A Dunkard Brethren church once sat at the top of the ridge overlooking Willow Run. Now in crumbles of brick and mortar, flowering honeysuckle invite bees to commune at their cups of sweetness. Blacksnakes slither through the rubble looking for a toad or rat residing there.
It was in this church where itinerant preachers on horseback brought fiery brimstone, forgiveness, and grace to the faithful who gathered. Souls were saved and dunked all the way under in Willow Run.
On the hillside the full moon reflects off of a few protruding graveyard stones. Most have long since been overgrown and broken. The names on the stones kiss the ground, above the deceased as “In their dreams they sleep with the moon.”
Tales are told by the ancients, who still live nearby, that at midnight’s full moon rise, horses pounding hooves echo through the night!
Today at d’Verse, Merril introduce a prosery prompt. This is a short story of no more than 144 words that can be flash fiction, true, or far out imaginary. It must include a random line from a poem that she shared with us. Her line was from a Mary Oliver poem, (Death at Wind River),“In their dreams they sleep with the moon.” My story is flash fiction, based on a little church from my home town. My two brothers and I visited there two years ago, and I took a bunch of photos. These are a couple of photos from there. The story is made up.
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I like your prosery very much!!
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Thank you so much Liz! It was fun to write!
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You’re welcome, Dwight!
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Beautiful prose, Dwight. I love the spirits who weave their ways through it.
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yes, I thought it would fit in nicely with Fall! Thank you Lisa! So glad you enjoyed it
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You’re very welcome.
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This is so evocative, Dwight! I like how seamlessly you have incorporated the line from Mary Oliver’s poem. 💝
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Thank you Saana for your kind words. It seemed to fit write in!! :>)
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….and I surmise there may be more truth than fiction. Who knows what restless spirits linger still in the little churchyard. Such places always transport me to earlier times. Somewhere in my archives I have a poem I wrote years ago which perfectly matches this photo!!
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How interesting! They are rather intriguing little places! Thank you Beverly!
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love your wild imagination in this one Dwight … restless souls and pounding hooves!
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Yes… face to face with their headstones!! LOL Thank Kate!
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a pleasure Dwight!
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Great Poetry Roth of your church town. Love the pics. love Mary Oliver’s line cleverly woven in.
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Thank you Cindy. It just seemed right to weave this one together!
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You sent a shiver up my spine with this one Dwight. Eerie and wonderful.
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Thank you Rob… You know Halloween is coming soon!! My version of Ichabod Crane!!
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I enjoyed your prosery and photos, Dwight…the sound of horses’ hooves sent a shiver up my spine too!
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Thank you Lynn. I am so glad you enjoyed it!
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I liked your prosery, Dwight. It sounds like a ghost story.
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That’s such a great way to find inspiration for a story, Dwight, a real place and a photograph – Willow Run is such an atmospheric name. I love the description of the ruined church in the opening paragraph, so full of wildlife, and the graves on the hillside. Those itinerant preachers sound scary!
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I love using my photos for inspiration. They take me to places and times that give my work roots. I appreciate your kind comment. Glad you enjoyed it!
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The prose on the old church that had long fallen out of use is very graphic with the black snake hunting in the day and spirits of horsemen and horses in the night. Brings a sense of mystery I used to feel while reading Enid Blyton books as a child. Lovely picture of the church too.
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Thank you Deb. Once I started It all came together as I tried to create images that would tell the story.
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An eerily fun read, Dwight! “If walls could talk…”…they seem to be talking through you. And I can hear the horse’s hooves! 🙂
Weirdly, or maybe it’s not weird, I like to visit old cemeteries…the older the better…I like to read the tombstones and let those buried there know they are not forgotten. The oldest two I’ve been to were in New Orleans and in the mountains in TN…the TN one had tombstones from the mid 1800’s.
(((HUGS)))
PS…Mary Oliver is one of my fav poets! 🙂
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Thank you for your interesting comment. Not sure how this evolved out of this prompt, but it just sort of started and ran right through to the echoing hoofbeats! Thank you so much. Mary Oliver was a great poet!
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An evocative piece of ecclesiastical history with a spooky twist!
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Something different for me! Thank you Ingrid!
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You ran so well with the prompt
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It was a lot of fun to write, Derrick. I found out from a friend. who’s father was a preacher at that church, that she had circuit riding preachers on both sides of her family! I had no idea.
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I read A Drunkard Brethren Church and wondered if it specialised in saving fallen souls.
Nice prose, Dwight, evoking a sense of peace.
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Thank you Jane… Yes, it got the name from dunking folks all the way under as opposed to sprinkling or pouring for baptism! Thank you very much!
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🙂
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I love your story. I hope it is not completely made up.
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The church is real, and back in the day I found out that they did have circuit riding preachers. Thank you for your comment!
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An evocative piece and an excellent approach to the prompt, Dwight!
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Thank you Eugenia! I appreciate your kind comment!
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My pleasure!
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So, the dead sleep, but the living are dying, dead, decrepit just so the built environment, a metaphor for authentic living as best.
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And earth’s living creatures out live them all!! Thanks Paul.
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Yes indeed 🙂
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Like Jane, I first read Drunkard instead of Dunkard! That said, a lovely photo to accompany a wonderful story! Well done, Dwight.
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Thank you Dale. That was a nickname given to the group because of the mode of baptism, which was all the way under!! :>)
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🙂
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I love how you turned this bucolic scene into a ghost tale (that’s the best kind). A lovely write, and wonderful photos, too, Dwight.
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Thank you Merril! I enjoyed writing this tale!
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I’m so pleased you did!
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Love how you took me back to the history of that old church and into the memories of the graveyard.
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Thank you Bjorn. The was a fun one to write!
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That was a fun story, sounds as if it could have been from memory and local lore and not made up.
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This was all made up. The church still holds services there every Sunday! :>)
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Oh, Dwight, this was lovely. And you wove the line in so poetically that I couldn’t pick out which one was the prompt. Beautifully rendered!!
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Thank you Jan! I am so glad you enjoyed my story. The line was a great fit for the story and added to the theme.
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Quite perfectly! ❤
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