Prosy: The Sheep
Dec. 5th, 2011 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clare_dragonflyTitle: The Sheep
Word count: 852
Rating: PG
Prompt:lynnoconnacht's: Enclosure
Notes: It's been ages since I've written in this setting! But the idea of enclosing for private use what once was public land seemed perfect for this conquered-and-conquerors world.
Chetai walked out to the sheep pen. She tried to walk without shaking, but it was difficult. Thankfully, the sheep did just as they always did: clustered by the gate, baaing and snorting eagerly in their desire to get outside and graze. She smiled at them, not that they knew the difference. Sheep never knew the difference. And that, today, was why she loved them.
Everything else in her life had changed. Everything but the sheep.
She opened the gate and led them out, crook at the ready in case any of the lambs tried to run off. The older sheep knew better. She was the source of food, and warmth, and safety. They would stay close to her. In fact, if it weren’t for the lambs, she thought she might not even have to lead them to the pasture. The older sheep, especially the big old ram who kept all his ewes in line, knew the way.
But today they would have been lost and confused. Because as she walked to the pasture, aiming for a spot near the foothills, she ran into a fence.
She looked down at it, confused, and tapped it with her crook. It had not been there yesterday, and yet it seemed natural and solid, as though it had been built some time ago. She frowned and thought. No, perhaps it had not been there yesterday, because she had not been there yesterday. The poor sheep had been sorely neglected during the invasion. Chetai’s husband, brothers, and son had all been fighting, and now they were all dead. Yesterday she had still been trying to protect her land from these invaders. Yesterday was when it had become clear that they were the victors.
Well, the fence couldn’t go on forever. She followed it north, clucking to the sheep. They trotted after her obediently, only stopping to snatch up mouthfuls of grass, as was their right. The land was starting to swell with hills when she finally reached the end of the fence. But it was not the end; it was only the corner. Puzzled, she turned again to follow it.
Eventually she did reach the end of it, but it would not be the end for long. There were two men working on it—boys, really, both Tovrans, being watched over by a burly, dark Tovran foreman. She stared at them for a few moments, before the foreman saw her and smirked. “What do you want, girl?”
Girl? She was a mother thrice over, with one daughter married and out of the house. But it would not do to be rude to these men. And he spoke passable Ara, so perhaps he was one of the better ones. “My name is Chetai. Why are you building this fence?”
He said something incomprehensible in Tovran. Maybe his Ara wasn’t so great after all. Then he spoke more slowly in Ara. “I build fence to cover my land. Protect it from you others.”
“Your land?” She shook her head, looking around. “This land belongs to the village. It is common land. Will you prevent people from grazing their animals here?”
He stared at her. “It is common land,” she repeated more slowly, thinking perhaps he had not heard her. “It is not yours.”
That made him laugh. The two boys working looked up at him, and he said something to them in Tovran, which made them laugh as well. Then he spoke more sharply, and they quickly turned back to their work. They had extended the fence by two three-foot sections in the time Chetai had been speaking to their master. “My land now,” he said, smirking at her again. “My cattle need their own grazing. That land is for you.” His gesture encompassed the hills and the grasslands to the west.
“But… it will be overgrazed.” She wasn’t sure if he understood that word, but she could not think of another way to say it. “Your cattle will only have their land, and everyone else will only have this land. The grass is to be shared. If it is not shared, it will all be eaten up.”
He shrugged. “Then I will be most rich. You have a husband, Jaeti?”
“Chetai,” she corrected, angry and sick. “No. Your people killed him.”
That seemed to please the man. “Then maybe you want to marry richest man in village, yes? My wife does not have to work.” He reached out as though to grab hold of her.
She stepped back into the mass of her feet, revolted. “No thank you, sir. If I marry again it will be to a man who knows the value of shared land.”
“Land has no value unless it is owned,” he called after her, but she was hurrying away with her sheep, shaken and feeling ill. Tomorrow she would go further west with her sheep. And the day after that, she was not sure. But she would try to talk it over with her neighbors, and if there was any way to keep their common land from being overgrazed, they would work it out.
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!
Word count: 852
Rating: PG
Prompt:
lynnoconnacht's: EnclosureNotes: It's been ages since I've written in this setting! But the idea of enclosing for private use what once was public land seemed perfect for this conquered-and-conquerors world.
