Steve Braunias: The secret diary of Simon Bridges

OPINION:

MONDAY

Rode into Dodge today and noticed things for the first time in my 14 years out here in the Wild West.

The way the paint had chipped on the walls of the saloon.

The rotting timbers of the post where I hitched my horse.

And the dust on the windowsills in the corridors of power at City Hall.

I ran my finger over a sill as I approached the office of Sheriff Luxon.

That used to be my office. Back when I ran for Mayor... Well, that was then, and this was now. Ain't no sense in broodin' on the past. I took a deep breath and walked into the Sheriff's office.

"Howdy, CML," I said. We all call him that.

"Howdy."

I unclipped my badge. "I been mighty proud to serve as one of your deputies and I know you'll make a good Mayor," I said. "But I quit, CML. I ain't gettin' any younger. It's time." I placed the badge on his desk.

He took off his hat. His head shone in the sunlight. "Not an easy decision for ya, I bet," he said. "Did I ever tell ya about the time I stepped down as CEO of the Dodge Stagecoach?"

He had, many times. All ol' CML ever talked about was his days as CEO of the Dodge Stagecoach.

While he talked, I made a list of folks I needed to say farewell to in City Hall.

TUESDAY

"See ya," I said to Grant the Banker.

"I heard ya leavin' us," he said.

"Yep."

"Very few of us here ever get to choose when we leave."

"Yep."

"Okay then. Go well, pardner."

"Yep."

I could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew he wasn't ever gonna get to choose when he left City Hall.

Simon Bridges answers his last question in City Hall before riding off into the sunset. Photo / Mark Mitchell

WEDNESDAY

"See ya," I said to Barry the long-time editor of the Dodge Gazette.

"Yep," he said, and yawned. He poured himself a cup of black coffee.

"Baby keepin' ya up at nights?"

"Yep," he said, and poured in a shot of rotgut.

THURSDAY

"See ya."

But she didn't say nothing. Just sat in her rocking chair, stroked the golden hair of the porcelain dolly she held in her lap and stared out the window of her attic.

Ain't no way I was ever gonna stay in City Hall way past my use-by-date like Whitey Collins.

FRIDAY

I met Mayor Jacinda at the saloon. She was leaning on the bar with a cup of rosehip tea. I nodded at her and ordered a jug of moonshine. It went down like liquid fire.

We both came to Dodge and entered City Hall in 2008.

People always said back then that I was destined to be Mayor, not her.

I put in the hours. I built roads. I built bridges. I built more roads, more bridges, but I guess folks wanted something else. Someone else...

She took a long drink of her tea and banged the cup on the bar. "Pour me a shot, goddammit," she said, and pointed at the moonshine.

But it was time. I put on my hat. I looked at the peeling paint on the walls of the saloon on my way out and ran my hand over the rotting timbers of the hitching post as I got on my horse. I spurred it into a gallop, and rode down the main street of Dodge, stirring up clouds of dust. "See ya," I shrieked. "Yee-ha!"

The sunset was glorious.