There once was a young cowboy named Carl.  He loved to roam the countryside with his friendly and loyal horse Spud.  Together they would wander through the cornfields, watching the sun come up through the hills on those beautiful clear mornings when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  Carl loved those days.  He enjoyed talking to the farmers as they worked their fields, and having lunch under the willows by the creek.  But more than anything Carl loved to sing.  He would sing as he wandered through the cornfields, he would sing as he went through the town, he would sing by the campfire while the sun set.  And when he sang the rest of the world became quiet. His voice was so beautiful that everyone who heard it would stop what they were doing and begin to weep with joy. 

The town shopkeeper Mr. Gentry would weep, old farmer Wiggins would weep, his daughter Eloise would weep, even the birds and the animals would stop their scurrying and weep.  It happened so often that the local store had to stock up on tissue just to keep up with the demand.  Carl would roam from town to town, spreading joy as he went.
 
 

One day while farmer Wiggins was planting some seeds in his field, he heard some rather cranky sounding voices through the bushes.  He peered over and saw two rather mean looking fellows with dark eyes and a scowls on their faces.  He immediately recognized them as Black Bob and his evil cohort Jimmy the Quick.  Their faces could be seen all over town on posters that said  “$50 reward for capture”.  No one had ever been able to catch the nasty scoundrels, it was said that they were so mean even the local sheriff had hid from them to avoid their evil glare.

Farmer Wiggins jumped up and quickly ran to warn everyone in the town.  That night the townspeople gathered to try to figure out if there was anything they could do to get rid of Black Bob and Jimmy the Quick.  But the townspeople were not fighting people and it seemed that they were all very afraid of these men whose evil glare was said to stop anyone in their tracks and make them cower in fear.  (insert knee shaking and teeth chattering sounds here.)  Just when the townspeople had given up all hope, they heard a familiar sound in the distance.  It was the voice of Carl!  As he approached the townspeople asked him to help with their plight.  Carl thought for a moment and said, “But what can I a simple cowboy do?  All I have is a rope and my horse.” 

At that moment they heard footsteps approaching and the most evil and despicable voice they had ever heard, “Who here wants to deal with me, Black Bob, the most sinister outlaw in the county?”  The townspeople cowered in fear, not wanting to look into the face with that evil glare. Carl turned to face Black Bob, he stared into those dark eyes not knowing what to do.  I could try to rope him, Carl thought.  But I’m not very good with a rope.  I would probably miss and make him angry. Maybe I could try and make friends with him, ask him to stay for dinner.  But one look into that face told Carl that Black Bob’s heart was as cold as a frozen creek in the wintertime. 

Suddenly, all at once Carl knew what he had to do, the only thing he could do, it was worth a shot.  He began to sing… 

The words flowed out of Carl’s mouth and into the ears of Black Bob and Jimmy the Quick like syrup onto hot pancakes.  Slowly something changed in those dark eyes, they became a bit softer, kinder. Black Bob’s lower lip began to tremble.  His whole body shook for a moment and he then broke out into huge wailing sobs.  Black Bob dropped to his knees and begged Carl to stop.  Carl sang on.  Black Bob clasped his hand to his chest as if his heart was going to break, buckets of tears flowed from his eyes. 
 
 

Then a stranger thing happened…he started to sing along.  On and on they sang, the townspeople passed around many boxes of Tissue.  Black Bob and Jimmy the Quick hugged each other, the evil in them had burst into a million pieces during the first few notes of Carl’s song.  Together they all wept with joy, the town had been saved. 

That evening the townspeople thanked Carl by having a huge dinner in his honor.  They asked him to stay in the town and be an honorary sheriff.  But Carl refused, he loved the open field and sitting under the stars at night, nothing could keep him from that.  And later that evening he strode off into the sunset, him and Spud, singing as they went.

After a two month stint in the local jail, Black Bob and Jimmy the quick became regular performers at the local saloon.  Their two man show can been seen every night at 7pm.  Tissue will be provided free of charge.
 

Illustration Notes:

Page 1.  Cast of characters.
Page 2.  Image of Carl and his horse (with arrows).
Page 3.  Carl and spud riding through the countryside with the sun coming up through the hills.
Page 4.  Carl having lunch by the stream.
Page 5.  Carl singing in the town on horse.
Page 6.  shopkeeper weeping, Old Farmer Wiggins weeping, Eloise weeping.
Page 7.  birds and animals weeping, boxes of tissue.
Page 8.  Farmer Wiggins peering over the bushes at Black Bob and Jimmy the Quick.
Page 9.  poster showing “reward $50 for the capture of Black Bob, and Jimmy the Quick”
Page 10.  Townspeople gathering & talking looking scared.
Page 11.  Carl greeting townspeople.
Page 12.  Close up on Black Bob’s mean face.
Page 13.  Carl imagining roping Black Bob, carl imagining having dinner with Black Bob.
Page 14.  Carl singing with all the strength he can muster, song flowing out of his mouth.
Page 15.  Black Bob with lip trembling.
Page 16.  Jimmy the Quick on his knees.
Page 17.  Black Bob weeping, singing and hugging Jimmy, townspeople behind weeping.
Page 18.  Dinner in honor of Carl.
Page 19.  Carl riding off into the sunset.
Page 20.  Sign announcing Black Bob and Jimmy the Quick singing extravaganza with their cutout heads, “Appearing tonight, live! 7pm. The infamous Black Bob and his evil cohort Jimmy the Quick.  Performing renditions of all the songs you know and love, including ‘You are my Sunshine’, and ‘Don’t leave me broken hearted’”
Page 21.  cut out scene? With cast of characters.
Endpaper. Birds singing or something with a cowboy theme or boxes of tissue.