Young Writers Society

I woke up to the faint sound of the roosters crowing. I sighed to myself and swung my legs out of bed. I gruffly stood up. I changed from my dirty, sweaty night clothing into a dress. It was not much cleaner than my nightwear if I thought about it. But it was all I had. I ran down the stairs and headed out towards the small lake nearby. I washed my face with the water. I collected some with a bucket I’d brought with me. I could use this to water the fields tomorrow.

I quickly walked back up to the house. Now it was early and I was alone. I kept an eye out for pickpockets. When I had returned my husband had already left. He was working as an apprentice. He was a blacksmith .My children were awake. Matthew had started to prepare to breakfast. Matthew is 12. The next eldest were the triplets, Ruth, Evangeline and Caleb. I’d almost died giving birth to them. Then came Sid, who was 8. And lastly Chyna, the youngest.

When breakfast, bread and milk, was prepared we all crowded around the thin wooden table. We ate, talking about the latest news. Afterwards the three boys, Sid, Caleb and Matthew headed off to work in the tannery. All the girls went to the mill to work. Once again I was alone.

I cleaned up the breakfast. Then it was time for me to go to work. I’d never been to school. I can’t read or write. There wasn’t much work for people like me. I had always wanted to raise my sons to go to school, but we just couldn’t do anything about that. I met Maria-Ann in the market place. She handed me a bunch of flowers. I walked up and down streets all day. My feet were sore and covered in blisters. But still I continued. The more I sold the more money I would earn. Once I knew the kids would be home soon, I decided to call it a day. I met once again with Maria-Ann. She divided the coins among us. I greedily took my share.

I was alone at home for a while. I scrubbed at the windows, trying to let as much light as possible in. I neatly laid the table for when the children would be home. The girls arrived first. Then the boys and Dad arrived together. Dad had brought the herbalist, Rosalina. Rosalina was a respectable elder who had been an herbalist for years.

She worked on the boys badly burnt hands, rubbing in aliments. She gave me some medicine to feed the girls. The dust they had breathing in all day had been choking and forcing them to cough. We thanked Rosalina deeply for her services. We had no spare money to pay her, so we gave her a loaf of bread and some fine butter.

Papa and the boys went out into the fields to look after our crop. Meanwhile the girls started to knit. Winter would soon be approaching and the more scarves and hats we had the better. Knowing that Papa was here to watch the children I decided to go to the market to get the ingredients for dinner. I walked around with my basket and tried to choose the highest quality food for the cheapest prices. Suddenly, I stopped scouting for food and listened. That’s when I heard it. The town crier was yelling,

“Listen! Listen! The plays will be here any moment! They bring with them tales of the supernatural! Come, come and listen to the magic of the plays!”
I would’ve stayed to listen more, but I couldn’t. I fled homewards. The plays were here! We hadn’t seen a play for over a year now. I had to find Papa and the children. This celebration would be even better than Christmas!
“Children, come quickly! The plays! They are really here!” I gushed, as soon as I set a foot in the house. The hard times and lack of dinner was forgotten. I served up soup and bread. The table fizzed with excitement. We all ate hurriedly. The plays were coming. After supper the children were agitated. They wanted to leave. Papa scooped Sid up in his arms and rested him on his shoulders.

“Lets go. The children want to see the plays,” he said in his deep voice. I nodded, excited myself. I grasped Chyna and Evangeline’s hands tightly. We were going to the plays.

When we had arrived we had noticed the pageant wagon was already there. It was on wheels with a horse pulling it. The top brimmed with costumes and props. There were letters and packages too. They had storage of medicines and a little bit of food. That was all on the top fall of the wagon. A wooden ladder rested to the side, where the actors climbed up and down. The middle floor was just a wooden platform, where I knew they would be performing. Underneath, there was a space. They carefully attached some sheets to the bottom of the platform. They would change costumes there.
We all watched eagerly as the seven male actors managed to act out a miracle play. We learnt about the Noah’s Ark, and how the animals entered it too by too. There was an actor who wasn’t seen. He stayed at the top of the wagon, making appropriate sounds in appropriate places. At the beginning of the play he went around with a hat, collecting coins. We didn’t have much to offer, but I did allow Caleb to flip a golden coin into the hat.

We watched the magical events of the play unfold before our eyes. The actors were really good. Sadly, women aren’t allowed to perform in the plays, but the men were great actors. One of them had to be Noah’s wife. He wore a wig made of horse hair and spoke in a high pitched voice. It was so intriguing. Sid couldn’t see anything so Papa carried him. I carried Chyna as she was also struggling to see. The crowd were all watching and listening intently.
After the play it had started to get dark. That meant that the actors wouldn’t move onto the next town until morning! We were overjoyed at the news. We lit a small campfire. The actors played music and we listened to tales around the fire. We heard news of the queen and news of the next town. There was a newly wed couple. Lastly, before the actors needed to sleep they handed me a parcel and Papa a letter. It was probably from our parents, who lived in the previous town. The actors must’ve delivered it for them.

At home I ushered the exhausted children into their rooms. All the boys slept in one room while the girls slept in another. We didn’t have many rooms to sleep in. I opened the package. It was indeed from my mother. She’d sent us oranges, nuts and grapes from her harvest. Ho very kind of her. I turned to Robert, my husband, with happy smiles on my face. I was about to sizzle with excitement with the treats we had been given, but stopped myself when I saw his face.

“My mama, she is ill. She has caught the autumn flu! We must hurry to her!” he said distraught.

“Oh, Robert,” I said touching his arm, “This is terrible news but we cannot awaken the children. We shall leave tomorrow morning. Go now and sleep. It is getting dark.”

So we blew out the candles and he headed to the boys room. I headed to the girls room. Quickly changing to my grubby nightclothes I cuddled close to Ruth. I closed my eyes and dreamed of the music and tales we had heard today. I dreamed of the magic of the plays.

It was okay for my taste, but I feel as if it was a little dull. Also, I found one word that was a little awkward:

“Children, come quickly! The plays! They are really here!” I gushed, as soon as I set a foot in the house. The hard times and lack of dinner was forgotten.

I feel as if "gushed" isn't the right word for that. It doesn't give the right image that I think it's trying to convey. I can see something like "I exclaimed..." or "I yelled out..." Also, the end seemed random. I was expecting for the children to go to bed and all of that, which they did, but then you slipped in that idea of the husband's mother being sick. Of course, I know the story is showing a day in the narrator's life, but it seemed to come in to suddenly at the end and left me a little unsatisfied with the unfinished side story.
Another thing is that I feel as if it all was rushed. The sentences seemed to be cut off too soon and maybe could've had been substance to them.
Besides all of that, it seemed like a peaceful nice story.

(reserved to review later)