“Four dollars per vertebra. Three-hunnerd for a whole backbone.”
Behind the counterman were bones, hundreds, hung in amber liquid in jars. I stood, back half-hunched over my borrowed cane.
“And after?” I asked.
“Back’ll be good as new. We take yer old parts. Don’t ask where we got what you’re gettin’ or what we do with yours.”
The mine boss hadn’t cared when my back broke. Sent me home in a wheelbarrow, no pay. God, the look in my wife’s poor eyes…
“And, I can swing a pickaxe again?”
“Million times,” said the counterman.
I gritted my teeth. “Once’ll do.”
Backbone Broker
- Travelin Corpse Feet
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Backbone Broker

A story of love, lust and violence and a man in a jam.
'"Well, Here I Am" My blogogna.
My Twitter feed, Scribblepodium, is good for a laugh or a cry.
- Mr. Tweedy
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Re: Backbone Broker
It's sad that the miner will be restored only to spend the rest of his life in jail.
Perhaps he should consider poison.
Perhaps he should consider poison.
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- ROU Killing Time
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Re: Backbone Broker
dert be a good'n fer a drabble boy...
"Never fuck with The Culture"
Sublime In Peace Iain M. Banks.
Sublime In Peace Iain M. Banks.
- Rish Outfield
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Re: Backbone Broker
Excellent drabble. Of course, the ending took me by surprise. I thought it was about one thing, turns out it was about something else.