note: This was written as part of a flash fiction writing contest at the blog,\u00a0The Clarity of Night<\/a>, back in 2010.\u00a0Here is a link to the original post<\/a>. The idea was to write 250 words based on a provided prompt.<\/em><\/p>\n An old man stopped me on my way to the mountaintop. He had a beard as black as coal stretching to the tops of his feet and a long flowing robe so filthy that tiny green buds sprouted upon its surface. A rock, a stick, and a gun lay before him. “Stay for a game,” he said to me. “If you win I’ll let you pass.” The man said nothing, instead turning his eyes toward the gun. I got the message.<\/p>\n “Well, what’s the game?” I said.<\/p>\n “Using any one of these items, rid me of that wicked creature,” he replied, pointing a crooked finger at the raven circling overhead. “In one shot.”<\/p>\n I considered the objects at hand.<\/p>\n The rock. Too light and insignificant, it would do nothing but agitate the bird.<\/p>\n More substantial, but terribly inaccurate, the stick was not worth the risk.<\/p>\n The gun was my only true option. Lifting the weapon, I trained my sights on the winged creature. Moving the barrel just to the left of my target, boom click boom, I emptied both chambers. The creature departed.<\/p>\n “Thank you,” said the old man, fading like mist in the breeze, the shot still ringing in my ears. The rock, the stick, and the gun followed.<\/p>\n The land compelling me to rest, I sat in the very spot the man had been. And there I remain, seated, watching the raven fly above, waiting for an unfortunate soul willing to play my game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Traveler and The Game by Paul Liadis note: This was written as part of a flash fiction writing contest at the blog,\u00a0The Clarity of Night, back in 2010.\u00a0Here is a link to the original post. The idea was to write 250 words based on a provided prompt. An old man stopped me on my way to the mountaintop. He had a beard as black as coal stretching to the tops of his feet and a long flowing robe so…<\/p>\n
\n“And if I refuse?”<\/p>\n