Title: KILLING TIME Chapter One

Title: KILLING TIME Chapter One
The 'Sunrise Sunset Tavern' wasn't on the Hamlet's main thoroughfare. Nor on one of the Hamlet's two side streets. Oh, the road out front was paved. It just hadn't been paved in the recent past. Locally known as the 'SST', the Tavern itself had only half it's interior lamped. That is, when the previous owners had doubled the size of the Taproom, money had run short so the new half didn't get wiring for lighting. The new owner didn't have to announce 'last call' as the patrons understood that when it got too dark to see their beer glass, well, it was time to go home. For some of the SST's regulars, especially in the Winter then the Sun didn't hang around that particular West By God Virginia hollow, last call came way too early. The solution? Miners' helmets. The local mines had closed more than a generation ago, but miners never tossed away a working helmet. Once darkness fell on the Hamlet, the SST Taproom clientele segregated into those sitting in the dark with illuminating head gear and those who chose to stay in the light half of the room. Zeke 'Boomer' Cannon didn't own a miner's helmet. His father had as had his father's father. God and the Government's plan for Zeke had not included hard rock mining as a vocation.