The Deadly Feud

Let us go back to the year 1845. Back then, the world was much different than how it is today. Not many advances had been made and the world was quite a bland place. But this was certainly not the case for a tiny city located in Ireland. The city went by the name of Rúndimhair-Fantaisíocht, or Rundfantasio for short. Not many people knew about this area. In fact, the only people who knew about it was its hundred or so inhabitants. Rundfantasio was no secret, but not a lot of people cared to explore it.

In this town of few, two families existed; one was Irish: the Brady family, and the other was Italian: the DiRusso family. It came to be that these two families were sheer enemies. Why? Nobody ever knew. Not even the families themselves knew, but it had been passed down from generation to generation for them to absolutely abhor one another. They despised one another without even having a good reason. It was a useless, but very real feud.

It came to be that one day, these two families experienced something that cannot possibly be explained. While they were minding their own business, they suddenly disappeared from their homes and reappeared in an odd place that highly resembled a desert. All that was visible was a deep blue, endless sky and golden sand. Unlike an actual desert, the sun was not beating down on them. As a matter of fact, it felt quite moderate.

Each of the families were lined up in two neat columns. On the left side stood the Bradys; on the left side stood their worst enemies, the DiRussos. Each family member looked around curiously, wondering what had just happened and why they were in what they believed was a desert.

These two families had so much animosity between them that they began cursing one another and blaming the opposing family for what had just happened. Each family’s members began pinning the blame on the other family, although they truly knew it was impossible for a human to have created such a predicament. Nevertheless, these families felt so much hatred toward each other in their hearts, they pined the blame on the opposing family.

As they were continuing to curse one another, they heard a voice — male voice. It was a powerful voice that one cannot describe easily. It was a voice that sent chills through both families.

“I’m sick of the constant fighting,” the voice announced. “I’m sick of watching you two families fight and quarrel and argue constantly.” Both families immediately stopped their shouting and froze in their tracks.

Instead of trying to discern where or who the voice was coming from, these two animosity-consumed families just assumed the other family had merely set up their predicament. The Bradys accused the head of the DiRusso family of somehow changing his voice to sound scary and powerful, but Mr. DiRusso denied doing such a thing. He returned the pointed finger to the head of the Brady family, and they kept going around in circles with this argument.

“Stop!” the powerful, mysterious voice screamed, shaking the ground. Both the DiRusso and Brady families froze immediately and looked around themselves. “I am not a member of either of your families. I am a more powerful force!

“Listen up! I have seen your families quarrel ever since your ridiculous feud began, and I think it is a shame that you two families fight without a reason. Forgive one another at once!”

“No!” Mr. Giuseppe DiRusso, the head of the Italian family, exclaimed in an Italian accent. “They are our enemies! Who are you?!” He looked around in his desert surroundings.

“This is your last chance. Forgive one another now!”

“No! The vendetta will never end!”

“Then I will end it for you.” Suddenly, a bright red piece of equipment descended from the sky. It looked like a sleigh with two lines of seats for passengers. Each side contained eight seats, which was just enough for both of the families. The two sides adjoined at the back so the ‘double sleigh’ took the shape of the letter A.

“What you have in front of you is a double-edged sleigh. The left side will hold one family, and the other side will contain the other family. After you are all seated, the sleigh will take off and it will take off quickly. One family will survive and the other will not. The Bradys should take the left side, and the DiRussos will take the right. Please be seated,” the voice instructed. Of course, both families were apprehensive about these instructions and especially the peculiar voice.

“Wait. So you mean if we board this sleigh, there’s a chance the Bradys could die?” Mr. DiRusso questioned.

“Yes. A fifty-fifty chance. Only I know what will be the final outcome.” Both families were still curious as to whether or not the voice was trustworthy and if it was accurate. But these families absolutely loathed one another. They decided it was worth the risk, so they boarded the sleigh.

The DiRussos and Bradys were situated: the DiRussos were on the right, and the Bradys were seated on the left. They fastened their belts and awaited their fate.

The sleigh started creeping along slowly. It began picking up speed slowly, but surely. It moved faster and faster until it was going an amazing two hundred miles per hour. The families’ hearts began racing and palpitating as they felt a rush of adrenalin travel throughout their bodies.

A wall suddenly appeared in the far distance. A message began flashing in front of them on the wall, which became more and more readable as they grew closer to it.

There, in white letters on the green wall, was the message as plain as day. It read:
“Only the luck of the Irishmen will determine survival.” As soon as both families read this message, they knew their fate.

The Bradys’ side detached from the sleigh and detoured as the DiRusso’s crashed into the wall. The Italians were dead.

Alas, the luck of the Irishmen determined the fate of these two families.