Mary Had A Little – Fright
They asked, “Why does the lamb love Mary so?”
‘Tis that Mary loves the lamb, you know.
Mary didn’t have a lamb. She had an old dog named Shep. She could not bring herself to tie Shep up, but he followed her everywhere.
“I won’t fall down a well, Lassie. I won’t crash through the floor of an old barn. I’m just going to walk to school beside the tracks, like I do safely, every day.”
Until the day old Shep rushed at her, barking furiously, just in time for her to see the unscheduled freight, with the extra-wide load.
Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday picture as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story
Archon's Den 
Didn’t expect that as an ending. I enjoyed the story.
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How did we ever live to grow this old? I used to play by the tracks. I still have a penny that I placed on a track, and the train ran over. Thanx for visiting. 🙂
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That must be exciting!
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Good thing Shep was following Mary!
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Maybe?? 😉 Later she changed her name to Imelda, and married Ferdinand Marcos 😯
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Dear Archon,
I hope she managed to get out of the way in time.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh yeah, she ran down to the crossing, and jumped into my short story. 😉
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Dear Archon,
Walking with earbuds in and iPod on? Good doggy.
Aloha,
Doug
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Doug,
Perhaps, but possibly not. Even kids – and adults – with perfectly good eyes and ears get lost in their own thoughts, and could use a brain-guide dog to kick-start their awareness.
That scenery looks lush – but not like Hawaii.
Aloha!
G.O.D.
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Loyalty at work.
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It works both ways. Shep keeps his freedom. Mary keeps her life. 🙂
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Clever take on tradition. And good old Shep. He’ll be welcome from now on.
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He was grudgingly, protestingly welcome before – like a bratty younger brother. “MOM, Billy’s following me.” Now? Yeah, a little more so. 🙂
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I liked this one…great job
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I’m glad you did. My third attempt, almost a year ago, had a foreboding forest, a missing girlfriend and blood. Generally, I try to keep them light. 🙂
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Nice turn at the end, Archon, and you kept the happy ending.
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For a cynical, self-diagnosed Grumpy Old Dude, I can be quite the Pollyanna, always hoping for the silver lining. There’s enough dark shit, in literature, and in reality, and more than enough Goths to spread it around. 🙄 😦
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I used to walk the tracks to school when I was 17 or so. I would so have loved to have a dog follow me.
These days, I wouldn’t want any teenage girl to be walking alone along railroad tracks, through wooded areas. But back in my day, no one worried so much about weirdos.
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My wife used to walk the tracks to elementary school, even though forbidden by family. They didn’t worry about weirdos but, like this tale, worried about un-noticed trains. 😯
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Help – I think I might be one of the goths.
For a split second I thought Shep had kind of shepherded his ungrateful mistress onto the track in a moment of doggie madness (or perhaps he’d somehow seen the future Imelda…)
Now I’ll go back, behave myself and read it the proper way!
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Silly MLJ, there is no ‘proper way.’ A hundred writers – a hundred different stories, now a hundred and one. It’s as Rochelle’s caveat reads. It’s not what you look at, it’s what you see. I’m happy you saw your way clear to look at mine. You and Shep come back again. 🙂
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A timely save by Shep, and a nice ending to your story.
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Thanx Margaret. The dog in the photo reminded me of my old dog Nick, who followed me everywhere as a child, unless he was chasing cars. He never caught one. Just as well, he couldn’t drive one. 😀
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Why not? Oh… Because he didn’t have his license.
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Well, I guess he proved his worth. Well done, Archon. 🙂 — Suzanne
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The worst dog is worth two of the best politicians….oh wait, did I say that out loud? 😕
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You did, I heard it, and I heard cheering. 🙂 Thanks for cheering things up at the end.
janet
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😀
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