Thursday 17 November 2011

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS - 18 of November - END OF THE TRAIL - My 100 Words by Linda Palund


                                    END OF THE TRAIL

At first we searched on horseback. Later, we had helicopters, but there really wasn’t much they could see from the air.  
The territory was vast.  They could have taken her anywhere. They knew the area better than any of us and even though they were on foot, they had a full day’s headstart.
When we came up over the ridge at Stoddard Pass and looked down over the lake, sparkling mutely below us, the mountains stretching as far as the eye could see and forest dense up to the tree line, I knew then that we would never find her.


See: Friday Fictioneers: Madison Woods 

13 comments:

  1. Wow Linda,

    I never would have imagined such a stark tapestry could be woven from the threads Madison provided. Your tale had the feeling of being part of a much longer story, one that I'm sure I could sink my teeth into with relish. Well done.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  3. This offers us beauty and hopelessness at the same time. Where I live (and Madison and I live fairly near each other) it is so easy to get lost, or remain hidden, in a rugged, gorgeous environment such as you have described. Good job!

    Here's mine: http://sweettea.kdmccrite.com/betrayal/

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  4. Thank You all. I used to live there, too. On the edge of the largest "Wilderness Area" in the USA.

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  5. In so few words I got such a sinking feeling and loss of the character I haven't been introduced to.
    Well done!

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  6. This is really nice. I like especially the phrase "sparkling mutely" even if there is all that fuss about adverbs out there.

    Here's mine: http://thecolorlime.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/descent-100/

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  7. Thanks for that. I wanted to convey the futility of it all, and the landscape being so unhelpful!
    Linda

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  8. What a feeling of despair you've managed to load into 100 words!

    I felt sucked into it when you got here "When we came up over the ridge at Stoddard Pass and looked down over the lake..."

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  9. Kath said she lives near you in similar territory, so I know you know what it is like to actually try to find someone or something in an area like that. When you leave home, you are full of hope, but once you are up there in those mountains (or desert) and you see what you are up against - the implacable landscape, you realise how puny you really are.

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  10. Heartbreaking. Well done, Linda. :)

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  11. I enjoyed your description of the area especially...I could actually see it in my mind.

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  12. It was important that water be a part of that realization...well done, Robin

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