“It looks like his cover was blown,” I say. “It is bad news,” my new partner says, “This is my informer his name was Good News.” “That’s a strange way to put it,” I reply, “I’d rather say it’s bad news.” “Are you up to the job, Barbie?” the sheriff asks, “Are you ready to accompany your partner to catch that murdering scoundrel?”ĭick winks at me: “Come on Barbie, let’s go party!”Ī man is lying on the ground in the back alley. He can reveal the identity of the man who killed Ken.” My informer is waiting for me to join him in the back alley. He told me the masked bandit will be at the masked ball in the saloon tonight. “Listen,” Dick says, “I want to catch the masked bandit as much as you do. “Whatever you say,” the presumptuous playmothing says, “My name is Richard Dickens people call me Dick.” “They aren’t pink, they’re rose!” I clarify, “They were on sale. “Oh, I must have been misinformed,” the new partner that is forced upon me says, “Are you telling me your saddle bags aren’t pink?” I interrupt him immediately: “I’m called Barbie because my real name is Barbu, not because of my saddle bags. “I know,” the freshly arrived deputy says, “I’ve been told they call you Barbie because of your pink sa…” Actually, my name is Christophe Barbu,” I say while we shake hands, “I’m from Frenchtown, but everyone over here calls me Barbie.” “I sure can,” the tiny plaything says as he holds out his hand, “You must be Barbie. “He’s from Playmoville,” the sheriff explains, “He claims he can help us unmask the masked bandit.” “Rest assure, I was made for this line of work,” he says, “Look, I have a star printed on my chest.” The sheriff gives me an angry look, but the toy cowboy smiles at me. It came nowhere near the success of the movie I’m not allowed to mention.” “No one has seen that movie,” I reply, “It was a total box-office bomb. “A Playmobil ® deputy can be as good a partner as a human deputy,” the sheriff answers, “Haven’t you seen the Playmobil ® movie?” “Are you saying my new partner is a Playmobil ® cowboy?” I ask. I only see a Playmobil ® figurine sitting on my partner’s chair. The sheriff opens the door to the old office I used to share with Ken and points at my partner’s corner: “There he is.”Īt first sight, there’s no one in the room. I’ll introduce him to you, but let me warn you: whatever you say, don’t mention the LEGO ® movie.” “I’ve found you a new partner,” the sheriff says when I show up at the office, “He’s from out of town. I could have sworn we hit him with at least one of our bullets, but the villain shot back. My partner Ken and I had been chasing the masked bandit for many months. The sheriff had given me the week off after my partner’s funeral, but I reported back for duty three days later. More specifically in the context of the prompt: "Write a magical realism story that takes place in the Wild West." The Masked Bandit This story was written for the Reedsy contest "Genre-Blending".
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