Wednesday April 29th, 2015

The exercise:

Write about: the exodus.

Did a brief stint in the strawberries this morning before Kat had to be in class from 10 to 2. I had Max during that time, the latter portion spent at the park. He was having fun playing with another little boy, who was just a little older than him (maybe four or five months?). Assuming 'fun' can be defined as rolling his ball down the slide, watching the other boy slide down after it, pick it up, bring it back up to the top of the play structure, give it back to Max, and then start it all over again.

Many, many times in a row.

Pretty sure Max got the better end of that deal. The other boy did seem to be enjoying himself though.

After we got back we went out to the garden with Kat and transplanted our onions and leeks. Max did help out a little bit, but he was mostly interested in digging in the dirt with his shovel and fingers and toy front end loader.

Mine:

The regime did not expect the exodus to happen as quickly as it did. They thought that their initial gesture would be enough to keep their subjects under control. A warning shot across their bow, in a manner of speaking.

They believed that it would buy them some much needed time. To get themselves organized, prepared, secured. Armed.

They were wrong, of course. But that is easy to point out after the fact.

Instead of cowering in fear, their subjects fled en masse. In a matter of minutes none remained in sight. Hours later none could be found. Overnight they were all gone.

Save for poor Tommy Bishop.

For he was still in detention, under the watchful eyes of the principal and all his teachers. An example meant to freeze his companions in place, gone horribly wrong.

Not a single one of his fellow students ever came back to make an attempt to set him free.

2 comments:

Greg said...

I guess the thing to remember there is that kids find what adults do for fun pretty incomprehensible too :) Sounds to me like they were enjoying themselves! Though if Max keeps that general mindset he'll end up doing pretty well for himself, I suspect.
Heh, well I think I'd have guessed that would happen if that were my regime, but them I'm cynical and jaded. I rather like that no-one every came back for Tommy, though I like to think it's because they wouldn't go anywhere near the regime again rather than they didn't like Tommy. You should enlighten us as to which it is!

The exodus
Noah frowned. The sky overhead was black with cloud and the air felt humid and pregnant; he was sure that the rains he'd been promised would be falling any moment now. And the Ark didn't look full. At all.
"Ham?" he snarled. His eldest son, named because his father had envied the neighbour's pantry, looked round, shivering nervously. "Ham! Why does the Ark look half-empty?"
"Um, there's..." said Ham, turning as pink as his namesake.
"Spit it out child, or I'll leave you here to drown at well."
Ham looked as though he might welcome that option. "There's been an Exodus," he said. When Noah looked blank, he continued, "the animals don't want to share a boat with the jackalope."
"IT'S. NOT. A. BOAT!" screamed Noah. Ham cringed. "It's an ARK! I've told you sixty times!" Noah was pulling his rope belt from his waist, and Ham flinched, crouching into a pose of abject terror. "Get those damn animals back on board! It's going to rain for forty bloody days and I'm not eating hay the whole time. That's my lunch you've let wander off!"
"Maybe you could eat the jackalope first then?" said Ham, sounding surprised at the sound of his own voice. To his greater astonishment Noah paused from getting ready to whip him.
"Ok," he said, suddenly calm. "That sounds tasty. Send Japheth off after the animals and you can go cook the jackalope. Well done, mind you, not of this medium rare rubbish you tried on me last time. It's not supposed to bleed on my plate!"
"Yes dad," muttered Ham, grateful to have a chance to escape. He paused for a moment, wondering if he shouldn't have joined the animal's exodus himself, but then gave in and went to find his brother.

Marc said...

Greg - hah, yes, I suspect so too :)

I think I was leaning toward them more staying away from the regime, though that might have been mixed with a little dislike for Tommy as well...

So many great details in yours, I can't pick a favorite. But I'd have to think Ham should have taken his chances with the rain...