Old Movies

When I was a kid, we lived within walking distance of the movie theater.  Every Saturday, they had a matinee that only cost us kids 9 cents to get in.  Popcorn was 10 cents and an RC Cola was 6 cents.  So for a grand total of 25 cents, you could spend your entire Saturday afternoons lost in imaginary worlds.  Of course, my weekly allowance was only 25 cents, so I didn’t go every Saturday.

But I went often enough to stir my imagination.  We watched Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Lone Ranger, and many, many others.

What I remember most from these old movies were that the good guys were always good and the bad guys were always bad.  In todays literature and movies, it seems that the hero in the white hat is merely a thing of the past.  Oh, the criminal generally gets caught in the end, but the cop who catches him is just as crooked.  He either has a secret drug problem, or he’s robbing from the evidence room to support his gambling habit, maybe even cheating on his wife with her best friend, you get the picture.

I like heroes you can look up to.  I know in today’s world, corruption seems to be the norm, but I try to make my main characters, true heroes.  Oh, they’re human, they make mistakes and don’t always do exactly what they should, but when all is said and done, my heroes still wear white hats.

Fire Light Fire Bright

The small north-central town of Glenwood, Texas is being methodically burned to the ground. Every few days another fire. Acres of scorched pasture, and skeletal remains of the once majestic trees that surrounded the township attest to the skill of the arsonist. Sheriff Dodge Brewster is frustrated by his inability to find even a single shred of evidence.

Several teenage girls in surrounding communities have been brutally raped. When the rapist finally targets Glenwood, the girls are not only raped, but murdered also. Deep in the woods outside of town, a Vietnam vet lives as a hermit. The people of Glenwood accuse him of every misdeed that occurs. The arson, rape and murders are no exception. They are demanding that Dodge arrest the vet, but new evidence in a turn of events point to his own friend.

Will Dodge be able to prove his friend’s innocence? Will he have to arrest him? Or will he go along with the townspeople and arrest the Vietnam vet?