When I was little, the house we lived in
was situated next to a grove of trees. Well kept with a floor of pine needles,
the little forest had a variety of trees—all relatively short in stature.
In fact, you might call it an orchard
since it featured an apple tree, cherry trees and a raspberry bush.
And right along our sidewalk, with dozens
of branches hanging overhead, a mulberry tree.
Every spring into summer, the mulberries
fell like rain.
Fun for a kid on a hot afternoon.
Scrumptious to be sure.
Fun for the birds too, who plopped their colorful
calling cards onto the sidewalk amidst the purples and blue stains.
I’ve always wanted to write a story about
those trees, and the headache it caused for my mom when I would come in with a
stained shirt, shorts or shoe.
Fast forward to a few weeks back when,
walking along the Missouri River, I found myself once more under a canopy of
dropping mulberries, dodging the little landmines on the trail even while I
enjoyed the shade against the afternoon heat.
Ahead of me, a young woman with a Great Dane was pulling mightily on his
leash, scolding him for scarfing up the free fruit.
And just like that, the following story
came together.
So I was again surprised by how stories
can spring into life. But another surprise waited when I sat down to the
keyboard.
As the first few sentences came out, the
voice seemed familiar.
Sensing, er…”Poe-tential,” I listened to the voice and ended up with one
of the few pastiche stories I’ve ever written.
As you know, a pastiche is work done in a
style that imitates another work, artist, or period (Thanks, Google!).
If you don’t get it from the title, it won’t
be hard to quickly see where “Tell Tail” got its last bit of inspiration.
It was a fun one to write. I hope you have
fun reading it.
You can read Tell Tail by clicking here. Please drop a comment and let me know what you think.
After growing up on a Nebraska farm, Richard Prosch
worked as a professional writer, artist, and teacher in Wyoming, South
Carolina, and Missouri. His western crime fiction captures the fleeting history
and lonely frontier stories of his youth where characters aren’t always what
they seem, and the windburned landscapes are filled with swift, deadly danger.
In 2016, Richard roped the Spur Award for short fiction given by Western
Writers of America. Read more at
www.RichardProsch.com
