Clare-Dragonfly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clare_dragonfly) wrote2012-01-17 12:36 pm
clare_dragonfly) wrote2012-01-17 12:36 pm
Prosy: Through the Snow
Title: Through the Snow
Word count: 419 (incomplete total: 610)
Rating: G
Prompt:aldersprig's: Shoveling a path to the world.
Notes: This takes place two or three years after Harvest Day, and further into the winter.
Mama was sick. She said she wasn’t, but Tarnik knew better than that. Her belly and her feet were all swollen up, and she didn’t want to get out of bed. She kept making Papa bring her cups of tea and bowls of soup. Tarnik remembered how Papa had brought him lots of tea (even though he didn’t like tea) and soup the last time he had a cold.
It was a little scary for Mama to have a cold. Papa said she might not get better for another month or two, and in the meantime, she wasn’t cooking or cleaning or taking care of Lusi. Papa had to do all of that, and Lusi didn’t seem to understand how Mama was sick, but kept climbing on her in the bed and begging for stories. Tarnik tried dragging her away and telling her his own stories, but she was getting too big for him to carry and he wasn’t very good at telling stories.
He was looking out at the snow and trying to figure out something to do for Mama—he’d already filled all the buckets with fresh snow to melt on the stove—when Papa came out of the room with an empty teacup and smiled at him. “Hey, my little man. How would you like to do something to help your mama? It might be hard.”
Tarnik jumped up from the window. “I can do it!”
Papa grinned and ruffled his hair. “I knew you’d say that. But I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just do your best. Mama isn’t very sick, but it would be good if we could get Miss Kesta to come over and see her.”
Tarnik’s eyes widened. He knew Miss Kesta knew about medicine, but that didn’t just sound hard—it sounded impossible. “But we never go outside in the winter.” He pointed to the snow, piled almost as high as his shoulder outside. “I can’t walk through the snow.”
Papa nodded. “I know you can’t.” He leaned over, beside the door where they kept their coats, and pulled something out. A shovel. “You have to dig a path, through the snow. It’s just like digging a hole in the ground, except you throw the snow out to the side.”
Tarnik took the shovel. It was heavy, but he could hold it.
“You don’t have to do it,” Papa said. “But I have to take care of your mama, and Lusi is too little to do either of those jobs."
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Word count: 419 (incomplete total: 610)
Rating: G
Prompt:
aldersprig's: Shoveling a path to the world.Notes: This takes place two or three years after Harvest Day, and further into the winter.
Mama was sick. She said she wasn’t, but Tarnik knew better than that. Her belly and her feet were all swollen up, and she didn’t want to get out of bed. She kept making Papa bring her cups of tea and bowls of soup. Tarnik remembered how Papa had brought him lots of tea (even though he didn’t like tea) and soup the last time he had a cold.
It was a little scary for Mama to have a cold. Papa said she might not get better for another month or two, and in the meantime, she wasn’t cooking or cleaning or taking care of Lusi. Papa had to do all of that, and Lusi didn’t seem to understand how Mama was sick, but kept climbing on her in the bed and begging for stories. Tarnik tried dragging her away and telling her his own stories, but she was getting too big for him to carry and he wasn’t very good at telling stories.
He was looking out at the snow and trying to figure out something to do for Mama—he’d already filled all the buckets with fresh snow to melt on the stove—when Papa came out of the room with an empty teacup and smiled at him. “Hey, my little man. How would you like to do something to help your mama? It might be hard.”
Tarnik jumped up from the window. “I can do it!”
Papa grinned and ruffled his hair. “I knew you’d say that. But I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just do your best. Mama isn’t very sick, but it would be good if we could get Miss Kesta to come over and see her.”
Tarnik’s eyes widened. He knew Miss Kesta knew about medicine, but that didn’t just sound hard—it sounded impossible. “But we never go outside in the winter.” He pointed to the snow, piled almost as high as his shoulder outside. “I can’t walk through the snow.”
Papa nodded. “I know you can’t.” He leaned over, beside the door where they kept their coats, and pulled something out. A shovel. “You have to dig a path, through the snow. It’s just like digging a hole in the ground, except you throw the snow out to the side.”
Tarnik took the shovel. It was heavy, but he could hold it.
“You don’t have to do it,” Papa said. “But I have to take care of your mama, and Lusi is too little to do either of those jobs."
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!
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