A boy child wandered through the tall grasses and fruit trees and wondered with amazement. He feels and sees the dew damp leggings, clinging and cool and the gentle breeze wafting through his unkempt hair and across his brow.
He lifts his face, blinks at the brightness, covers his eyes with a hand and watches the birds and the fluffy white clouds chase each other across the quiet blue.
His reverie interrupted by the slamming of a screen door; a sound he knows that hurries him to the fat Jersey cow staked out to pasture.
His cheek pressed against the warm flank as the beast chews, the warmth of teats in his hand, the sound of firm streams of milk pounding into the stainless steel pail; he thinks yet again of the chores that remain and watches the yellow barn cat that can catch a stream of squirted milk across the straw laden floor.
Carefully the near full white frothed pail to the back screen door recently announced and upon the counter by the hand water pump. Milk strained through cheesecloth carefully poured into the glass gallon jugs boiled the night before and carefully again into the ice box.
A quick check of the wood cook stove he started before the sun was full up and the pot bellied, chimneyed one in the living room that warmed the dwelling. A quick cold hard home-baked biscuit from the night before and out the door, carefully handing the screen quietly.
The wagging dog and a licked hand, a gathered flock, impatient as the Rooster challenges and the hens and chicks complain. Eggs gathered and set aside, fed and watered; he latched the hen house door and spoke name by name to the rabbits he would have to soon kill and skin and freeze.
A motherly smile and loving fingers taming impudent locks and breakfast as the dining room filled and children laughed.
He smelled like the cow all day in school. Only the city kids sneered; the farm girls smiled and giggled at his ragged jeans.
At seventeen the boy went away on a huge gray Naval vessel. He served with honor but knew there was more and went off to seek.
He wandered and saw some of the wonders of the world and loved and lost and cried and felt fear on dark nights on the Kansas plains when not a car saw his thumb all night.
He saw enough and knew there was more…
The boy child wandered through the tall grasses…carefree, barefoot in ragged jeans; glanced over his shoulder and did a running summer-sault on the gentle earth. He laughed out loud and threw a small stone, accurately against the bark of a Cherry tree. He turned and gave a thumbs up and a huge smile to the world at large.
A man with a woman by his side, arms around, watched with pride as the boy ran and jumped and explored his new found world.
They smiled.
A contest entry
- THE MOD SQUAD CHALLENGE by Cyber Artist.
700 points, ended April 7, 2007, 32 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
-
Wow, what a great time chain!
Unexpected but clever and amazing ending. The beginning of the story pulled me right in! I like the descriptions and the amount of truth in the words.
I like it!
-
WOW
I read, got drawn in.. congratulations for winning the mod squad challenge!!!!!
Quite deserved, I believe *claps*
The description in this was just.. beautiful. This is the 2nd work of yours that I've read, and wow... I am just... amazed ^_^ you have this high command on words, as I told you in my other comment. And the way you described everything had me "seeing" things rather than reading them
A great read. even at 9am
(I have not slept! ^_^)
Thanks for sharing this
-
He wandered and saw some of the wonders of the world and loved and lost and cried and felt fear on dark nights on the Kansas plains when not a car saw his thumb all night.
He saw enough and knew there was more…
I loved these lines. They say so much in so few words-poetry in prose.
I found the whole story most enjoyable and the style in which you have written made it all come alive.
-
I really enjoyed reading this one. I could picture almost everything in my mind. The best of luck to you in the contest.
-
N-i-c-e.
Very well done and excellently crafted. This is so full of description and imagery that I can see the boy walking through the field, and playing.
Thank you for entering, and good luck in the contest.
beginning: 4, plot: 5, ending: 4, characters: 4.
-
Totally great. The first half of this could have been written about me, country boy that I am. This was written very, very well. Hope to read more of your work soon.
-
499W/c This was an extremely well written piece, showing times gone by when life was less stressed but twice as hard. You managed to take me on a journey through this boys life in so few word I felt I new him and wanted to call out Goodnight John Boy! Very enjoyable.
Cyberartist
Adding your comment:
1 - 7 of 7
