Two Riders

Raw heat shimmers off the baked floor of the wastelands causing phantasms, demons, illusions and hope to dart in and out of existence. From nowhere they appear, both on horseback. One in black the other white, they ride in silence, heads down like their near dead horses.

They exit the wastelands and head east. Coming to a stream they dismount, water their horses and wash the dust from their clothes and themselves. They build a fire and sleep through the night, neither will ever mention what they saw in that desert.

They come to a home that is and is not there, it blinks in and out of existence like a promise yet to be kept.

"I hope it comes back, it sure was a swell place!"

"Two."

"Yes two places both different and yet the same, do you think there will be others?"

"Yes, but I don't know when the next incarnation will appear."

"Well I miss him!"

The other stares off, a smile flashing across his face the echo of a memory.

They move on eventually approaching a quaint home now run down and in disrepair.

"He said he'd be back, do you think he'll be back? He was such a nice man!"

"He was a gentle man."

"So, do you think he'll be back?"

"No. This place is too dangerous for him, he was a victim of his own appetites. Of course his appetites were encouraged but that's the nature of this place and we're all big boys, right? I hope he's happy where ever he is now."

"I think one of the dolls killed him! Those things are dangerous!"

They continue onward at a steady pace. The one in black lights a cheroot.

"Do you remember when we first came to this place?"

"Aye, it was a much different place then. It was more playful, more fun or so it seemed."

"It was new."

"So were we. Now we're old ..."

They enter the town of Paradise. Ambling their horses down the center of the town road they pull up in front of a saloon and enter. Over in the corner some drunk has been is blubbering to a bar girl with enormous breasts.

"I tell ya, I was the best! Do you remember that one case?"

"Which one, there were like five or six."

"The one with the panties!!!"

"They all had panties you idiot!"

The sound of the gunshot causes both riders whirl with lightening speed drawing their six-shooters as the woman falls to the floor clutching her knee and screaming like a banshee. The drunk peers wearily at the riders distractedly waving his forty-five at nothing.

"You want some?"

They sit at the bar and slam back a couple of whiskeys watching the drunk's head hit the table while his companion wraps a torniquet around her leg with well practiced efficiency. They tip their hats in her general direction, mount their horses and move on.

On the outskirts of town they pass a large mansion high on a hill. Dusk is falling and a storm is rolling in. Dark, angry clouds are illuminated by flashes of lightening. Thunder can be distantly heard.

They stare up at at the mansion as flood lights begin to blink on illuminating the well manicured lawn, the topiaries and shrines.

"They say he's gone insane, like Howard Hughes did. Only eats the cookies between two other cookies. Once cooked they can't be touched by human hands. I hear his mom is pissed, her baking load has tripled."

"Well 'They' say a lot of things."

"Do you think it's true?"

"No, he just got busy ... like the rest of us."

"You heard about Midnight Madness ..."

"Yes, it made me sad to hear there will be no more. I could rarely attend but when I could I would at least get to see him again inside that weird bubble of his. Now? ' Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;' What was seems to be succumbing to entropy. No one cares or seems to. This place is highly transitory anyway. I was hoping to stay longer."

"You think we're too late."

"One of us should make it."

"That's why there are two riders."

"That's why there are two."

Thunder rumbles through the landscape. Lightening illuminates a distant castle. They button their dusters and pull their hats down as a gentle rain begins to fall.

"Looks like a bad one."

"We've weathered worse."

"Trueeeeee ..."

"I wish I knew what happened. Everyone just wondered off. Well it all boils down to probability distributions. You can't know a particle's position and momentum at the same time. Change occurs and in some universe it was probably for the better."

"Do you always speak gibberish? I mean what the fuck?"

"It means God is in the details."

"What???"

"Look if that wasn't true then we should be able to construct a computer to predict to position of every atom in the universe at anytime. If we could do that we could predict the future with certainty. The fact that we can't know the position and momentum of a particle implies free will."

"So?"

"I don't like being a puppet. I want to choose! So I tend to look at change through those lenses. I'm not happy about where things are at compared to where they once were but I can't bitch too much about anyone choosing their path, I can only react to it. I've lost hope."

"I will never give up!"

Tears well in the black rider's eyes, "Which is why you're so loved. Your faith that things will work out shines from your spirit. Oh, and never say never."

They nudge their horses into a gallop as the rain starts falling in sheets.

A pet mans a rampart looking out over the newly constructed castle grounds. He shudders against the rain and looks at the rapidly advancing thunderhead with concern. Lightening begins to strike. Behind him rock music and laughter can be distantly heard, this is a place where the party never ends. As the wind picks up he wishes he was inside with the rest of them but knows he must perform his duty to Her.

Suddenly he stiffens, peering intenty into the gathering gloom before running to sound the alarm.

Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl ...