1
“Come on Rainer, we have to be home before sundown you know mom and dad said.” The half completed fort me and my little brother had started around noon has now being cast in jagged shadows made from the surrounding trees, telling me it was time to go home.
“I know it’s
what mom and dad always say, but can’t we stay out here a bit longer? I was
just about to put the door on.
“We have
to go home in time for dinner, plus it’s not safe for you yet to be out after
dark.” My brother had just turned nine a week ago, and even though I was nine
when I started going out in the dark, it was in the early morning when the sun hadn’t
come around yet, and I had the protection of my the father with me. “Put the
door against the entrance and come on.”
After seeing
the clear disappointment on his face I said. “I’ll tell you what, tomorrow we’ll
come before the sun rises, and I will teach you how to make it around the woods
when it’s dark. Then we can finish the shelter.”
Clearly enjoying
the idea of coming back in the morning, he ran off in front of me towards home,
without touching the door.
v
When I
opened the screen door to our one-story cottage, my father was setting the
table and my mother was frantically making last minute adjustments to dinner. We
were a family of four living on the outskirts of O’mara (the woods we had just
came from), on a hilly field which we used for gardening and livestock. Our
family is completely self-sustaining, meaning we grow all our own food, collect
all our own water, and have our own system for everything we need. Don’t ask me
if it’s a fun life, this is the only life I have known.
“Good
you’re back, Rainer help your father with the table.” My brother gave me a look
and then went to fetch the silverware. “Zant come tell me what the chicken
needs.” It’s not every day we get chicken so it was important to get it right. Zantonus
(Zan-tone-us) is my name but everyone calls me Zant, it makes life easier trust
me.
I
decided to go to sleep right after dinner so I would be ready to fulfill my
promise to my brother in the morning. The woods of O’mara were not to my
knowledge hosting a plethora of dangerous creatures, but it would still be
useful to have a full night’s sleep.
