Posted in Drama Writing Challenges

A Candy Floss Christmas (by mcfair_58)

Summary:  Clementine Hawkins saves the day by preventing an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction.
Rating:  G   2,710 words

Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar

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Posted in Brothers Writing Challenges

The Storm Whisperer (by mcfair_58)

Summary:  Adam’s brothers are missing.  Will the Christmas secret he is keeping lead to their rescue? 
Rating:  G  3,515 words

Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar

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ID 334828825 © Andrii Hatchenko | Dreamstime.com
Posted in Poetry Writing Challenges

Christmas Has Come (by mcfair_58)

Summary:  No one signed up for the fourth, so this day was opened to all members in the Forums to try their hand at writing poetry for the season.
Rating:  G  350 words

Written for the 2024 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar

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Posted in Adam Cartwright Hurt/Comfort Short Stories What Happened Next/Later

Serenity (mcfair_58)

Summary: A follow-up to The Crucible.  An unexpected visitor helps Adam Cartwright heal his broken heart before breaking it again.  A story for Valentine’s Day.
Word count: 3296
Rated: G

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File ID 41548637 | © Scott Jones | Dreamstime.com
Posted in Drama Joe Cartwright

The Maiden (by McFair)

A badly wounded Little Joe Cartwright is propelled into an adventure where he meets a beautiful Indian girl who seeks his love…and maybe his life! Rated: PG Word count: 34,669

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Posted in Drama Joe Cartwright Prequel

Silent as the Snow (by mcfair_58)

Summary:  With Little Joe, following his heart often leads to trouble.
Rating:  G
Words:  2,050
Written for the 2023 Bonanza Advent Calendar

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Posted in Drama Joe Cartwright Prequel

Good Farmers (by mcfair_58)

Summary: Adam intended to introduce his youngest brother to good literature, but you know Little Joe – instead of culture, he found trouble!  
Rating:  G
Words:  4,500 
Written for the Bonanza Brand 2023 Advent Calendar

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Posted in Joe Cartwright What Happened Next/Later Writing Challenges

The Glass Bird (by McFair_58)

Summary: Christmas brings an unexpected guest to the Ponderosa and forces Joe Cartwright to confront his past, present and future in the form of a tiny glass bird. 
Rating G Words (4750)
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar

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Posted in Hop Sing

The Broken Cord (by McFair_58)

Summary: A tie that binds is broken. Can Hop Sing make it – and the Cartwrights – whole again?
Rating:  G   Words 3,420
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar

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Posted in Roy Coffee Short Stories

Baubles (mcfair_58)

Summary: A barren tree and a string of glass beads bring two lonely men together on Christmas Eve.
Rated G
Word count: 4121

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Posted in Action/Adventure Drama Joe Cartwright Prequel

Big Things (mcfair_58)

Dedicated to Debbie B. or Debbie Beshears (because she asked for it!)
Eleven-year-old Little Joe Cartwright is on a mission.  His friend, Sarah Winnemucca, needs his help and so, he sets out to find her in the woods.  Of course, since this is Little Joe Cartwright, he’s bound to find something else as well – BIG trouble! 

Rated: PG
Word count: 32,644

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Posted in Drama Family Hurt/Comfort What Happened Next/Later

The Beauty of Darkness (mcfair_58)

A sequel to The Friendship, The Guilty, The Tall Stranger, The Crucible, and The Storm.  Jimmy Partridge. Margie Owens. Peter Kane. Laura White. Things were far from routine on the Ponderosa. His life – his family – was a shambles. That indefinable ‘thing’ that held them together, what made them ‘the’ Cartwrights, was lost.  Ben Cartwright despaired of ever getting it back.
Rated: PG-13 for brutality and Western style violence
Word count: 55,298

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Posted in Drama Hop Sing Writing Challenges

Be a Candle (by mcfair_58)

Summary: Every year, on the night before Christmas Eve, Hop Sing would make candles. Now, candles are kind of old fashioned, so I asked him why. This is the tale he told me, a tale of wonder and grace.
Written for day 9 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G
Word Count: 3915

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Posted in Drama Roy Coffee Writing Challenges

The Secret Ingredient (by mcfair_58)

Summary: On Christmas eve Deputy Roy Coffee found himself starin’ down one of the baddest desperados he’d ever come across – six year old Little Joe Cartwright. What secret ingredient did he have in his pocket to make the boy smile?
Written for day 7 of the 2021 Advent Calendar.
Rating: G
Word Count: 3284

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Posted in Drama Hop Sing Spooky / Supernatural

A Warrior’s Tears (mcfair_58)

Summary: A youthful dream becomes an adult nightmare for Hop Sing. Does he have what it takes to save his beloved Cartwrights?
Word Count: 7,348
Rated: PG

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Posted in Adam / Joe Drama Joe Cartwright Prequel Spooky / Supernatural Writing Challenges

Midnight (McFair_58)

What happens between the eleventh and the twelfth stroke of the clock on All Hallows Eve?  Beware!  Twelve-year-old Little Joe and his big brother Adam are about to find out.  Written for the 2021 Bonanza Brand Boo-nanza challenge.
Rated: PG for spookiness
Word count: 6,574

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Posted in Family Writing Challenges

The Painted Lady (by mcfair_58)

Summary:  Fifteen-year-old Little Joe Cartwright is in love and, as usual, it brings a world of trouble.  Can big brother Adam save the day or will he too be drawn in by the Painted Lady and lose not only his way, but maybe his life?  

