500 Word Short Story
No Gold in the House
Scott A. Gese

500 Word Short Story

Max Cliff sat at his dining room table enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream with strawberries on top. A knock at the front door startled him.

It's darn near dark. Who would be calling this late, he thought.

He went to the door. As soon as he opened it, two men burst in. One had a handgun. They forced Max back inside and pushed him to the couch.

“OK old man, where is it?” Questioned one of the men.

“Where's what?” Max was bewildered, not knowing what they were talking about.

“Don't play stupid with us. We know you have a stash somewhere around here.”

“A stash? I'm no damn pot head.”

“We're not talking pot old man. We know you have gold and silver bars...and some money stashed away. We want it.”

“You're sadly mistaken, son. I've got none of that here.”

The kid with the gun put a bullet into the couch next to Max. “The next one goes into your gut if you don't cough up the loot you'll be coughing up blood.”

~~~~

Jimmy Catlin was Max's next door neighbor. He was also the head of the areas neighborhood watch group. He noticed the suspicious car out front and he could see something going on in Max's house through the window.

Being an ex-cop he had a good hunch that something wasn't quite right. He slipped his old .357 service revolver into his jacket pocket and walked next door. When he knocked, no one answered. He knocked again. “Come on Max, open the door. I know you're in there.”

The door opened, but it wasn't max. It was the kid with the handgun. “Get in here,” he ordered.

Jim walked in. Seeing Max on the couch he asked him if he was alright.

“I'm fine. These punks think I have gold hidden here. I tried to tell them I didn't, but they're not buying it.”

“Gold? What makes you boys think ol' Max here has gold?”

“We were tipped off by a reliable source. Said he had a stash of hidden gold.”

“Well I think your source was wrong, boys. There ain't no gold hidden here.”

“How the hell would you know. You don't live here.”

“No I don't, but Max is a good friend of mine and I know he doesn't have any gold in the house, other than what's in his mouth.” Jim chuckled at his own joke.

“That ain't funny mister. We have it on good authority. There's gold here and we want it, now.”

“OK, ok,” replied Jim. “Max, I don't want either if us getting shot. I'm going to show these boys where the lead is hidden.”

“We're after gold, not lead,” replied the kid.

“Well lead is what you're gonna' get.” Jim quickly pulled his revolver and shot the gun from the kids hand.

“Sorry boys. There's no gold in this house.”