A nature reserve in Wyoming, US – 1973
Impossible plans
Wyoming.
“Well, Jack, I, uh … uh … please, it’s just not possible.” As usual, Ennis Del Mar didn't have the words. Ennis is a cowboy, but a modern-day version of it. Besides driving cattle on his horse, he does anything that needs to be done on the big ranch where he works. He has a friendly face, wears a beige shirt and a wide-brimmed black cowboy hat. His best friend Jack Twist resembles him, only he speaks more easily. “How is it not possible? We have to get some money and then rent a farm somewhere. We will take some cows and calves, and then we have an income.”
Jack and Ennis first met ten years ago. Together they herded an enormous flock of sheep in the magnificent nature reserve of Brokeback Mountain. They had to keep the sheep together, and at night to kill the coyotes who were attracted by the animals. The shy, introverted Ennis and the talkative, endearing Jack hit it off right away. For them, that summer was one great love affair.
Their cranky boss realised that there was something going on between the two of them, and didn't want to hire them the next year. For four years they had no contact, but then suddenly Jack showed up. How happy Ennis was to see his friend once again, his great love. At once he took a few days off, and together they went to camp at Brokeback Mountain.
The mutual feelings were as before. Now Jack came to visit Ennis every few months to go fishing at Brokeback Mountain. But in the end this was not enough for Jack, he missed Ennis too often, too much. He wanted to live together, on a remote place. He arrived with all sort of ideas. But meanwhile Ennis was married to a kind woman, and he had two daughters who he adored. Besides that, he was afraid.
Wyoming.“Jack, I have my life, I, uh … uh … have my two little girls … I don't want to lose them. Listen, when I was eleven years old, two older men in our neighbourhood lived together on a farm. They were not wimps, but tough guys, real red-necks … uh … One morning, the older one was found dead in a ditch, terribly beaten. My father took me and my little brother there. We had to see what he looked like. It had to be a lesson for us. Do you get that, Jack? You have fine ideas, but … uh … it is not possible, simply not possible. Every now and then, we can meet, like we are doing now, and be together for a few days … and that's it … do you understand?”
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Source
Brokeback Mountain (2005) from the American director Ang Lee is a beautiful movie about a hopeless relationship.
Go to:
= the next page: 'It was never my dream' - Goías, Brazil – 1974, story 133.
= the Table of contents, story 132.
