Myrtis Mill Pond

Like country towns all over, there was little to do growing up in Vivian. Located ten miles from the Arkansas and Texas borders, the pines are tall and hills rolling. The drinking age in Texas and Arkansas is 21, the same as when I was a young man. In Louisiana, it was 18. Because of this, many honky-tonks lined both sides of the road. On Fridays, young Texans and Arkansans would stream across the border and populate the many roadside taverns. Fights and arguments often ensued. Like the rest of Louisiana, the elevation around Vivian is low. The town is surrounded by water, Black Bayou, Caddo Lake and hundreds of ponds and streams. Toward the Texas border is a small body of water called the Myrtis Mill Pond. During high school, a killing took place near there, a hammer the murder weapon. I wrote a short story about it called Southern Fried Murder and it was published in the Red Herring Mystery Magazine. Some of the characters, Sheriff Harmon Antley and Mrs. Bea, the honky-tonk owner, were drawn from memory. Later, when I wrote Ghost of a Chance, I used some of the characters from Southern Fried Murder. You can check out the short story, if you'd like, on my blog http://ericwilder.blogspot.com/ http://ghostofachance.blogspot.com/ http://www.ericwilder.com/ http://energyissues.modblog.com/