Credit:Dlarm112. CC 4.0 Attribute share and share alike license.
A fly pounded its wings against the window. Rudolph pondered the struggling insect.
“It'll be dead by nightfall,” he muttered.
He poured himself a cup of acrid coffee and sauntered onto the porch. His two rat terriers greeted him with wagging tails and affectionate yips.
“Morning, Henry. Morning Banfield.”
The scruffy terriers raced him as he headed to the barn. They were yipping and yapping because breakfast was waiting just behind the barn door.
The sun was barely up, and there was a full day of work ahead. He had to clear rocks and roots from the west field. He was priming it to be sowed. His rye harvest was selling well and he had a brewer, Seth Andrews, who was eager to buy more. The buyer would take as much as Rudolph could grow.
Andrews was coming by later that day to pick up burlap sacks packed with freshly harvested grain. If Rudolph had another field he could double his output... pay off the mortgage, put away something to buy a mule.
He was planning...dreaming...about the future, when everything went black.
Rudolph opened his eyes. His arm was bleeding. His body ached. He looked around. The only light was far above his head. It struck him that he was in a hole. A deadfall trap. He had gashed his arm on one of the spikes that were positioned to impale any animal that fell in. That animal turned out to be him, and he was lucky he hadn’t been impaled.
But how would he get out? Then he heard the dogs, yipping and yapping. Not just yipping but barking vigorously.
He called them.
“Henry! Banfield!”
They peered over the edge of the hole and barked loudly.
“I need help, guys.”
The barking grew louder, more forceful. They stared down at him, then ran away. He could imagine them running in circles.
They were smart dogs. Would they understand?
“Banfield, Henry. I’m hurt.” He lifted his bleeding arm with great effort. The pain was sharp, but they had to see. Maybe they’d understand blood.
Banfield started to howl. Henry joined in. The two dogs let out a mournful chorus of yipping and yapping, of barking and howling.
But would it do any good? There was no one to hear.
Then Rudolph remembered Andrews. He was coming. If only the dogs could draw his attention to the hole. Andrews would surely think it peculiar that Rudolph didn’t have his rye order ready. Would he just turn around and go home? Or would he look around?
Rudolph watched as the angle of light over the hole changed. It was growing late. The sun was setting. Where was Andrews? Had he come and gone already?
Just then Rudolph heard frantic barking. The dogs in unison howled and growled. They looked into the hole, down at him, then they ran away.
He heard a voice.
“What’s up fellas? Where’s your buddy? Where’s Rudolph?”
Rudolph’s name triggered the dogs. They were yowling and crying. Running to the hole. Running around the edge of the hole.
“Lordy!”
Rudolph heard Andrews' distinctive twang.
“What the hell have we got here?”
A minute later Andrews' head was outlined at the top of the hole. It was getting dark now, and hard to make out Andrews' features.
“Help, Seth. I’m hurt. Quick! Get a rope from the barn.”
“Holy shit…”
“Yeah, holy shit. Please, the rope. I’ve been down here for hours.”
A few minutes later a rope was dangling over the edge and down far enough for Rudolph to reach. He could hardly use his arm, but he managed to climb with the one hand and his feet. Andrews was a muscular man. He reached his large, callous hands over the edge of the hole and pulled Rudolph out.
“One of them damn deer traps,” Andrews sneered. “What son of a bitch left that thing here? Down right unethical it is, trapping an animal like that and letting it die slowly. Damn, that gets me angry.”
“Thanks, Seth. That woulda been me, if you hadn’t come by. Some animal that died slowly…”
Rudolph regarded the sticks and grass that had concealed the hole. He looked out over the field.
"Better check the rest of it. Might be another one out there. Could lose one of my dogs.”
Andrews nodded.
“Those dogs. Never would have found you without those dogs. Pretty smart they are.”
Rudolph patted Banfield.
“Sorry about the rye, Seth. Hope you can come back tomorrow. I gotta tie up this arm.”
“No problem. I’ll stop by, check on you, pick up the grain.”
Andrews rode off in his wagon and Rudolph limped into the house. He was about to collect the first aid kit when he had a thought. He hurried into the bedroom.
There it was, the fly, still buzzing, but weakly.
Rudolph reached past the curtains with his good arm and opened the window.
“There you go fella,” he said as the insect flew away. “Today is not a day for dyin’.”
I was in the mood to write a story. Every now and then it hits me. This time I found an idea in the fiction prompt post: #31 in Story Ideas: "Write a historical fiction piece about something that happened in the town where you live".
I started thinking about my great-great-great-grandfather, who immigrated from Southwest Germany in the early 1800's. How did he get his start? I know he eventually had a very successful farm that he passed down to subsequent generations. It was the very farm where I picked strawberries one summer, long ago.
I did some research on the kinds of crops that were grown at that time, the kinds of dogs that might be on the farm, the implements that would be used to remove rocks and stumps from a field. Eventually an impression of my ancestor took shape and I came up with this story.
