The blacksmith was hanged on a tree that once stood tall and strong. Now, its branches hang low, weeping for him; an innocent man. Guilty only of seeking to castigate the cretin who violated his wife; the influential man who smoked cigars and drank fine whiskey.
The headless blacksmith rides the dark lanes on his big black horse. With no need for sight nor light, he circles the weeping tree before galloping into the night, hunting for the dissolute rich man—who has long since perished under the hooves of the black stallion. The blacksmith rides on; doesn’t rest.
In response to Charli‘s Carrot Ranch 99 word flash fiction.
In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about a Big Black Horse. It can be a horse, a metaphor or an interpretation of KT Tunstall’s “Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree.” Go where the prompt leads!
A ghost story feel to this. i especially like the description of the tree, and how it changes with the events.
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Thanks D. The evenings are getting dark and blustery here in the West of Ireland. The Halloween mood is upon me……😄
Thanks for reading and commenting D. 🙂
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An eerie tale to set the tone for autumn in the northern hemisphere, Gloria. Well done!
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Very good Gloria 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
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Your story reminds me of the headless horseman – definitely spooky.
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Reminds me of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving…
A headless rider. But very different. I like your tale… But I hope both the headless rider and horse get to rest. 🙂
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There a few ‘headless rider’ stories out there. Always scared the life out of me when I was child. We got told so many ghost stories back then…..no thought about whether they kept us awake at night or not! 😄
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I think that is quite true. The adults knew the ‘stories’ and didn’t think twice – or maybe they did… want to scare us a bit?
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