpart for many minutes, but his better self could not bear the inaction any longer.
“You just robbed that man” Moose accused, now angrily walking next to the expressionless Buffalo.
Buffalo continued his walk, only adjusting the bag over his shoulder tighter.
“And you touched my things too” Moose continued, raising his bag into Buffalo’s face. “How do I know you didn’t take my stuff too?”
“You don't,” Buffalo replied.
“Cobb welcomed us like lifelong friends after just meeting us, and that’s how you repay him” Moose spat back.
“You can always go back to him if you want, nothing’s stopping you, but last I checked you’re right along next to me” Buffalo told him.
Moose continued forward, his eyes dead ahead to the ground. He couldn’t bother to look at the man in his face. He didn’t even know if he deserved that pleasantry anymore.
“He was an escaped prisoner from County. Just miles away” Buffalo told him.
“That doesn’t matter, he was clearly trying to be better,” Moose said, finally speaking with a raised bravado in his tone. “He treated us like guests in his home, one of the most selfless acts I’ve ever seen a person do. And… and he had a Bible.”
“So he must be good then, right?” Buffalo asked.
“Yes,” Moose answered sternly.
Buffalo let out a small chuckle, the first one he had all along their journey.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine, then. He’s got the lord watching out for him” Buffalo said with a sarcastic tone.
A sour expression came across Moose’s face, angry at his legs for continuing to follow without dispute.
“Is it really theft if I’m stealing from a criminal?” Buffalo asked him, pulling a fresh toothpick from his breast pocket.
“Yes. Yes it is” Moose told him. “And you? You’re not a criminal?” Moose confronted, clearly able to decipher the shaded past that Buffalo carried with him.
“No. Criminals get caught.”