We had a really nice day. Winter was almost over, and it was nearly St. Patrick's Day. I decided that it would be a really good day to go for a hike in the woods. I wore a green hoodie, blue jeans, and hiking boots. It was getting cloudy, and I knew that I must get home soon. As I was walking, a cloud of smoke slowly appeared ahead of me, and out rode a horse with a headless rider. He had his head under his arm, and he had an evil grin on his face. He held a large axe in his right hand, and he used a human spine as a whip I knew instantly that it was the dreaded Dullahan.

"Wha... what do you want?" I asked while trembling.

He didn't say a word but just pointed to my head. I screamed, and turned to run, but the Dullahan swung his axe, and severed my head. My headless body collapsed to the ground, trembling, but unable to move, while my head rolled severed yards away, alive, but disoriented. I thought it best to play dead in the hopes that he would leave me alone. The Dullahan picked up my severed head, and rode away.

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The next day....

Zack had just gotten home from work when he heard the door bell ring. He opened the door to find Kayla standing there.

"Kayla, what brings you here?' He asked.

"It's Erin. She never came home last night." She replied. "I hope nothing has happened to her."

"Are you sure? She told me she was going for a hike in the woods." He replied.

"Yes, I'm sure. We were supposed to go out for lunch, but when I went to her place, she wasn't there, and to make matters worse, it's raining." She said.

Zack grabbed the keys to his truck, and said: "Come on... let's see if we can find her."

Zack and Kayla pulled up to the woods where I normally hike. After several minutes, they saw my drenched headless body up ahead.

"Oh, nooo!" Kayla said.

She ran up to my body, and placed her ear up to my chest.

"She's still breathing..." Kayla said. "But where is her head?"

"I don't know. I can't seem to find it anywhere." Zack said.

Just then Zack spotted something.

"What is it?" Kayla asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Hoof prints; probably no more than a day old." Zack replied. "Somebody must have been riding a horse around here yesterday."

"Oh no... it must have been the Dullahan." She replied.

"What in the world is a Dullahan?" Zack asked.

"A headless horseman from Irish mythology that Erin told me about one time, but usually he just mentions his victims names and steals their souls, causing them to drop dead. What would he want with her head?" Kayla replied.

"I don't know, but if it wearn't for her magical powers, she would be dead now," He replied. "Did Erin ever tell you how to defeat the Dullahan?"

"She said that he has a fear of gold." She replied.

"Gold?' He asked.

"Yeah. Just a little bit of gold is enough to make him disappear." She replied.

"Well, I suppose I could go back home and get my gold watch." Zack said.

Just then, the rain let up, the sun started to peek through the clouds, and a rainbow appeared.

"Wait... I have another idea. Let's get in the truck and drive toward the end of that rainbow." Kayla said.

Zack picked up my body and laid it in the back seat of his truck, and then he and Kayla got in and drove off.

As they neared the end of the rainbow, they spotted a Leprechaun with a pot of gold.

"Now, here's what we do..." Kayla said, and told Zack her plan.

As the Leprechaun was standing near his pot of gold, Kayla snuck out from the bushes, and managed to make eye contact with him, causing him to freeze in his place. Zack then quickly came and grabbed the pot of gold and ran away. Kayla followed shortly thereafter, and the Leprechaun disappered.

Zack and Kayla then drove back to the place where they found my headless body, and waited for the Dullahan to reappear.

As Kayla stood alone, the Dullahan reappeared with my severed head in his lap.

"Oh no, Kayla." I thought to myself, but unable to speak.

The Dullahan lifted up the axe, and was ready to swing when Kayla reached behind her and grabbed the pot of gold, and held it up. The Dullahan's evil grin changed to an expression of fright. Zack quickly appeared from behind a tree, and grabbed my head, and the Dullahan disappeared.

"Let's get you fixed up, Erin." Zack said.

Zack walked over to the truck, opened the back driver's side door, and reattached my head to my body.

"Are you alright?" Zack and Kayla both asked in unison.

"Yeah, I'm alright, but I don't ever want to go through that again. I couldn't speak or feel my body during that entire time." I replied. "Thank you both for saving me."

"Thank you for telling me those old Irish legends or I wouldn't have known how." Kayla said.

 "I bet you're hungry now since you haven't eaten in so long, aren't you?" Zack said.

"Yes, I am." I replied.

Well then, let's get something to eat." He said.

"That sounds like a good idea to me." I replied.

THE END