Tall Tale Coffeehouse (OPEN)

[Billi Ivey]

((It's simple: We all have stories. A lot of 'em are short and won't ever make it into the posts we make on the forums, but they exist. Billi's family has a long tradition of sitting around and telling stories (both real and made-up), and I figure it'll be fun to bring that to SJS. The setting's simple: a coffeehouse at the end of the day. We're sitting around, and it's time for some tall tales, shaggy dog stories, and general BS. Come on in, set a spell, tell some of your stories.

Billi's are generally from my dad in RL, whether true or not. I find others in other places too.))

Billi takes a sip of her cappuccino and says, "My dad knew an ol' boy named Dooley. Now this is a story for all you curious types out there. Ol' Dooley was the question-askin'-est man my dad ever met. He NEVER shut up, allus wantin' to know about this, know about that other. So the night when a guy missin' his left hand walked in to the bar, well, that night Dooley's eyes just lit up.

"Now Dooley gave the guy a chance to get settled, get half a beer down him. Then he goes over an' sits down next to one-hand an says, 'Hey there, buddy, ah...how'd you lose yer hand?'

"Ol' boy says, 'I don' wanna talk about it.'

"Well, now, Dooley can' take that. His curiosity won't let 'im rest. He commences to askin' over and over, all dang night, right? Ol' one-hand is gettin' more an' more upset, and finally he snaps around to Dooley and says, 'You get you one question, an' then you gotta promise me you ain't ever gonna ask me another one as long as you live!'

"Dooley agrees, now. So he says, 'You gotta tell me, man...how'd you lose your hand?'"

Billi leans forward and says, "He done leaned forward into Dooley's face an' said, 'It was bit off.'"

She leans back, grinning and shaking her head. "They say Dooley died that night."