Post by morwen on Jul 4, 2006 11:35:26 GMT -5
Eothain went into the barn huffily, kicking over an empty bucket and startling the sleeping hen in her small coop. She flapped around noisily in her cage sqwaking. The ten year old boy sank into the corner and put his face in his hands, sobbing. A younger girl, about six years old, creaked open the door to the barn and peered inside. "Go away," Eothain mumbled. Freda sat down next to him, breathing in the smell of fresh hay and horse manure. Neither of them said a word, but Freda waited patiently until Eothain burst out, "I hate this place!" He buried his head in Freda's shoulder, and, for a moment, she was able to comfort her older brother, cradling his heaving shoulders.
Freda stood up and took the shovel from the rack on the wall; she started shoveling the horse's droppings out of the stall. "I wonder why we keep Theros; Mama never rides him and he is too big for us," she pondered. "We keep him for when Papa comes back," Eothain replied abruptly. Freda nodded silently, her small, grubby hands calloused by the farmwork they did while their mother tended to others. Papa is not coming back, Freda thought silently. Eothain knew it as well, but neither ever spoke of it, always hoping that some day he would return...
Eothain got up from his place in the corner and opened the small coop, reaching in and taking out a single egg. "It looks like the fat old hen will be supper soon," he mumbled. Freda's expression remained the same; she felt no pity for the old chicken. "We have not had real meat in an age," she whispered dreamily.
Freda stood up and took the shovel from the rack on the wall; she started shoveling the horse's droppings out of the stall. "I wonder why we keep Theros; Mama never rides him and he is too big for us," she pondered. "We keep him for when Papa comes back," Eothain replied abruptly. Freda nodded silently, her small, grubby hands calloused by the farmwork they did while their mother tended to others. Papa is not coming back, Freda thought silently. Eothain knew it as well, but neither ever spoke of it, always hoping that some day he would return...
Eothain got up from his place in the corner and opened the small coop, reaching in and taking out a single egg. "It looks like the fat old hen will be supper soon," he mumbled. Freda's expression remained the same; she felt no pity for the old chicken. "We have not had real meat in an age," she whispered dreamily.