Image: – Pixlr.com

The cry was heard from across the valley

Soft and a long way off

So when the indifferent heard it

They looked and shrugging and went back to their hoeing.

The curious looked up, whispered to each other

Speculated and started a story,

Always with no substance, the truth a triviality.

The next day the cry became a wail

The indifferent, among many expletives

Muttered, “Bloody neighbours” and looked away.

The curious gathered in bigger groups,

Their story taking shape,

Fed off petty gossip mongering

They were loving every second,

Their lives enriched by the misery of others.

The knight was tired of fencing lessons

Saw a cause he might pursue

A maiden in distress, or a distressing maiden

He didn’t care.

He readied himself with great fanfare,

To ride out and assume the quest

That was his role he had been told.

By now the wail had reached a crescendo,

The town urged the knight to go forth

To cross the valley and sort it out

To return a hero, with a bride, maybe.

They watched as he crossed the valley,

The indifferent thought him a fool,

The curious thought him the source of story,

Juicy titbits they invented daily

They were not ones for truth.

Across the valley, the wailing ceased

There was silence.

The indifferent continued their mundane hoeing

The curious created a fictional legend

For then the knight returned

His armour beaten and battered

His will all but destroyed.

The wailing had been a maiden

But not one in distress

He had wandered in all gusto

To a place, he was not welcomed.

He resolved in future to play it safe

Stick to fencing lessons

At least there he stood a chance.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/photo-challenge-261/