It had sat there for over a hundred years, a monument to those who had lit out on the Oregon Trail to settle the land and make their future.

This wagon hadn’t made it to the end. Had the people who came with it, or had they perished along the way from hunger, thirst, exhaustion, cholera, gunshots or rattlesnakes.

The natives were helpful to the travellers. Would they have been helpful if they knew what the future held for them?

The torch landed on the dry wood. Within minutes the wagon was only a burnt husk of what it had once been.

Like the country it represented.

Written for Friday Fictioneers 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 of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

My new novel All We Cannot Leave Behind has arrived in paperback and is available to order now from all good booksellers in the UK. The eBook edition will be available from Feb 28th.

The State Trilogy and The Barra Boy also available now.