Thread: Country Uncle Nothingbutporcelain and Google

Bruce was a big man, both metaphorically because he was an important man in his small town, and physically. He stood a tall and solid six foot two and weighed two hundred and forty three pounds, very muscular for a man of forty four. In fact if not for the slight wrinkles around his pale blue eyes most wouldn't guess that he was a day over thirty five. Not only did he keep himself in excellent shape, still trying to hold onto the line man physique that had gotten him the scholarship that had set up the rest of his life. He liked to joke that while he knew his age his body didn't and he pointed to his full head of long chestnut brown hair as an example of this, no Grey and no thinning. But as those sharp eyes of his scanned the San Antonio air port lobby, trying to pick out his niece whom he hadn't seen in years, his mind was a long way away, a long way in the past instead of in Europe with his wife and eighteen year old son who had just graduated high school the trip had been a surprise treat that he had left early because of what had happened. Bruce had always been the golden boy of the small town he grew up in, he had not only been physically gifted and quite bright but he was also modest and kind hearted. His twin brother Earl had been quite different though, while a moderately talented athlete himself he had always felt like he was in his brothers shadow and this had made him bitter. As they grew older he had strove to bring his brother low and when Bruce had left for college, leaving him behind Earl had done the cruelest thing he could think of. With a case of beer to aid him he had seduced Bruce's lover, the young woman he had intended to marry and stolen her from his brother. They hadn't spoken very often since that day, grew apart and Bruce attributed this to his parents untimely death, thinking that the sorrow had hastened the heart attack and stroke that had killed his mother and father respectively. But Bruce had worked hard in college rather then let his brothers actions hurt him he had thrown himself into his studies, gotten married possibly out of spite, and a few years after graduation founded a small computer company that had been sold to Microsoft for a small fortune that lucky investments had turned into a large fortune. On the other hand Earl had gotten into more and more trouble during this time, the kind that Bruce would have been happy to help with years later if he had just asked. But he hadn't asked and as the final stroke of cruelty he had killed the woman that Bruce had once loved, just weeks ago murdered her and left his own daughter alone in the world. Bruce hadn't learned of this until already in Europe and had of course insisted that he would take his niece in, which brought him back to the present, standing in the lobby of the airport dressed in what he thought of as tourist clothing. Blue jeans, a black button down shirt, a cowboy hat and boots, and to top it all off a bola tie. He hadn't seen his niece since she was a child, no more then five and figured she would expect her uncle who lived in a small town in Texas to dress like this... so he also wore a smile to cover up how stupid he felt. Hearing the announcement that her plane had finally arrived, late of course, he held the sign with her name up higher, hearing a voice call his name a few moments later as he tried to recognize her in the crowd of people.