Since fleeing their home a few hours ago her husband had taken them not with the other ramshackle crowd of people fleeingfrom their village on the main road south but across country to the east instead.
She wasn't normally squeamish but she wrinkled her nose with disgust as he had taken them to the sewerage pits on the far side of town as they would not be so obvious there to an advancing army which in his mind would be foolish to the extreme.
All was still and quiet there as they sat down to rest in the bushes to look across the pools of water where hundreds of birds had started looking for food again after egrets, a few swans and dozens of duck stopped staring at them and started fossicking for food again.
The mother pulled open her clothes to offer her breast to their little girl while swallows and other small birds now confident that they meant no harm swooped low over the water flicking their head as they caught insects in flight.
He husband then urged them to move on again as he picked fresh leaves and berries from the bushes urging her to eat them too as they made made their way over the foothills to the border.
"Why?" she asked and he casually replied, "Because you may have to feed the boy too" so she lowered her eyes and understood for their son was only three although already weaned they all had to stay alive somehow and she might be the only food source for them all and it was then she knew he really loved her.
This is a precis of a story I wrote a few years ago which has been abbreviated to six sentences
Image found at www.unicef.org.au
My breast is out right now. :P
ReplyDeleteI've tried to wean my toddler, to no avail. But especially when he is sick or hurt, I'm so thankful I'm still able to make him feel better.
Thank you for giving praise to this beautiful gift women have to offer. It increasingly feels like being a good mother isn't enough in our society. This says otherwise --- that sometimes it's everything.
Hope they get a safe haven soon.
ReplyDeletehttps://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/08/border-hope-and-homecoming.html
Very intense, i hope they get to someplace safe quickly.
ReplyDeleteRipping, very good job good story I like It
ReplyDeleteYes, a gripping story. This family is having to be more primal even as they are also more human in their plight.Too bad it is people that puts families to flight across borders.
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful story.... as basic as human emotion gets.
ReplyDeleteWell written.
With determination such as his they deserve to make it to a better place. A brilliant six OE.
ReplyDeleteVery intense 6. Your writing in this piece is powerful.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
I hope this loving couple and their children made it to a safer place and that they were welcomed and assisted in finding a place to live.
ReplyDeleteGreat SSS.