TWO HEADED HORSE TAILS
Litigious Beasts
Slippery Mammals
It was a million-dollar bet, between friends.
He’d go fishing (trapping) for axolotl every Saturday morning, and catch at least two.
If he failed to go, or to procure the salamanders, I’d win.
But I had to wake up and call him each time.
This weekend I’d slept in.
It was my husband’s sixtieth birthday and I surprised him with a night of guilty pleasures in Las Vegas. We ended up getting married again (for the third time), slightly tipsy, at 4 AM. Funny thing is I won one million dollars at blackjack but lost it at craps after.
So why would my friend (husband) and I, place such a bet? What could it even mean, as we share common wealth?
Well … “we don’t” is the short answer.
Our’s was that “prenuptial agreement” generation. Not that we’d waited for all nuptials to sign it, but that’s another story.
Prenup’s Paragraph number 47 specified that failing to wake up my husband would cost me one million dollars.
Unless I could catch 9 salamanders before the end of the day; according to paragraph 48, we would be even then.
At 4 PM, I still had zero; time to call Deborah.
Deborah was named after the Jewish she-general of old. She has hunted the “walking fish” since she was a child — even though it’s technically illegal to trap them — thus the fun in it.
She answers on the first ring, from her sat-phone.
“I get half,” she says instantly.
I know better than to negotiate with her.
Now, where to find the missing 500 grands? She’s a virtuoso in her niche. Some people would pay much more than that to see her in action. I know my husband would.
Wait.
I smile. There’s nothing against that in the prenup.
This story was co-written by Fox (the artist) and Smillew (top writer in satire).
It was our 20th tale! Here are the previous ones:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7| Part 8| Part 9| Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13| Part 14| Part 15| Part 16| Part 17| Part 18 | Part 19
We call the concept the Two Headed Horse Tails.
As Fox (poet and digital art expert) describes it, Two Headed Horse Tails can be a tug of war. Two people (one of them could be YOU) are trying to get a tale into the corral, sometimes even against each other’s will.
Here are the rules (follow them or break them):
- 300 words total.
- Someone starts and writes 50 words. Then the other takes the lead and writes 50 more. Till the 300 count is reached.
- You can switch back and forth as to who starts the piece. (or not! We do.)
What about finding yourself another horse writer and giving it a try?
Follows us on Twitter, we follow back! Except for Fox, he’s not on Twitter.
Anyone read so far? Hi! [Paul’s note — no, I’m the only one that has to read this far.][Smillew’s note — so it seems.][Paul’s note — keep your chin up. Then left hook lands better that way.][Smillew’s note — I tried with my cat, didn’t work.]
Tell us a tiny tale, filled with heart.
