Parched, desperate, Gabe crawled over the dune and spotted a town. A real town, with a water tower. He scrambled toward the vision, crawled up the saloon steps, and stumbled inside. “Water. Give me water.”
The bartender took no pity on the filthy, emaciated man. “Nothing’s free.”
Smokey plunked down a gold nugget. “Bastard!” The barkeep pocketed the nugget and filled a water pitcher. Gabe drained the pitcher and snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“You didn’t get the good nugget. It’s worth dying for.”
Gabe searched both pockets, found only a hole. He stumbled back toward the desert never to return alive.
An object lesson and a good story.