Wonderful to have a lovely community like the Inkwell where I can vent my creative impulse.
Thank you for reading my blog. Hive on!
I really love this story, @agmoore! Endings are hard. Tying it up with letting the fly go free was so perfect and inspired. And it makes me so happy that people go back and utilize the older prompts. There's quite a treasure trove there for anyone looking for inspiration. Great story. Beautifully done!
Thank you my friend, very much. The fly had to live! And it was important for Rudolph to save it. So, the end was pre-ordained😇.
I am so happy to find your comment here. When you think a story is good, well that's great reinforcement.
One of my goals in writing this was to encourage people to look at the treasure trove of prompts published every week in the prompt post.
This story reminds me of Jack London's adventures, at least the feel of the time and the interaction between the men and the dogs. The details of the environment are also very good.
A great historical tale.
I love history, so researching that era was fun. I even researched conditions in Germany at the time, the specific area from which my ancestor emigrated. There was a drought over there, and economic instability. An increase in emigration to the U. S. as a result. While this wasn't used in my story, it helped to give me a feel for the character.
Thanks for the reference to London😇--one of the authors I introduced my children and grandchild to early. The whole family loves that author.
This is what is striking about the story that it has the 'atmosphere' of the times without being too overt about it. :)
Oh, my... I love a good ending. This one had a nice punch to it, even more so because the story comes full circle to something that seemed unrelated until later. But when you know, you know... and I knew the fly was important to the story, or you would never have mentioned it. Every word matters, right? Beautiful character arc in this one AG. Loved it! 💗💗💗
You were so right. It was about the fly before I ever wrote anything. Very astute of you.
Thanks so much for the kind review. I had fun writing this...isn't that the point?
Your stories are always sophisticated, like fine, aged wine. ☺️
I love this one—the ending was unexpected but poignant. Rudolph's near death experience influenced him to give the fly another chance at life. Beautifully written!
!PIMP
Hello dear @kemmyb,
So very nice to see you here, and with such a very lovely comment. I hope all my readers rejoiced for the humble fly and for the man who freed him :)
I love to write, and when I get such high praise, wow, does that make my day.
Thank you!
I hope you are well and doing whatever it is in life that makes you happy.
Perfectly plotted, perfectly paced and perfectly conceived. Masterful storytelling at its best.
Oh, my, you really had me going…my mind was racing and a million scenarios presented themself. Of course, ultimately, there was no guessing, but I slapped myself and realised (once I reread it) that the conclusion was in the very first line. You are magnificent!
It was always about the fly. You hit it on the nail. I knew that fly had to live and I knew the man had to rescue it. The challenge was in making the man see that :)) The crisis was manufactured to give him the opportunity for growth.
You are clever. Maybe I shouldn't be so transparent.😄
Thanks for that really kind comment.
You were in no way transparent. OMG, that is what I was trying to say. Your story is excellent in every possible way.
⭐️🌈🌹
A good deeds ensures a good experience, Rudolph feel into the hole and he got rescued and he also fleed the fly, which was his reaction to him being saved from the whole.
Exactly. I'm so glad that message came through. That's the story. I thank you for reading and commenting.
How wonderful! I like this story. Especially that ending: there are days that are not to die for. I have always believed and I think I have read that there is no better way to “inspire” writing than reading. As we read, creativity and a thousand ideas appear. It hadn't occurred to me to go through the list of previous topics, but I'm going to. Thanks for that idea and for that story. Regards
Thank you very much, @nancybriti1 🌈
Those prompts from the past, and story ideas are a rich resource. One realizes when scrolling through that there is a prompt for just about any interest.
I appreciate your kind comments. Writing fiction I find always has more of my personal ethos than nonfiction. I guess that's the magic in mining the creative impulse.
Happy writing!
The story was quite interesting and when one helps each other success is sure to come we were seeing that in this world no one helps each other when someone is in trouble so we should learn from this story. We should always live by helping each other.
Thank you, @djbravo. The story had a simple message and you pretty much summed it up. We learn to help others when we are helped. Kindness has a way of being contagious.
I appreciate that you read my story and commented so appropriately.
What a great story @agmoore, you can tell that at the moment you decided to write it you had very good inspiration, I read it in detail from beginning to end. On the other hand, Rudolph was very lucky to have his good dogs, as the deer traps ended up turning against him and he would end up with the same fate as the fly, wounded and with no way out. In the end, this experience made him even value the fly's life, life takes many turns and a bad deed can be paid for with karma.
A pleasure to read you, I loved this story to which you have given life. A hug and happy weekend. 😇
Hello my friend @abneagro. I did think of you when I wrote this, and your great respect for life.🌈
He needed to survive a crisis to understand. From the moment I started the story I knew Rudolph was going to save the fly :) He just had to learn that lesson.
Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my story with such insight. I think a lot of people are not interested in a story about a fly, but of course this was about more than that.
I hope autumn has been pleasant for you. Here we have had lovely weather, though we could use a little rain.
Warm regards, AG