Sunday Photo Fiction is a weekly challenge presented by my old friend Al Forbes.
The idea is to write a short story (200 word max) inspired by what you see in his picture (below).
When I saw Al’s cool photo today I considered rerunning last week’s bellicose offering, to preserve some of my very limited creative juices.
Then I thought about this pair of hapless heroes.
Click on this link to enter your tale, and see what others have written.
Copyright Al Forbes
Click here to hear me read this short tale:
The Sentries
Gareth Gross is just five foot tall.
He weighs over twenty stone, almost 300 pounds.
Excluding his armour.
His friend, Leonard Longshanks, stands well over six feet, weighs just eleven stone.
They are on guard duty, again.
How can I be a decent sentry if I can’t see over the wall, complains Gareth, for the 500th time. Lift me up, Len.
Gar, I just can’t, sighs Leonard, for the 500th time. I’ll keep watch, you build the fire for the soup.
But tonight, for whatever reason, Gareth is not to be pacified.
He nags Leonard, continually, to his breaking point.
What do you want me to do, he roars.
I want you to help me, just once, to look over that parapet, right up beside you.
And what if the enemy sees you, chops your head off?
Then, insists Gareth, I will die happy.
Leonard unsheathes his sword, decapitates his friend.
And holds the head, staring in astonishment, up beside his own.
This story is midway between funny and tragic. What a surprise ending. A bit too late to say, “I didn’t mean that way.” I guess the moral of the story is “Don’t ever nag a tired sentry.” Good writing, C.E. 😀 — Suzanne
Hehe, nice! I guess nobody ever told Gareth to be careful what you wish for.
Sounds like Leonard finally snapped. I don’t blame him really, that same or similar question, over and over again. I’m guess Garreth, wasn’t too good as an active guard. Funny enough, I’m watching a show and one of the guy’s name is Garreth. Great writing CE. Hope you are well, and enjoyed your weekend. Hugs
Oh dear, I wasn’t expecting that ending.
Love that little giggle at the end. At least he won’t be complaining any more.
Excellent story! I really liked your reading of it as well.
Of course. What else could he do? Great story.
Great story.
Dear CE,
Gareth did say he’d die happy. I guess Len took him at his word. Oh my! Half the fun is hearing you read.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Mwoahaha!!!
Radical solution for poor vision?
I enjoyed hearing you tell it.