A Speck
I was startled by a bird overhead. It was a gull, and so it was rather peculiar that it would be here, but I had seen much stranger things, and I was preoccupied with completing my mission. It was a trip that I would have avoided if it were at all possible, but of course, it was not. As I walked the vast, monotonous expanse, I wondered why this had to be the day that all of the horses were in use. It was much colder than it should have been in the desert, and it seemed as though a constant dusk was falling over the land. I could no longer see the town that I had come from, and the land ahead of me was a blank canvas. The white sands and gray clouds created an awful eeriness, but I had walked this route before and I had always been comforted by my loneliness.
And then I saw it - a dot on the horizon. It was just a dot...a small, horribly significant speck. In most locations, I would have thought nothing of it. After all, a dot is just that - a dot. But this location was different. There were no other particles along that serene line. My muscles tensed up as I reached down to make sure that my revolver was still there, and I continued walking, hoping for an uneventful encounter with the ever-growing spot. The “Wooshhh!” of the wind urged me forward as I heard the dulled beating of hooves on the sand moved closer.
He said he'd return to take my life. I thought it was just an empty threat at the time, but the sight of the dark figure now advancing toward me had convinced me otherwise. I had escaped his grasp on that cold night in the east...I thought it was too soon. I had run from him - from building to building - until I found my way into a crowd of people. He did not dare to follow me, but he yelled after me and it seemed as though I was the only one that heard him. After the incident, I had made my way out to the west, hoping that he would not locate me there.
This time had no other choice but to come, but that did not make me any more prepared. It seemed my naivety would be my coffin. I became paralyzed with fear as he stopped five feet short of me and spoke, “You thought that you could actually avoid me? No man can avoid me!” As he said this, a gull swept in and landed on the ground next to me.
I pulled out my revolver and pulled the hammer back. I aimed and pulled the trigger, only to find out that my previous examination of the gun had failed to reveal its lack of ammunition. The rider let out a ghoulish laugh as I franticly searched for my salvation. He dismounted and approached me, drawing a bastard sword in the process.
The sword entered my chest, crushing and slicing its way through my body. The shock of the wound prevented me from breathing, and I stared at the sword in disbelief. I then looked up at the attacker. I searched for my assailant's eyes so that I might see them before my death, but there was nothing but darkness in that hood. He withdrew the sword and prepared to deliver the final blow. I turned my head slowly and looked at the gull. The bird was staring at me, and in that moment, I realized what I should have done.
I looked back towards the hooded figure just in time to see him strike his intended target. I felt a sharp pain in my neck, then nothing.