Rating:  PG Word Count: 29,166

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Posted in Brothers Drama Hurt/Comfort What Happened Instead Writing Challenges

The Circumstance of His Return (by McFair_58)

A violent storm, a frightened mare, and the matter of his homecoming.  My entry for the 2021 ‘Man in Black’ challenge.  
Rated: PG
Word count: 10,999

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Posted in Ben / Joe Drama Hurt/Comfort What Happened Next/Later

Whose Sin Is Her Love (mcfair_58)

Summary: Adah Menken and John C. Regan return to Virginia City stirring up old emotions and creating new trouble for the Cartwrights.

Rated PG-13 for western brutality, violence and adult situations

Word count: 55, 282

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Posted in Ben Cartwright Drama Prequel

His Father’s Arms (by mcfair_58)

Summary: Written in honor of Lorne Green’s birthday, 2021.  A stand-off at the bank reveals what’s truly important to Ben Cartwright.

Rated: PG

Word count: 4088

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Posted in Action/Adventure Ben / Joe Drama Hurt/Comfort Prequel

Going Home (by mcfair_58)

Summary: It is 1847 and such a winter had never been seen!  Snowstorms and squalls.  Sleet and ice.  Winds so ferocious they built drifts high as a man.  Driven by a need to escape the memory of his late wife, Ben Cartwright ventures out into a frozen landscape and becomes lost.  As he seeks a way to survive, he has no way of knowing that another member of the family has become lost as well.  Will the killer snow claim two Cartwright lives?
Rated PG
Word count 20,990

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Posted in Drama Joe Cartwright Writing Challenges

The Remarkable Tin Soldier (by McFair_58)

Summary:  Remembrance of Christmas Past

Rating:  G   7,950 words

Note:  This story was written for the Bonanza Brand 2020 Advent Calendar, originated in the Forums.

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Posted in Action/Adventure Drama Hurt/Comfort Joe Cartwright What Happened Next/Later

Blindsided (McFair_58)

Summary: Two years after he was bushwhacked, Joe Cartwright returns to Lone Pines and the Griswolds’ spread. Though he intends to stay for one night, circumstances beyond his control compel him to change his plans. Something is terribly wrong, and he is bound and determined to set it right – even if it it costs him his life. Slightly AU in that the eps ‘Forever’ never happened.
Word count: 66, 499
Rated: PG-13

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Posted in Humor Joe Cartwright Writing Challenges

Never Frighten the Cat – Little Joe’s Wardrobe Challenge (McFair_58)

Summary: Ben comes home to a comic crisis creating by who else – his youngest son!  Can he help him before the boy is buried alive? 

Word count: 1746
Rated: G

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Posted in Action/Adventure Drama Family Prequel What Happened Before

The Cavalry Is Coming (by McFair_58)

Summary: A prequel to ‘A Rose for Lotta’. Ben Cartwright’s meeting with Alpheus Troy and the other mine owners did not go well. They want his timber and he won’t give it to them. The rancher knows Troy will do whatever it takes to keep his mine running, and when he arrives home to find out sixteen-year-old Little Joe is missing, he fears the worst.

Word Count: 19871
Rated PG-13 for typical Western violence 

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Posted in Drama Hurt/Comfort Joe Cartwright What Happened Next/Later

I’ll See You Outside (by McFair_58)

Summary: A What Happens Next for ‘The Magnificent Adah’.  As Hoss finishes one last beer, Little Joe heads outside to saddle Cochise and wait for him – little knowing the deadly danger that lurks in the dark.
Rated: PG-13 for brutality, violence, and graphic images
Word count: 14770

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Posted in Adam Cartwright Drama Prequel

The Frail Branch (by McFair_58)

Summary: A tale for our times.  17 year old Adam Cartwright is sure he’s up to taking care of his two younger brothers while his Pa and Marie head into town.  And he would have been, had an unseen and deadly enemy not come to call. 

Rated PG-13
Word count: 20,692

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Posted in Ben Cartwright Drama Hurt/Comfort Prequel

Difficult Roads (by McFair_58)

Summary: Ben Cartwright’s young sons are under threat. Could a secret long buried be the reason? And if so, just whose secret is it?

Word Count: 66,559

Rated PG-13 for racial slurs and western style brutality and violence

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