Three Hoarse Men
150-word imaginings
Do you ever wonder how Tom would have got on without Jerry? Stan Laurel would have had an even longer face without Oliver Hardy. The ‘Magnificent Four’ would never have held off the marauding banditos and the ‘Five Musketeers’ would be those dinner guests who need the fold-up chair you keep in the garage.
What other ‘groups’ are fixed in our thoughts and how might it be to reimagine them as something different? Well, that’s the way my mind works.
Take ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ * … artist Robert Riggs represented the four as three in his 1934 lithograph.
So, I got to thinking.
* The Book of Revelations in the New Testament lists the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as conquest, war, famine, and death. In the Old Testament (the Book of Ezekiel), they are sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence or plague (I have gone Old Testament in my story).
Hooves thundered and sparks flew as the three riders careened into the clearing. In the shadows, wild beasts tore at the flesh of bodies laid gaunt by a famine that had swept through these war-torn lands. The dark figures hauled on leather braids, their sweat-lathered mounts skidding to a halt, pawing skittishly at arid soil. Human life had been sucked from this parched land. Their skeletal faces took in the apocalyptic scene and nodded appreciatively, admiring one another’s efforts. It was as the prophet Ezekial had foretold. Their ambitious goals were met.
“Comrades, we are being followed”.
The rider approached, filthy cloak billowing, the blood-chilling shrieks of vultures announcing his arrival. “I am Pestilence, and we should work together”.
The three horsemen doubled over, stricken by sudden fits of coughing, blood and spittle spraying the matted manes of their feral stallions.
“Pestilence, you say? What is it you do exactly?”.
(150 words)
You have a clever and very original mind Barrie… I’m not sure of any historical collectives except perhaps King Arthur and the knights of the round table, legend with ‘?’ but while reading this, by coincidence, Wild Horses (I love that song) by the Rolling Stones came up on my play list… so there is my proposal!
Wow, the imagery -- magnificent.