Young Writers Society

I hope this isn't too long. Please point out if I changed the Horseman's name. I have no idea how I managed to switch from Coni to Cino then back Coni. Silly me. But let me know which name you perfer ^_^ I guess even I can't decide which one to work with. Please...if you must...rip it to shreds. I'm trying to get better at writing in First Person.

Chapter I:

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining brightly to the east, the sky was a bright blue and everything was peaceful in the Happy Valley Kingdom. There were songbirds singing in the forest, the wind was gently blowing and I was taking a lovely stroll through a lonely clearing with my headless friend.

“Coni, I wish you could see how beautiful it is out here.” I began to walk backwards as I studied the area around me. There were wildflowers everywhere. Purples, blues, pinks, yellows and whites dancing among all the green. “There is so many flowers Coni!”

I turned around and saw that the Headless Horseman was missing. I spun around, just to make sure he wasn’t going to sneak up on me. But he had completely vanished. I was all alone in a clearing with an old well and a tree stump. Oh no. The well!

I raced to the well and looked down. My hands were resting on the cobble rim as I stared into the dark deep hole. I suppose there always was a negative side to having no head.

“Coni! Coni! Oh my…Are you okay?” I screeched. He was hanging onto an old tree root that managed to grow through the well wall from the old stump when the tree had been alive. He gave me a thumbs up sign and hastily returned his hand to the root. “What do I do? Coni?”

“Adara!”

Why did things always have to get worse? I turned around and saw one of my friends, Cinderella. What did she want? Couldn’t she see I was busy? She was strutting towards me. She liked to think she was a princess but all she was, was a maid for her step-mother.

“Adara! Darling, how have you been?” She swept towards me in all her dusty glory.

I forced a phoney smile onto my face. “Cindi! Dicra give you a break from cleaning the house?” I backed up towards the well where Coni was.

Cinderalla sat on the stump and gave out a heavy sigh. “Yes. But I have to be back before lunch so I can make them a meal. It is such a dreary job.” She began to inspect her fingernails. For a maid, she was so very vain. “What are you doing out here anyways? I saw you through one of the windows, spinning around.”

“I was picking wildflowers. Of course I haven’t found any yet.” My gaze swept over the area. There were flowers everywhere. She raised an eyebrow. “That I like.”

“I see.” She stood up and brushed her dress off. It was a brown thing with a stained white apron tied around the waist. I didn’t think she could ever brush all the dirt off of it. “So, I only came over here to ask you a question. Snow White invited me over to the cottage today for a party. Would you like to come?”

“Could I bring a friend?”

“As long as it isn’t Rumplestiltskin. That little dweeb gives me the creeps.” Cindi began to walk over to me.

I put my hands on the rim of the well. “Who else is going to be there?”

“Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, my two step-sisters. I don’t know why Snow had to invite them. I think Doc has a crush on Maybel. My sisters are so ugly. Oh! And Prince Charming is going to be there with Philip. Oh, they’re so dreamy.”

“Yes. Uh, very dreamy. I personally like Philip more than Charming. He isn’t vain.” I looked over my shoulder and then up at the sky. I had to get rid of her. “I think it’s noon.”

“What? Already? Oh well. I don’t care. They can fix their own meal for once. So who do you plan on bringing?”

“I thought maybe Coni.” I sat down onto the well, wrapping my hands around the wood. She couldn’t see him down there. I knew how much she enjoyed making jokes of all the ‘villains’.

“Horseman? Oh, why do you have to bring him? He’s even worse than Rumple. He doesn’t even have a head.”

“So? Your point is? He has feelings like everyone else. He might not even want to come so I’ll probably come alone.”

“Cinderella!” screamed a voice.

I winced. “You mother has a loud voice.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious.” Cindi sighed. “This so sucks. My mother is such a---”

“Cinderella!” Another scream made us both wince.

“Actually, I like your mother’s taste when it comes to decoration. Totally Victorian style there. And she bakes a delicious brownie pie.” I kicked my legs back and forth. My bare feet were scratched up from walking through thorns. “And the dresses she buys you.”

“Yes. I suppose she does have wonderful taste in clothing, doesn’t she? I don’t know why people call her the ‘evil step-mother’. She’s a very nice person and always takes me shopping.”

“Probably because she makes you make the meals and clean the house,” I pointed out. I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. My stupid hair was always falling out. “But look on the bright side. At least you don’t have to clean tavern floors and all that. So much beer.”

“I guess you’re right. Would you like to accompany me back to the house? I hate walking around by myself. I feel so exposed.” She gave me a pleading look.

“I would love to Cindi, but I want to finish picking flowers. I’ll bring some over to your house for a centre piece or something,” I told her.

“Cinderella!”

“If you insist. Ta, ta, Adara.” She turned around with a whirl. I think she forgot the fact she wasn’t wearing a ball gown. She headed for the path that was hidden in the lilac trees to the far side of the clearing. I waited till she was half-way there before turning around. “Coni! Are you okay? Are you still hanging there?”

