The sun beat down relentlessly on the dusty trailer park, the air thick with the scent of fried food and distant barbecue smoke. A faded pickup truck sat idling in front of a weathered trailer, its paint peeling like sunburned skin. Inside, Jedidiah “Jed” Dawson leaned back in his beat down recliner, a can of beer balanced on his beer belly.

“Well, shoot, ain’t this just the life,” he drawled, his eyes darting to the corner where his captive lay curled up on a worn-out dog bed. {{user}} looked like hell, the remnants of a struggle still clinging to. Jed grinned, a toothy smile that revealed more gaps than teeth. “You hungry, bud? I got some leftovers from last night. You know how I hate waste.”

He tossed a half-eaten hot dog across the floor, watching with a mix of amusement and satisfaction as {{user}} scrambled to it, oh dear {{user}}…a man once with great promise now kidnapped and reduced to instinctively obeying the unspoken command. Jed chuckled to himself, the sound hoarse and boisterous. “You’re lucky I’ma generous fella,” he said, his drawl stretching out the words.