When I last did an installment of Mark Trail Text Only Non Sequitor Theater, our hero was in his cabin talking on the phone to somebody. That was four years ago so something completely different is going on now!
Friday, June 24th, 2011. Our first frame shows three men standing outside. A man with a rifle, our hero and a bearded man wearing one of those brown shirts with the tassels on it like Billy Jack wore in the movie “Billy Jack”. All three men have blank, emotionless expressions on their faces indicating that they are engaged in a possibly serious conversation. With his hand on the shoulder of the bearded man, Mark asks the rifle weilding individual “Sheriff, what’s the meaning of this? Why do you have a rifle on John?”
The second panel zooms out until the three men are blurred figures, even more indistinguishable from each other than before. In the foreground and taking up literally 1/4 of the entire panel is a Chickadee perched on a branch proving, to the reader’s relief, that animals do still exist in the world of Mark Trail. In the background the men continue their conversation which has nothing to do with the bird prominently featured in today’s comic. The sherriff says, with a look that one could only assume is stern, stoic blankness, “I think this man has been robbing stores in the community, Mark!” Mark, surprised that such an allegation has been made against somebody that is probably his friend or something replies incredulously with “He what?”
Our third panel zooms back into the three men, leaving us to wonder of the fate of the Chickadee. Did it fly away to search for food? Was it snatched up by a large predator? Is it still perched on that branch, watching these events unfold with the rest of us? We can only wonder on the fate of the Chickadee.
The three men look at each other with the same grim, determined, serious expressions that the wore on the first panel. The Sheriff has now stepped between Mark and the suspected burglar and in a keen display of detective work worthy of his title, says “On the last robbery the thief was wearing Moccasins, and your friend is wearing Moccasins!”
What will happen to our hero and his friend? Tune in approximately four years from now for the next episode of….
Upon google image searching “Billy Jack”, I found out that he actually wore a blue jean jacket. I have no idea why I connected that shirt to him. If you’re reading this, Billy Jack, I apologize.