He gave me the thumbs up sign again. I gave out a sigh. He had been hanging there for well over five minutes.

“Okay, grab my hand and I’ll try to pull you up.” I leaned over the side of the well and reached a hand towards him. He put an ironclad hand into my own and I tightened my grip. I strained to pull him up. Gosh, I had no idea why he always had to wear armour all the time. I clenched my teeth as I tried harder. I gave a hard yank on him and found myself falling backwards. “Coni!” I jumped up and peered back down the well. He waved at me. If he had a head, I’m sure he would be smiling. “Why’d you let go?”

He drummed his fingers on the side of the wall, making a sound like a horse galloping. He then put both hands back on the root that had grown through the wall of the well. Thank goodness it was there.

“I’ll go get Trickster. You just wait here. Don’t move.” That sounded slightly silly to say but it was just automatic. I jumped up and looked around the clearing. The oak forest was all around me except to the north. There, a long line of lilacs grew. Behind them was Cinderella’s house. Where was that dumb horse?

“Trickster!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I headed to the Forest Road. This part of it was full of grass because there was no house in the clearing. Just an well and old memories in the soil. “Trickster!”

I heard a whinny and the sound of pounding hooves. A large black horse appeared on the road ahead of me. He gave out a shrill whinny and reared up high, striking out with his forelegs.. He landed down and pawed the ground violently.

“Come here Trickster!”

He tossed his headed around, mane waving around. With a final snort he charged towards me in a full out gallop. The pounding sound his hooves made, echoed through the trees and as he neared me I could hear the jingling of his bridle. The stirrups were flapping wildly as he raced along.

“Whoa!” I shouted, putting my hands in front of me. I shut my eyes and prayed that he would stop. I heard his hooves slide in the grass and him snort. I opened my eyes and saw his large black nose. “Trickster! Never do that again.”

He took a few steps backwards and snorted three times as if he was laughing. He had such big brown eyes. For being a phantom horse, he was so pleasant to be around. I loved his long mane and tail. The feathers on his feet were so gorgeous too.

I have no idea how Coni, who has no head, can keep his horse in tiptop shape. Well, there were several things I didn’t get about Coni. Like how he could hear what I said. It was just weird.

“Come, your master needs your help.” I grabbed the reins and we walked towards the well. It looked so deserted, sitting all alone in the middle of the clearing, with only a tree stump for company.

The grass and the flowers swooped and whirled in the wind as a strong gust blew through the clearing. We hurried to the well and when we reached it, Trickster stuck his head in the well, whickering softly down to his master.

I slid the reins down into the well and Coni grabbed them. “Okay, Trick. Back up boy.” I pushed on his broad chest and he took a step backwards. His back legs were braced, hooves digging into the soil. I gave him another shove and he took another step backwards.

Trickster flared his nostrils and stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. I grabbed the reins and helped pull on them, taking the slack off the horse’s head. Perhaps I should have grabbed some rope from somewhere. Poor Trickster.

Coni grabbed the rim of the well and pulled himself up. Trickster chewed on the bit and trotted forwards. I helped Coni out of the well and hugged him.

“I guess this ends our adventure, doesn’t it?” I asked him.

He brought his hands up in a shrugging way and went to his horse. As he was gathering up Trickster’s reins, I picked a few flowers for Cindi.

“Can we go to Cindi’s? I promised to give her these flowers? And we can take the long way.”

Coni used sign language to communicate with others so now his fingers were swiftly moving around. He then pointed to Trickster.

“Sure I’ll ride double. And thank-you. She wanted me to accompany her back to her house but I didn’t want to leave you.”

Coni gave me a pat on the shoulder and turned to his horse. He mounted Trickster and held his hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up behind him. I was so thankful I was used to Trickster’s wide back. I remember the first time I rode him. My legs were sore for days.

“Cindi also invited me to Snow White’s party at the cottage. Would you like to come?”

He shrugged and nudged Trickster forwards. The horse immediately broke into a lope. I don’t think he knew what a walk or a trot was. The two of them were always running up and down the roads. I think it was because that’s how the Headless Horseman’s story was. Him racing around chasing people on his black steed.

We were almost at the road that led to Cinderella’s house when Coni stopped Trickster. He turned in the saddle so I could see his hands. They began to speak.

“You…Coni, it was an accident that you fell down that well. If I was paying attention, it would never had happened,” I told him. His fingers were speaking again. “Coni…You’re the Headless Horseman for a reason. That reason is that you have no head!”

Really, the Land of Tales is very different than the stories you know. Everyone knows the Headless Horseman wouldn’t stop riding around till he had his head, but I thought for sure he was passed that. Yet, now, the Headless Horseman wanted to find his lost head. That wasn’t even the creepy part.

The Headless Horseman is dead Hessian soldier. He lost his head, so whenever he finds it, it’s going to be a skull. That’s the gross part. I didn’t mind hanging out with a phantom horse or a headless guy but they were like flesh and blood. That’s a skull. That’s gross.