Summary

The web content narrates the story of a young greenstalk seeking growth with the help of Mrs. Doe, and the legacy of Hackastump, culminating in a collaborative writing concept called "Two Headed Horse Tails."

Abstract

The narrative titled "Two Headed Horse Tails" unfolds in a forest setting where a young greenstalk, symbolizing growth and potential, seeks assistance from Mrs. Doe to flourish. The greenstalk's promise to aid a deer in need of its antlers one day leads to a nurturing bond between the plant and the matronly fawn-cow. This interaction is reminiscent of the legacy left by the fallen tree, Hackastump, whose spirit continues to influence the forest. The story culminates with Bramble, a giraffe and descendant of Mrs. Doe, losing its first horns on the greenstalk's bark, further intertwining their fates. The concept of "Two Headed Horse Tails" is also introduced as a collaborative writing challenge co-created by Fox Kerry and Smillew Rahcuef, where two writers contribute alternating paragraphs to a story, each with a limited word count, embodying the idea of a creative tug of war.

Opinions

The story conveys a sense of interconnectedness between the characters, emphasizing the importance of mutual aid and the impact of past generations on the present.
The greenstalk's growth and the nurturing response from Mrs. Doe suggest a theme of symbiotic relationships in nature.
The legacy of Hackastump, as a nurturing force even in death, reflects the enduring influence of predecessors.
The collaborative writing concept "Two Headed Horse Tails" is presented as a unique and challenging approach to storytelling, highlighting the creators' belief in the value of creative constraints and partnership.
The ghostlings of Hackastump hiding Bramble's antlers from humans implies a protective stance towards nature, criticizing the greed of collectors.
The story within the content, "The Half-Life of Magnets," is suggested as an example of the "Two Headed Horse Tails" concept in action, inviting readers to explore further collaborative works.

Two Headed Horse Tails

The Legacy of Hackastump

Horns that don’t sleep

In the rubble of the larger tree’s hackastump, hugged a fledgling greenstalk. It wasn’t unsure of itself, but simply knew how forests were started.

If the larger woodrot had remained prescient it might have left its own dying arms open.

“Mrs. Doe! Mrs. Doe!” the greenstalk called. “Can you help me grow?”

“Why would I do that?” she replied, snappily.

“If one day, a deer of your family loses its antlers. They’ll just have to come here and I’ll help.”

“That’s the right answer,” said the matronly fawn-cow reluctantly, and went toward the little chute and kicked her toes and dug up the richer soil around him, pressing it nearer.

“Somebody taught you well,” she grunted. “Welcome to adolescence!”

I’m proud of you.

The sappy voice of old hackastump resonated in greenstalk’s roots. As any adolescent would, it blushed green and doubled size in a matter of hours.

Growing, Greenstalk hummed his favorite song, “It’s my time to photosynthesize.”

Twenty years downstream and Bramble, that truncated giraffe, progeny of old Ma-Doe, dropped first horns, on greenstalk’s great-bark.

Hackastump’s ghostlings beheld all. . . and woodenly tentacled and hid the prized rack, from man that greedy collector.

This story was co-written by Fox Kerry and Smillew Rahcuef.

We call the concept the Two Headed Horse Tails.

As Fox describes it, Two Headed Horse Tails can be a tug of war. Two people are trying to get a tale into the corral, sometimes even against each other’s will.

Here are the rules:

200 words total.
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).
And they can switch back and forth as to who starts it.

What about finding yourself another horse writer (!) and giving it a try?

Check out the first Two Headed Horse Tails we wrote:

The Half-Life of Magnets

Minds that don’t sleep

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