Chetai walked out to the sheep pen. She tried to walk without shaking, but it was difficult. Thankfully, the sheep did just as they always did: clustered by the gate, baaing and snorting eagerly in their desire to get outside and graze. She smiled at them, not that they knew the difference. Sheep never knew the difference. And that, today, was why she loved them.
Everything else in her life had changed. Everything but the sheep.
She opened the gate and led them out, crook at the ready in case any of the lambs tried to run off. The older sheep knew better. She was the source of food, and warmth, and safety. They would stay close to her. In fact, if it weren’t for the lambs, she thought she might not even have to lead them to the pasture. The older sheep, especially the big old ram who kept all his ewes in line, knew the way.
But today they would have been lost and confused. Because as she walked to the pasture, aiming for a spot near the foothills, she ran into a fence.
She looked down at it, confused, and tapped it with her crook. It had not been there yesterday, and yet it seemed natural and solid, as though it had been built some time ago. She frowned and thought. No, perhaps it had not been there yesterday, because she had not been there yesterday. The poor sheep had been sorely neglected during the invasion. Chetai’s husband, brothers, and son had all been fighting, and now they were all dead. Yesterday she had still been trying to protect her land from these invaders. Yesterday was when it had become clear that they were the victors.
Well, the fence couldn’t go on forever. She followed it north, clucking to the sheep. They trotted after her obediently, only stopping to snatch up mouthfuls of grass, as was their right. The land was starting to swell with hills when she finally reached the end of the fence. But it was not the end; it was only the corner. Puzzled, she turned again to follow it.
Eventually she did reach the end of it, but it would not be the end for long. There were two men working on it—boys, really, both Tovrans, being watched over by a burly, dark Tovran foreman. She stared at them for a few moments, before the foreman saw her and smirked. “What do you want, girl?”
Girl? She was a mother thrice over, with one daughter married and out of the house. But it would not do to be rude to these men. And he spoke passable Ara, so perhaps he was one of the better ones. “My name is Chetai. Why are you building this fence?”
He said something incomprehensible in Tovran. Maybe his Ara wasn’t so great after all. Then he spoke more slowly in Ara. “I build fence to cover my land. Protect it from you others.”
“Your land?” She shook her head, looking around. “This land belongs to the village. It is common land. Will you prevent people from grazing their animals here?”
He stared at her. “It is common land,” she repeated more slowly, thinking perhaps he had not heard her. “It is not yours.”
That made him laugh. The two boys working looked up at him, and he said something to them in Tovran, which made them laugh as well. Then he spoke more sharply, and they quickly turned back to their work. They had extended the fence by two three-foot sections in the time Chetai had been speaking to their master. “My land now,” he said, smirking at her again. “My cattle need their own grazing. That land is for you.” His gesture encompassed the hills and the grasslands to the west.
“But… it will be overgrazed.” She wasn’t sure if he understood that word, but she could not think of another way to say it. “Your cattle will only have their land, and everyone else will only have this land. The grass is to be shared. If it is not shared, it will all be eaten up.”
He shrugged. “Then I will be most rich. You have a husband, Jaeti?”
“Chetai,” she corrected, angry and sick. “No. Your people killed him.”
That seemed to please the man. “Then maybe you want to marry richest man in village, yes? My wife does not have to work.” He reached out as though to grab hold of her.
She stepped back into the mass of her feet, revolted. “No thank you, sir. If I marry again it will be to a man who knows the value of shared land.”
“Land has no value unless it is owned,” he called after her, but she was hurrying away with her sheep, shaken and feeling ill. Tomorrow she would go further west with her sheep. And the day after that, she was not sure. But she would try to talk it over with her neighbors, and if there was any way to keep their common land from being overgrazed, they would work it out.
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 06:47 pm (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 08:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 05:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-06 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-08 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-08 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-08 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 05:34 pm (UTC)*shudders* That is a chilling piece, that... I was actually expecting something sweet and cutesy, not dark and looming. (I'm not sure why either.) But also very beautiful and powerful. Thank you! ^-^
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 05:38 pm (UTC)I'm glad you like it! I bet you expected sweet and cutesy because it's sheep ;)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 05:49 pm (UTC)Sheep are evil. :p But it might've been the lambs... They haven't learned to be evil yet, so they're cute.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 06:45 pm (UTC)