When the hurricane struck, there was little that could stand in its path. Fleeing from my collapsing house, I saw my father’s fishing boat hurled high over the boardwalk, smashing to matchwood a good hundred yards up Main Street. Many were lost that night.
The rider sat calmly, black-robed on his pale horse, unmoved by the tempest which ripped up the town around him. I knew who he was, and could see that he was pleased with his work.
‘How dare you!’ I screamed in fury. ‘What did we ever do to you? You COWARD!’ I hurled a useless stone at him.
He looked at me, whatever face he wore hidden in the darkness beneath his hood. I thought my end had come although honestly did not care. Instead, he just turned and rode slowly away. The wind dropped soon afterwards but few had survived the onslaught.
I noted the path he took towards the rank swamps and thickets that clothe the delta. Retrieving only my shotgun and some provisions, I left the ruin of my home behind me and set off in pursuit.
He would have to watch his back now. Immortal or not, there would be a reckoning.
Comments
rjnewlyn | February 2, 2010 - 23:50
An experiment in serialising this sort of piece. Will see what comes of it. Part 2 will be posted roughly this time next week.
Beeme | February 3, 2010 - 18:43
I really enjoyed this, I love this lines;
"He looked at me, whatever face he wore"
“Then I noticed the rider, black-robed on his pale horse, calm and unmoved as the gale ripped up the town around him.”
I eagerly await part 2 :-)
Beeme xx
rjnewlyn | February 5, 2010 - 23:44
Thanks very much Beeme. Not entirely sure where this journey will go but we'll see ... Part 2 is taking shape at least, which is a relief.
Silver Spun Sand | February 9, 2010 - 23:51
I missed this first time round and having just read Part 2 thought I'd better catch up. I'm glad I did. Shall await Part 3...impatiently.
Tina
rjnewlyn | February 17, 2010 - 00:05
Thanks Tina. I've just made some fairly swingeing amendments in response to Tony's comment on Part 2 - to get a bit more coherence. It's cheating really but there you go. I suppose at least it demonstrates that this is proper serialisation - i.e. thinking of each part as the deadline approaches and not having something fully prepared that's being dripped out week by week (which would feel like worse cheating ...). Part 3 just about to go up.