GONE, BABY, GONE My name is Jedediah Gibson. Most folks call me “Hoot”. I’m the oldest dude in town – just celebrated my 104th birthday, alone. None of my contemporaries, save one or two, are alive. I live in the town of Broadus, population 482. It’s located along highway 212, the “Warrior Trail” and the “Gateway to Southeast Montana”. Been here all my life, birthed in a log cabin by the town’s only midwife, July 4th, 1914. Paw died in France during World War One, so I never met him. Reared by my mom, Abigale. Didn’t get much learnin. Became a tourist guide until my 95th year, when I could no longer handle the terrain. Lately, strange thing. No one in town has the same memories as I do. Shoot, they remember absolutely nuttin that I done did! Struck up a conversation with Spike Mulvaney bout the gold rush in ’22. He said “ain’t been no gold rush; ain’t never been no gold”! Met the widda, Maribel, and asked how her old man was doing. Told me she never married! Asked for my usual at the town diner. Waitress said, “What usual you talking about”? Made a stop at the bank to get me some cash. Teller said I had no account! Hopped over to the stable to get my hoss. Had to get out of town. Blacksmith told me I ain’t got no hoss! Now, panic set in. My inners were churning. What the devil was going on hereabouts? Town folk seemed to know me, but everything I remembered, they didn’t! Hurried over to my friend, Ole Bart Boone. Asked what was going on. He didn’t notice anything different and had no recollection ‘bout my past! Now, just quivering with fear, I went back to my cabin in the woods. It tweren’t thar! On the way back to town, I went into the cemetery, as I did every day, to talk to my wife. She passed some twenty years ago. Her tombstone was gone! In its place was another. On it was my name, “BORN JULY 4,1914; DIED JULY 4, 2000”. I ran as far as my old legs would carry me, back into town. Only there was no town! Nothing! I was alone, left to wander the hills of Broadus, looking for I don’t know what! Where should I go? What could I do? Was there anyone to talk to? These questions were never answered as I slowly dissolved into the mountain mist, taken to a place I had never been. It is a happy place…GONE, BABY, GONE My name is Jedediah Gibson. Most folks call me “Hoot”. I’m the oldest dude in town – just celebrated my 104th birthday, alone. None of my contemporaries, save one or two, are alive. I live in the town of Broadus, population 482. It’s located along highway 212, the “Warrior Trail” and the “Gateway to Southeast Montana”. Been here all my life, birthed in a log cabin by the town’s only midwife, July 4th, 1914. Paw died in France during World War One, so I never met him. Reared by my mom, Abigale. Didn’t get much learnin. Became a tourist guide until my 95th year, when I could no longer handle the terrain. Lately, strange thing. No one in town has the same memories as I do. Shoot, they remember absolutely nuttin that I done did! Struck up a conversation with Spike Mulvaney bout the gold rush in ’22. He said “ain’t been no gold rush; ain’t never been no gold”! Met the widda, Maribel, and asked how her old man was doing. Told me she never married! Asked for my usual at the town diner. Waitress said, “What usual you talking about”? Made a stop at the bank to get me some cash. Teller said I had no account! Hopped over to the stable to get my hoss. Had to get out of town. Blacksmith told me I ain’t got no hoss! Now, panic set in. My inners were churning. What the devil was going on hereabouts? Town folk seemed to know me, but everything I remembered, they didn’t! Hurried over to my friend, Ole Bart Boone. Asked what was going on. He didn’t notice anything different and had no recollection ‘bout my past! Now, just quivering with fear, I went back to my cabin in the woods. It tweren’t thar! On the way back to town, I went into the cemetery, as I did every day, to talk to my wife. She passed some twenty years ago. Her tombstone was gone! In its place was another. On it was my name, “BORN JULY 4,1914; DIED JULY 4, 2000”. I ran as far as my old legs would carry me, back into town. Only there was no town! Nothing! I was alone, left to wander the hills of Broadus, looking for I don’t know what! Where should I go? What could I do? Was there anyone to talk to? These questions were never answered as I slowly dissolved into the mountain mist, taken to a place I had never been. It is a happy place…