Post by NotSoPerfect on Mar 26, 2007 21:36:33 GMT -6
So my professor gave us an old photograph of a man sitting on a dead horse in what looked like the late 1800's out west. Here's what I wrote...
After his wife died delivering their first child, Samuel felt that he had no choice but to go. With his mind a catastrophe and his destination unknown, he gathered a few meager belongings, tediously dressed himself in his Sunday best, and left.
He had spent his entire life in this city in the east. He was born there, attended school there, and eventually married there, so the only option that felt natural to him after his wife and child’s untimely demise was to head towards the ever-expanding west.
Samuel began his expedition on foot, because it allowed him to focus on something other than his emotions. For several miles he distracted himself with the jagged cracks in the pavement, the dull roar of the city, and his own uneven footsteps. However, he had never been a proponent of regular exercise, and he soon realized that this flaw would inevitably catch up with him.
He glanced around. There were several unattended carriages parked along the bustling street. He noted that their drivers had congregated inside one small shop to stuff themselves with semi-nutritious snack foods as they traded smug stories of their own wives and children at home.
Samuel vaguely realized that his current train of thought was all but logical, but he resented the drivers even more for it. He turned and walked briskly but confidently to the furthest of the carriages, where he expertly unhitched one of the horses and inconspicuously led it away.
With his new form of transportation, Samuel was aware that he could travel a much greater distance in less time and with shorter strain on his body. He was one step closer to completely escaping his daunting past.
Once completely out of sight, Samuel climbed atop the bareback horse and trotted even further from the bright lights of the city that he had once called home. He chose not to look back, not even for one glance. He had never been stubborn, or one to hold a grudge, but the injustice that had recently taken place had transformed him into a stronger man.
After several miles of adjustment, Samuel found the rhythm of the peaceful and compliant horse, and was content to learn that he could just as easily lose himself in the steady pace of his animal as in his own footsteps.
The two companions traveled for days, stopping only for necessary nourishment and rest. Samuel knew that he was pushing the horse for great distances at an unhealthy pace, but he could feel no sympathy for the poor creature even though reason told him he was being cruel. The horse itself, gentle and mild in nature, never slowed its pace and displayed no signs of complaint.
At last the two arrived in a stereotypical western town. As Samuel absorbed the scenery, he thought of various photographs he had seen of the West, and knew that this was his destination. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that this was where he needed to be. Almost in tune with Samuel’s excitement, the horse collapsed. Unfazed, Samuel checked it over to discover that the strain of the journey had killed it.
In shock from the pure absurdity of the situation, Samuel sat atop his dead companion’s body. He stared into the vast desert for what felt like hours, until he was finally approached by a local man and his ragged dog.
“You all right?” the man asked detachedly.
Samuel did not answer. He did not make eye contact with the man, but rather gazed right through him and on to the haze that rose from the ground in the distance. The man did not leave, but changed his stance so that he was squatting beside Samuel and staring into the same distance.
Samuel still did not acknowledge the man. His thoughts had turned to the horse, his horse. After all that had happened to him, his only desire had been to escape. That horse had provided him with the necessary means. Samuel turned over in his mind the irony of the fact that in order to escape the desperation and sensitivity of death, he had inadvertently taken the life of another innocent victim.
Samuel turned to the man next to him, and after a moment caught his eye. “I’m here to get away. And start again, I suppose.”
“They all come here for that,” and with that, the man returned his gaze to the desert.
For the first time since the loss of his family, Samuel wept.
After his wife died delivering their first child, Samuel felt that he had no choice but to go. With his mind a catastrophe and his destination unknown, he gathered a few meager belongings, tediously dressed himself in his Sunday best, and left.
He had spent his entire life in this city in the east. He was born there, attended school there, and eventually married there, so the only option that felt natural to him after his wife and child’s untimely demise was to head towards the ever-expanding west.
Samuel began his expedition on foot, because it allowed him to focus on something other than his emotions. For several miles he distracted himself with the jagged cracks in the pavement, the dull roar of the city, and his own uneven footsteps. However, he had never been a proponent of regular exercise, and he soon realized that this flaw would inevitably catch up with him.
He glanced around. There were several unattended carriages parked along the bustling street. He noted that their drivers had congregated inside one small shop to stuff themselves with semi-nutritious snack foods as they traded smug stories of their own wives and children at home.
Samuel vaguely realized that his current train of thought was all but logical, but he resented the drivers even more for it. He turned and walked briskly but confidently to the furthest of the carriages, where he expertly unhitched one of the horses and inconspicuously led it away.
With his new form of transportation, Samuel was aware that he could travel a much greater distance in less time and with shorter strain on his body. He was one step closer to completely escaping his daunting past.
Once completely out of sight, Samuel climbed atop the bareback horse and trotted even further from the bright lights of the city that he had once called home. He chose not to look back, not even for one glance. He had never been stubborn, or one to hold a grudge, but the injustice that had recently taken place had transformed him into a stronger man.
After several miles of adjustment, Samuel found the rhythm of the peaceful and compliant horse, and was content to learn that he could just as easily lose himself in the steady pace of his animal as in his own footsteps.
The two companions traveled for days, stopping only for necessary nourishment and rest. Samuel knew that he was pushing the horse for great distances at an unhealthy pace, but he could feel no sympathy for the poor creature even though reason told him he was being cruel. The horse itself, gentle and mild in nature, never slowed its pace and displayed no signs of complaint.
At last the two arrived in a stereotypical western town. As Samuel absorbed the scenery, he thought of various photographs he had seen of the West, and knew that this was his destination. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that this was where he needed to be. Almost in tune with Samuel’s excitement, the horse collapsed. Unfazed, Samuel checked it over to discover that the strain of the journey had killed it.
In shock from the pure absurdity of the situation, Samuel sat atop his dead companion’s body. He stared into the vast desert for what felt like hours, until he was finally approached by a local man and his ragged dog.
“You all right?” the man asked detachedly.
Samuel did not answer. He did not make eye contact with the man, but rather gazed right through him and on to the haze that rose from the ground in the distance. The man did not leave, but changed his stance so that he was squatting beside Samuel and staring into the same distance.
Samuel still did not acknowledge the man. His thoughts had turned to the horse, his horse. After all that had happened to him, his only desire had been to escape. That horse had provided him with the necessary means. Samuel turned over in his mind the irony of the fact that in order to escape the desperation and sensitivity of death, he had inadvertently taken the life of another innocent victim.
Samuel turned to the man next to him, and after a moment caught his eye. “I’m here to get away. And start again, I suppose.”
“They all come here for that,” and with that, the man returned his gaze to the desert.
For the first time since the loss of his family, Samuel wept.