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Even Shàonǚ never knows who she may meet on an isolated road at night.
Original story by:
CS_Bernard
HORSE HOOVES THUMPED softly on the lonely moonlit path. Lóng Shǔ Shàonǚ silently rode along the forest path as the trees seemingly crowded closer together. Shadows grew thicker on the path as the full moon’s light faded into thin beams. Her large ears flicked at the sound of another rider ahead. The other rider was slumped forward and their shoulders obscured their head. She grew apprehensive as she approached. The other horse slowly plodded on the narrow trail and blocked the murid horsewoman’s path.
The other rider sensed her unease. The male gibbon – or so Shàonǚ assumed they were one such primate – softly greeted her with a gentle, weary voice, “Fear not, traveler, I am no bandit. Their kind avoids this road at night.”
“Is that so?” the mouse’s curiosity was piqued.
“Ah, yes,” the other rider remarked.
Shàonǚ tilted her head to one side to study the silhouetted figure. She wryly smiled, “If I may ask, why would they stay away from such a vulnerable highway?”
The rider’s shoulders shook with weary laughter, “Superstition, I suppose? It is… an awfully lonely road, especially at night.”
Shàonǚ scoffed, a little more at ease, “Yes… I suppose it is. A road so rarely traveled lacks wealthy pockets to pick.”
“Indeed.”
“My name is Shàonǚ,” the mouse ventured.
“A fitting name for a young woman,” the rider mused.
When her incidental companion did not see fit to further respond, the curious mouse asked, “May ask your name?”
“Oh… my name…” the mystery rider responded in a befuddled tone. “I hope you don’t take offense, but I must confess… I forget…”
Shàonǚ’s eyebrows rose up and she grinned slightly, “Forget? How can you forget your name?”
“Ah, embarrassing, I know… It’s just, I feel I’ve lost my head as it were…” There was a moment’s hesitation before the rider absentmindedly muttered, “It feels as if I’ve been riding this road forever…”
The path slowly opened back up and Shàonǚ coaxed her horse to trot forward again. She pulled up alongside her fellow traveler. Once again in the full moon’s light, Shàonǚ gasped when she saw the haggard, scrawny state of her companion’s horse and his tattered clothes. She tried to look him in the face only to find his head was gone. Instead, she looked down and found the gibbon’s withered head on the saddle, held with one hand while his other hand held the reins of his horse.
The decapitated head rolled its eyes over to her with a warm light in its dim eyes, “You’re a kind girl… Thank you for a little company…”
Shàonǚ was so startled that she tugged at her reins and her horse whinnied as it came to a stop. She blinked and the spirit vanished away into a mist that blew back into the covered path. She deeply exhaled all at once and gave her horse several quick squeezes and galloped the rest of the way down the path, well awake enough to ride until sunrise.
Original story by:
CS_BernardNan MountainsGuangdong ProvinceQing Dynasty20 August, 1800, 23:39, Local TimeHORSE HOOVES THUMPED softly on the lonely moonlit path. Lóng Shǔ Shàonǚ silently rode along the forest path as the trees seemingly crowded closer together. Shadows grew thicker on the path as the full moon’s light faded into thin beams. Her large ears flicked at the sound of another rider ahead. The other rider was slumped forward and their shoulders obscured their head. She grew apprehensive as she approached. The other horse slowly plodded on the narrow trail and blocked the murid horsewoman’s path.
The other rider sensed her unease. The male gibbon – or so Shàonǚ assumed they were one such primate – softly greeted her with a gentle, weary voice, “Fear not, traveler, I am no bandit. Their kind avoids this road at night.”
“Is that so?” the mouse’s curiosity was piqued.
“Ah, yes,” the other rider remarked.
Shàonǚ tilted her head to one side to study the silhouetted figure. She wryly smiled, “If I may ask, why would they stay away from such a vulnerable highway?”
The rider’s shoulders shook with weary laughter, “Superstition, I suppose? It is… an awfully lonely road, especially at night.”
Shàonǚ scoffed, a little more at ease, “Yes… I suppose it is. A road so rarely traveled lacks wealthy pockets to pick.”
“Indeed.”
“My name is Shàonǚ,” the mouse ventured.
“A fitting name for a young woman,” the rider mused.
When her incidental companion did not see fit to further respond, the curious mouse asked, “May ask your name?”
“Oh… my name…” the mystery rider responded in a befuddled tone. “I hope you don’t take offense, but I must confess… I forget…”
Shàonǚ’s eyebrows rose up and she grinned slightly, “Forget? How can you forget your name?”
“Ah, embarrassing, I know… It’s just, I feel I’ve lost my head as it were…” There was a moment’s hesitation before the rider absentmindedly muttered, “It feels as if I’ve been riding this road forever…”
The path slowly opened back up and Shàonǚ coaxed her horse to trot forward again. She pulled up alongside her fellow traveler. Once again in the full moon’s light, Shàonǚ gasped when she saw the haggard, scrawny state of her companion’s horse and his tattered clothes. She tried to look him in the face only to find his head was gone. Instead, she looked down and found the gibbon’s withered head on the saddle, held with one hand while his other hand held the reins of his horse.
The decapitated head rolled its eyes over to her with a warm light in its dim eyes, “You’re a kind girl… Thank you for a little company…”
Shàonǚ was so startled that she tugged at her reins and her horse whinnied as it came to a stop. She blinked and the spirit vanished away into a mist that blew back into the covered path. She deeply exhaled all at once and gave her horse several quick squeezes and galloped the rest of the way down the path, well awake enough to ride until sunrise.
End
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Mouse
Size 120 x 117px
File Size 90.3 kB
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