It's once again time for the bi-weekly Friday Flash feature, where I post stories originally found on the long-gone storypraxis blog.

This week's is a short one...I feel like maybe someday it could become a longer story, but for now, this is what I came up with when given the storypraxis prompt "castle."

***

CASTLE 

From his hiding place, he watched them. Carriages, pulled by horses with shiny, diamond studded tack, rolled in and out of the castle gates, day in and day out. He wondered what they were doing – the people presumably in the carriages, not the horses, as that was evident enough – and why they rushed around here and there, to and fro, night and day.

Of course, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to see the inside of the place for himself. He’d heard tales of red and purple carpets, gold candelabras, and a beautiful princess that a man could only hope to glimpse from afar. Rumor had it she was betrothed to a prince two kingdoms away, the wedding already planned and set for the coming spring.

He squinted in the sunlight, noticing a rather large chest drawn by a team of four overworked horses. They were sweating, and clearly hadn’t been given enough rest. What was inside? How could he ever find out? What would it take for him to simply stroll down to the castle walls and slip inside?

Where was the justice of the universe that resigned him to watching the privileged from the side of a mountain?

With a sigh of resignation, he folded his wings, and slunk back into his cave.