Copyright © [Surabhi Parashar] [2026]. All Rights Reserved.
This is my response to this week’s photo prompt by “Friday Fictioneers”.
Popé’s runner started his journey on a full moon day. The Gobernador had spread soldados in every nook and corner of San Juan Pueblo.
People called him “Running Deer.” He knew every bend in the mountain path, and he was the chosen one, the only Tewa who could reach other Pueblos without getting captured. He carried a leather pouch with a knotted cord. Each day, a knot would be untied. With the opening of the final knot, the revolt will begin.
Sage brushed his ankles as he raced against the odds. He couldn’t risk being captured, so he kept going.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
Facts: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 – The event behind the story is the Pueblo Revolt, one of the most successful Indigenous uprisings in North American history. By the late 1600s, the Pueblo peoples of present-day New Mexico had lived under Spanish colonial rule for decades. A Pueblo spiritual leader known as Popé emerged as a key organizer of resistance. He was from the village of Ohkay Owingeh (then called San Juan Pueblo).
mindful-echoes 
Let his legs speed
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Thanks for reading Neil. This is what came to mind with a New Mexico backdrop. 🙂
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Running Deer definitely earned his name. If I were carrying the fate of a revolt in a leather pouch, I’d be checking every shadow twice and running faster than my Wi-Fi when the power goes out 😄
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Thanks for reading Willie. Yeah, I am in the same boat as you. 🙂
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and so, this was the story of running deer. thanks for info.
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Thanks for reading Plaridel. I am glad you liked it.
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May the wind be with him and carry him to the untying of the final knot. Hard to believe this was so long ago. Thank you for sharing this story. Surabhi.
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Thanks for reading Lisa. Yes, I did a little research for this plot. 🙂
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You are welcome.
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Great write we instantly feel the danger Running Deer is in – There’s a tense from the very first line 🙌 Thanks for the historical background too
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Thanks for reading. I’m glad you liked it 😊.
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Thanks for the history. Good piece.
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Thanks for reading :).
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Fantastic. A taste of history. You have us in his head running with him.
Nicely written
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Thanks for reading Laurie 😊.
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