External Text

I feel like a noob asking this, but i can’t get my external .txt file to load up correctly. I’m getting “{\rtf1” on my stage instead of the text in my file. So i think it’s my file, but i’m not sure what to begin the .txt file with. I know in AS2, it was the variable name, but we’re not in AS2 anymore Dorothy! My code is below, but i think it works fine. I think it’s my .txt file. Ideas? Thoughts? Name calling?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::CODE:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
var externalReq:URLRequest = new URLRequest(“myText.txt”)
var externalLoad:URLLoader = new URLLoader();

externalLoad.load(externalReq)

externalLoad.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, textReady); 
external_txt.x = 300; 
external_txt.y = 200; 
external_txt.border = false; 
external_txt.width = 50; 
external_txt.height = 20; 

addChild(external_txt); 
    function textReady(event:Event):void {     
        external_txt.text = event.target.data; 
    }