This is a little something I wrote for social class. Its purpose is to explain in detail how difficult it was to live as a peasent in the medieval days. I think I explained that point nicely...........
Anyways, take a whiff:
“Eh?”
Denn awoke to a strange sound. He lifted his head and looked to his feet. He saw nothing, but the sound continued. He got up and looked around the floor.
He found that a rat was chewing on his working shoes.
“Bloody ‘ell!” He cursed loudly and grabbed his walking stick.
He took a half-asleep swing at the rat from behind. Luckily it didn’t see the pointed stick coming, and with the hefty swing it flew in the air and smacked against the wall. It bounced off the wall and lay on the floor, unmoving.
“Oy, ‘un! Got a live ‘un ‘ere fer supper!” Denn yelled out and went to pick up the rodent.
His wife Lona stuck her head out and into the bedroom. “Do ye?”
Denn picked up the rat by the tail and showed her. “Eeyup!”
Lona gave a small squeal. “Ooohhh! We’re eatin good tonight!”
Denn tossed the dead rat to her. She made attempts to catch it, all failed though. She picked up the rodent from the grimy floor and carried it to the kitchen.
Denn gave a hearty laugh and put on his boots. He pulled a dead mouse out of it first, then stuck his foot in again. He stood up, stretched a little, then reached for his filthy coat, brushed a couple fleas off it and adorned it upon his shoulders.
After properly dressing, he walked into the kitchen and found his wife and three children were sitting on the floor eating breakfast.
Denn sat beside Lora, took a slab of bread and began to eat it. The children ate smaller portions of bread, and a little cheese on the side. They scraped the mould off before taking a bite.
After breakfast, Denn kissed his wife, walked for the door-less exit and left the meager mud building to do work in the fields.
Denn walked not too far before he met his neighbor, friend and fellow worker, Jiem.
“Oy, Jiem!” Denn called out from a distance and waved. Jiem rested his shovel and took a short break, waving back to Denn.
Taking his time, Denn meandered through broken fences and rocks to the manure wagon Jiem was shoveling into. A large pile was already pre-made a short distance away, but there was only one shovel. Denn scooped up some manure in his arms and carried it to the wagon, then went back for another load. Jiem had the shovel, and thus hauled more than Denn did.
Once the wagon was filled, Denn gripped the two handles on the front and pulled the wagon forward slowly. They went along the lines of crop, still in the very early stages of growth, and with the shovel Jiem scooped out the manure onto the lines of crop, fertilizing the soil.
They continued working like this for several hours, occasionally switching places between shovel and pulling.
The field that they were working on was massive, and they only could cover half of it with fertilizer before it got too dark to work. After that they parked their wagon and shovel then returned to their homes.
Denn walked in to see his wife standing alone in the kitchen, holding a wooden stick, propping a metal cook plate that they had fortunately ‘acquired’, roasting the dead rat over an open flame.
Denn stepped into the kitchen and took a big sniff of the air. “Smells great, ‘un!”
Lora smiled to her husband. “Thanks! It’s turnin out great.”
He walked over to his wife, still smelling the air gleefully. “Where’re the kids?”
“Them’re still working for Lord Azerael, in his there castle place.”
“A’ight. I’ma just gonna take me working clothes off.”
And so Denn proceeded to his room and shedded his filthy clothing and put on his not-so-much-cleaner home clothes. They were the only two outfits he had, and during the bitter winter he had to wear them both at all times.
Later that night, when the children got home, they enjoyed a rather delightful dinner of roast rat, bread and the rare delicacy, goat’s milk. With the hearty meal, Denn and Lora slept wonderfully, for the first time in weeks they felt relatively full.
And it all began again the next day….
Short, sweet, and written in under an hour. Yeehaw.
