Sixth year student Jack Tinsley shares with NewEnglish his short story ‘A Changing Land’. Jack received and ‘Essay of the Year’ award for his story last year. Find the full story here and below is an extract.
He stood up, and could feel his aged bones creaking, “not much left in them” he thought “but enough, enough to take him home”. He untied his horse from the hitching post. The horse fully laden with supplies, he swung himself onto the saddle and the horse trotted out of town, glancing over his shoulder and taking his last look, he felt nothing. The dull thumping of mallets on wood echoed against the rocks as he rode past teams of men glistening with sweat as they laid the ever increasing line that extended all the way from Nevada to the west coast. This is how it all began, he recalled, the railroad paving the way for civilization.