Category: What Happened Instead
Episode inspired stories.
A Shadow Calling (by BettyHT)
Summary: Adam and Joe are having nightmares about Hoss and don’t know what they mean. Too late, one brother understands the message that was sent. It’s a WHI for the end of the series.
Rating: T Word count: 6,705
The Found Christmas Star (by FanofoldTVshows)
Summary: A found star brings back memories from a past Christmas.
Rating: A Words 2,050
Written for the 2022 Bonanza Brand Calendar
Taming the Spitfire (by pjb)
Summary: A WHI for The Spitfire. When Joe brings Willow back to the Ponderosa, only one person understands what’s really happening. Rating: PG Word count: 4,380 words
To Live or To Die (by millieshepherd)
Summary: Shelia Johnson, Little Joe Cartwright’s fiancée, gets captured and held hostage by the Lassiters. A WHI for Five Sundowns to Sunup.
Rating: T
Word Count: 10,268
My Boy (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: My boy was late. He was never late. A different POV for the episode “Elizabeth, My Love”.
Rating: K
Word Count: 1,057
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
Always One More (by BettyHT)
Summary: A What Happened Instead for The Decision. What if the doctor wasn’t able to do the surgery? Ben recalls conversations he has had with Hoss and the best of his middle son’s attributes.
Rating: PG Word count: 1243
Please Don’t Go (by Annie K Cowgirl)
Summary: “I’d never thought much about my own death, but on the rare occasions that I did, I’d always imagined I’d be surrounded by my family when my time came. Now, as I watched Hoss ride away, I knew I wouldn’t even be afforded that luxury.” An extended/AU scene from the episode “Second Chance” Joe’s POV.
Rated: T (for mild language)
Word Count: 920
Broken Ballad – The Last Gunfight (by AC1830)
Summary: What if the final gunfight that killed Ed Payson took a different turn and set the main players on different paths? A WHI for Broken Ballad.
Rating: T, Word Count: 2676
Sunday School Lessons, and Surprise (by BettyHT)
Summary: Hoss gets a job teaching unruly boys in Sunday School, but his best student or at least the one most affected by his teaching is not in his class. There are beneficial unintended consequences no one could have predicted.
Rating = PG Word count = 2674
The Search (by Monette)
Summary: Adam is accused of things he didn’t do. When he finds a strange message left behind in Virginia City, he starts out on a quest to save his identity.
Rating PG. Word count 14,248
Broken Bonds (by BettyHT)
SUMMARY: The story is the WHI for She Walks In Beauty to answer the question of what might have happened if Regan stayed and she and Hoss married. That decision would not only affect her and Hoss but Adam and the rest of the family as well. Here is one version of what those effects might be.
Rating = T Word Count = 33,467
A Dish Served Cold (by Questfan)
Summary: A somewhat AU What Happened Instead for The First Born. While New Orleans had brought Marie into Ben’s life, it was also a breeding ground for lies, whispered rumours, family disputes and long-held hatred. It has long been said that revenge is a dish that is best served cold.
Rating: T
Word Count: 63028
A Rose By Any Other Name (by McFair_58)
Summary: The ending of the pilot has always bothered me. Would Alphaeus Troy and the mine owners really have given up that easily? What if the fight in China town had ended differently and Little Joe never made that dinner date with Lotta Crabtree…?
Rated: PG-13
Word Count: 21,226
Freedom’s Just Another Word (by AC1830)
Summary: A WHI for A House Divided. “Father against son, brother against brother. A house divided against itself cannot not stand.” What if Adam did leave in order to keep peace in the family? This is a journey of healing for the Cartwright family and some newfound friends.
Rating = T, Word Count = 14415
