In the tradition of Jeremiah Johnson, I offer a challenge. Write a short story with only one human character, a classic man vs. nature story. The rules? Not more than 1500 words, the character is free to interact with an animal or elements of nature (for the sake of dialogue). He/she can talk to themselves, to some unseen being, but cannot interact with a real, live, standing-right-next-to-them person. The story must be set sometime between the Civil War era and 1900, for example the blizzard of '88. I issue this challenge because of a TV episode of The Westerner. I saw the episode when I was just a child. It made such an impact on me that I can still recall the story's premise now that I'm considerably past the half-century mark of my life. Brian Keith, alone in the desert, thristy, tired, possibly dying. His only companions: his horse and dog. Are you guys up to it?
... a whole lot like surrender?