There is a Dead Horse on Orchard Prairie Road

There Is

         A

     Dead Horse

           On

Orchard Prairie Road

The horse smelled putrid, its lifeless corpse had given way to maggots and disease, on Orchard Prairie Road.  They both knew the task at hand.  It wasn’t going to be easy but they had to do it. “C’mon Hannah, we got ta’ move him.”

“It looks like he’s been like this for a while, I can’t stand the smell anywhere near it.”

“Just suck it up, geesh.”

Hannah stepped back a few steps, as if she was blown back by his words.  Maybe it was the rotten flesh of the horse that urged her to step back.  It was then that Charlie noticed her nose curl, and scrunch up so much it nearly resembled a schoolyard ball.  “Can’t we get someone else to do this; I really don’t think I can handle this.”

Charlie was at least five feet from her, but he could still hear her stomach tremble like a tremor.  He moved slightly closer to her, to try and comfort her by his presence; the aroma from the carcass growing in stench as time passed.  “There is nobody else, we’re the only ones here and we’ve got ta’ do this.  Listen, we have to decide what we’re going to do, ‘cause standing here watching it rot is not working.”

A faint smirk appeared on Hannah’s face, as if she noticed the hint of humor in his voice, but her smirk quickly disappeared.  “Let’s forklift it out ta’ here.”  She struggled to find her words.  Her sentences had become short and choppy.  Charlie realized this might be harder than he first thought.

“I don’t know anyone with a forklift, do you?” He said.

“No.”

“Then let’s drag this thing out ta’ here.”

“There is no way that I’m touching it.  Not a chance.” snapped Hannah.

Charlie knew this would happen.  She didn’t have a strong stomach and he knew that, but she was his only hope of help at this point.  “Listen,” began Charlie, “I can’t stay here much longer, my band is playing a show tonight, and I got ta’ go soon.”

He brought out a box of plastic gloves.  “Here.”  Hannah gave him an evil eye.  The kind Charlie’s momma used to give him when he snuck into the cookie jar.  Resentfully, she took the pair of gloves and put them on.  “Alright, If I have to…”

 The displeasure in her voice was apparent, but those four words were enough to make him crack a bit of a smile.  With that, they both grabbed a hind leg of the fallen beast, and began to drag it down Orchard Prairie Road.