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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Arrow and the Voice, for Magpie Tales #50


"This way is the right way, the other way is the wrong way."
I could hear the voice echoing around me, I could suddenly see a smooth path before my feet. I even seemed to see an arrow in the sky, pointing to the right. But the road was open in front of me, while, on the right, was a hill whose top disappeared into the clouds.
"This way is the right way, the other way is the wrong way," the voice insisted.
But I was tired, and the hill was I-knew-not-how-high. Surely, if there were a town nearby, it would be somewhere along the road ahead of me, possibly behind those trees at the end of the lake, I reasoned, so I hesitated.
"He who hesitates is lost," said another voice, probably the one in my own head.
The smooth path in front of my feet shimmered for a moment, then disappeared. The arrow, which couldn't possibly have been real, disappeared also.
I continued along the road in the direction I'd been traveling all day. Exhausted, I slipped. Unable to regain my balance, I fell, and tumbled downhill toward the lake. As I felt the ice break under my weight, I heard the voice again.
"This way was the right way, your way was the wrong way."
As I felt the cold water closing around me, I looked up, and saw a castle appear as the clouds rose away from the top of the hill. Castles are built on hills to discourage newcomers.


Posted for Magpie Tales, hosted every week by Tess, who provides us with a picture and lets our imaginations do the rest. Thanks, Tess!
To see what other imaginations made of the above photo, please click

13 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

I've learned to trust that voice in my head. Love-love-love that last line!

Penelope Notes said...

Can you hear me clapping with delight, Kay, after reading this wonderful little tale you have written. I wonder if the castle in Lucerne inspired your castle on a hill. Anyway, I loved the ending.:)

Rinkly Rimes said...

Our two ideas were not that far apart.

Maggie said...

Oooh, intriguing.

I think this week's prompt is going to go in many directions.

RJ Clarken said...

Wow! What a haunting internal dialogue. The final line lingers in my mind like a last note can sometimes do in certain songs.

Uma Anandane said...

Wonderful take on the prompt...lovely

Jinksy said...

Intuition is often the best pointer of the way to go...

Reflections said...

Oh, but if it wasn't for the blur of everyday sounds, drowning out the still small voice... leading us to castles high in the sky.

Tumblewords: said...

Intriguing and a good reminder that the inner voice often has merit. Love this!

Hope said...

hello fellow Albertan!

i can relate. not the falling down the hill and into a lake part but the hesitation and the inner voice

enjoyed the read

wonderful take on the prompt

Louise said...

Great piece.

Sioux Roslawski said...

The ending (the last line) is marvelous.

Anonymous said...

vivid tale.
lovely finish.