Summary

A gifted boy grapples with the moral dilemma of saving humanity from an alien threat at the cost of his own life, while reflecting on the loss of his father and the promise of a cure for his paralysis.

Abstract

The narrative revolves around a boy with extraordinary knowledge and a polio diagnosis, who faces the imminent arrival of aliens that could either exterminate humanity or allow it to survive with his help, though at the expense of his life. The boy, who has been ostracized by those around him, is at a crossroads, missing the guidance of his late father who had believed in him. He contemplates a potential cure for his paralysis offered by strangers, juxtaposing it with the promise of answers from a divine source. The story, a collaborative effort between Fox Kerry and Smillew Rahcuef, is part of a series called "the Two Headed Horse Tails," which employs a unique writing approach with specific rules and a playful pun in its title.

Opinions

The boy views himself as a pariah, feeling "damned" rather than "special" despite his gifts.
The community's rejection of the boy is evident, with everyone except his deceased father turning against him.
The boy's father is portrayed as a supportive figure who listened to his son, unlike others, and his absence is deeply felt.
The aliens' impending visit presents a stark choice: the boy's survival or humanity's continued existence.
The strangers' promise of a cure for the boy's paralysis introduces another layer of complexity to his decision.
The story is part of a larger narrative experiment, with the authors employing a structured yet flexible approach to co-writing.
The concept of "the Two Headed Horse Tails" is not only a title but also a metaphor for the collaborative tug-of-war in storytelling.

Two headed horse tails

Hold Your Breath

This might be the ride of your life

The boy didn’t know what he was. Adopted by an unmarried US marine, Polio-diagnosed during kindergarten, gifted with abnormal knowledge on what was true in the world.

Some called him special. But he felt “damned” was the better word.

Sooner than later, his teachers, schoolmates, and everybody else was telling him.

“Damn you!”

They couldn’t stand the truth.

Only his father had the strength. But he was dead now. Killed because of his son. The boy had warned him.

Like legendary “Jonahs” on many boats. If you didn’t toss him, you sank. Only everyone forgets it isn’t Jonah who’s doomed. He was only temporarily that way, for refusing to bring a warning to his Earthmates.

Only Dad had listened.

The aliens will be there tomorrow. Without my help, humanity will disappear, exterminated. With my help, they’ll survive, but I’ll die.

I’m not sure what to do. I wish Dad were there. I wish Mom were there. God! Help me.

The strangers promised to cure his paralysis. But so had the One who’d given life’s answers — eventually.

He knew the move.

He held his breath, went under the water of the school pool.

In three minutes, he’d have his answer.

This story was co-written by Fox Kerry (not me) and Smillew Rahcuef (that’s me).

We call the concept the Two Headed Horse Tails. (There’s a pun. Funny, right?)

As Fox (not me) describes it, Two Headed Horse Tails can be a tug of war. Two people (one of them, me) are trying to get a tale into the corral, sometimes even against each other’s will.

Here are the rules (made to be broken):

200 words total. (don’t break this one, Microcosm is quite picky about round numbers)
Each person gets 40 words for their paragraph/portion, where whoever starts a story would get 1,3,5 (120 words), and the second would get 2,4 (80 words). (can be broken)
And they can switch back and forth as to who starts it. (or not!)

What about finding yourself another horse writer (!) and giving it a try? (I was about to say, you could try by yourself, but, mmmh, that would be like a one headed horse tail, like regular)

This was our sixth tale (time flies with Fox). Here are the previous ones (read them again¹!):

(1) pretty please :)