Bill forked the last of the fresh hay into the feeder. He patted the damp horses and headed back to the house through the thick falling snow.
As he stomped his feet at the door, Maude hung up the ‘phone.
‘That was Jessie. Their flight has been cancelled. They won’t be able to get here until Boxing Day now,’ she said.
Bill grunted. ‘Roads are all closed too.’
Maude looked aghast. ‘But I haven’t got anything in for Christmas dinner yet. What are we going to eat?’
Maude paused and contemplated the horses gathered round the feeder, then looked to Bill with a raised eyebrow.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ he answered.

Written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).
To read more stories based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.
The age-old confrontation between sentiment and necessity
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Needs must for a good meal at Christmas… 🙂
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I’m not even going to think about it. 😦 Nice one.
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Thanks Sandra 🙂
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Dear Iain,
That’s a Christmas dinner I don’t want to think about either. Good, if not bleak, one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks Rochelle. I suppose if you were a guest for Christmas dinner and you didn’t know what you were eating, would you be able to tell what meat it was….? 🙂
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Oh my! The conflict is deep! Well written, Iain, it’s a choice no one would want to make. Couldn’t they fast?
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I think fasting would be a much better idea! 🙂 Thanks for reading.
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A very good story. Thanks for sharing!
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Many thanks.
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You are welcome!
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Neat story, Iain.
Personally I don’t see that horse is much different from pig, lamb, rabbit, frog, etc.
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It’s all meat from a dead animal, I agree. Many thanks.
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Eating horsemeat, while common in some countries, is highly taboo in USA. (In fact, selling horsemeat for human consumption is prohibited by law.)
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Many of us do not live in the USA and, as I say above, see little or no difference between the animals we choose or choose not to eat.
Why the phobia in the USA?
Does it date back to the days when horse theft was a hanging offence, perhaps?
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I have no clue where this comes from.
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So hungry I could eat a…. no. I couldn’t… but Maude apparently has no qualms about it.. Lol. Nice twist.
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Many thanks 🙂 I think Maude feels a good Christmas is more important than anything else!
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Let’s hope they’re not snowed in for too long! I love how much we learn about each of them in so few words
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Thanks Siobhan, very kind. I wonder how long they would go before desperation forced them to do it!
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Iain, very well thought out story and I’m calling out to those poor horses: “Run!!!”
I struggled to get started with this photo prompt. I’m Australian and although we do have a few snow areas, I live in Sydney and snow’s a very foreign thing. Struggled to get into the scene but I was really pleased with how it worked out in the end.
I htink I might by-pass their place for Christmas lunch!
xx Rowena
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Thanks Rowena. Funnily enough a different flash fiction I wrote yesterday for a different prompt involved Christmas in the southern hemisphere and a lack of snow. I saw this prompt and it was such a nice scene I immediately thought ‘what’s the worst that can happen here?’ Not sure what that says about me! Thanks again, look forward to reading your effort.
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Three cheers for Bill!
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Ha, yes, he’s not going to let that happen!
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😀
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I recall the pilot of The Waltons had a similar story. It was based on an Earl Hamner story called The Homecoming. Nicely told.
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Can’t say I’m familiar with either of those, although hard to imagine something so controversial happening in The Waltons! Thanks.
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Brilliantly told
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Thanks Shehanne 🙂
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It’s been in burgers for a while now and people haven’t noticed the difference. That did make me laugh. Thanks Iain.
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Glad I gave you a laugh. Yes, the horse meat scandal from a clue of years ago was on mind. As others have said though, it’s all just meat in the end… 🙂
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Couldn’t they have caught a wild rabbit or turkey or something? Wah, wah, wah.
I have actually heard that horse meat is in hamburgers. THAT’S why I have never had a fast food hamburger!
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I think I would rather have a can of soup!
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I’m sure there must be something in a cupboard they can have!
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I was afraid that was what she was thinking. Somehow horse for Christmas seems totally unappealing. Fun take on the prompt.
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Thanks Alicia, very unappealing, glad you saw the funny side 🙂
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Nooo, not the horses! Not the horses, Iain! Lol, fun story, but I do wonder what they will eventually settle on for Christmas dinner.
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I don’t think Bill will let her get at the horses! Thanks Jade.
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She can’t have been serious? And there’s probably heaps of stuff in the freezer, living out of town.
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Well, needs must… Thanks for reading 🙂
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And now I can only think about how Viking’s used to eat horse meat for midwinter feast… maybe they will look tasty after a few days.
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Certainly plenty of times in history, many of them desperate, that horses have provided food. I wonder at what point in history it became wrong to eat horse but okay to eat sheep, cow, pig.
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Actually I have heard that part of the reason was part of heathens being christened… horsemeat was connected to Norse religion.
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I hope she do not look at him next.😋
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That’s true, if not the horses, then what? 🙂
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Interesting twist! Well done.
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Thanks Sascha.
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Oh no! I’m with Bill all the way!
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Most people seem to be… 🙂
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but, of course, she was only kidding.
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I hope so…
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To be fair, we’ve been unwittingly eating horse meat in ready meals for years…
Nice one!
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It’s all meat… Thanks 🙂
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Hee-hee-hee-heeee! Diabolically good, Iain.
Five out of five Hi-yo, Silvers.
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Ha, thanks!
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I’ve often heard the expression, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” but I’ve never known anyone to take it literally–until now. 🙂
Good one, Iain.
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Somethings are more important – like a good meal at Christmas. Thanks
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Then again… if you didn’t plan ahead… you just might deserve to eat… let’s say hay (not the alternative). 🙂
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Haha, that would be the ultimate punishment for not planning dinner properly!
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Oh my this does not need a second thought or does it?
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Maybe if they were really desperate it might!
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Neigh
Eat vegetables.
Cute story,
Tracey
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Hope she’s got a supply of vegetables too. Thanks Tracey
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Pizza?
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Don’t know if they deliver…
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Clever.
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Many thanks
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Gallop away!!
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Damn I’m with him! Ha ha this was a good one. Very amusing, might be good the guests will be late
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They might be glad they missed it…
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No Maude! You cannot eat the horses. They are like pets! Anything which is a pet is off limits. Lol. Funny ending Ian. Great write!
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Thanks Mandi, a bit of fun, no horses were harmed 🙂
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Haha I know. My Dad often visits China for work. They eat dogs and cats in some places and to me that’s awful. It’s not like that everywhere, but I think there are places one needs to be careful about the restaurants one eats at lol.
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Maude sounds like a terrible survivalist — and a terrible cook, too. Snowed in for a single meal, and already she wants to butcher the most expensive and yet worst-tasting meat on the farm? They’d be better off going vegetarian until the snow lets up, geesh!
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Hopefully Bill can convince her there’s a better solution! Thanks for reading Joy 🙂
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YIKES …!!! Necessity is th emother of invention … but … perhaps a few greens instead. 😁 If you’ll excuse me … run little horses run. 😥
You wrote this so well, lain, that I thought this could happen. But, let’s say it’s all make believe. Have a nice weekend.
Isadora 😎
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Many thanks – I hope it remains a piece of make believe too 🙂
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Heheh, I’m sure she was teasing him. In this day and age, I bet her cupboards and freezer are full with food, just not what she had in mind for a feast. And even if not, a few days of fasting won’t kill anyone if there’s enough water. I’m dead set against eating animals that are acquaintances. If life depends on it, it’s another matter, but this doesn’t seem to be the case here.
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Not sure if she was kidding, but I agree, only as a very last desperate resort. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂
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Bread and butter for Christmas lunch then! This really made me smile.
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Thanks Clare, I’m sure they will rustle up something 🙂
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This story reminds me of when I visited a friend’s smallholding once and I was just tucking into a meal she’d served up, when her daughter piped up, “Is this Bimbo we’re eating?” Okay, Bimbo was a steer and not a horse, but the fact that she’d been enough a part of the family to give her a name was quite enough to put me off my dinner. Perhaps if I was starving to death, I might think differently. I’ve heard that horsemeat is quite dark and tough D:
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Never had horsemeat that I’m aware of. Poor Bimbo, that would put me off too! Thanks Sarah
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Nice story.
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Thanks
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Fun with an unpalatable twist.
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Thanks Michael, the consensus seems to be no to horse for Christmas dinner!
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Seriously! Don’t even think about it! 😉
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Haha, thanks Dawn 😉
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