Morning all we have finally made it to Friday. Is everyone in tact? Good because it is also a three day weekend. Ah labor day weekend. They day when you traditionally replace any dead or dying large scale appliances. At least in my family. I am pretty sure every washer, dryer and fridge we ever had was purchased at a labor day sale. At the moment all my appliances are functioning so no need for replacements. Which means either avoiding the shops or picking up a discounted want rather than a need. I suspect it will be the first as I can’t think off anything we want for the house that might be on sale. But for now, sale or not, there is the writing prompt. So lets set the timers and get to it.
It took me a while to get into this. I could sort of see the landscape but not why people were walking through it. I still like the landscape more than anything. I just need to know the story it goes with and I don’t think this is it.
Friday, August 30th: They walked in single file.
They walked in single file. There was no order to do so but it was clear there was only one safe passage and it was narrow. To the left the land fell away sharply. The drop, should anyone care to look, was steep and ended in a gorge filled with jagged rocks. To the right of the path the flooded river turned the usually soggy ground into a swampy morass. They lost a pack mule to the swamp mud the day before and no one was willing to repeat the exercise or become the lost donkey themselves.
It was the only way through, so they took it. There was no talking. The path was wide enough that they didn’t have to concentrate on every step, but it was not wide enough to let them spread out. Each person looked at the back of the person in front of them.
Exhaustion did much to quell any impulse for conversation. Ben took a breath and let it out slowly. His ribs were healing. There was less pain than there was the day before and none of it sharp. He still wanted to lie down and sleep for a few days, but that was not an option. There was only getting through.
‘Not that there are many options once we arrive,’ he thought. He was considered a free holder. He was the class that hadn’t been made into slaves by the occupation as many had. He was one of the few in the group. It was scant consolation when he knew that he would have to find work in a place that had no use for him when he arrived at the end of this journey. While not enslaved, He was considered too dangerous to leave in the newly conquered provinces. He, and those like him were shipped to the major cities located deep in the heart of the empire. There amid citizens the crown thought to be more loyal it was presumed they would be watched. Before the war Ben visited many of the empire’s cities. While he was certain there were many loyal to the heart of the empire, he found many who were not. It was partially due to the empire itself. Its concern was more for the ruling elite than any of the people. It was only when those people they ignored rose up in protest that any consideration was given to them.
‘Which is why there are routine protests.’ Ben always found it strange. If any attention was paid there would be no protests. Instead, the empire’s elite preferred to ignore anyone they considered below their station believing that if they didn’t like how they were treated they would protest. When they were pushed to the point of protest it was always violent and bloody, many of those in the elite classes being killed before amends were made. Used to the forum where grudges could be publicly aired and dealt with before they erupted into violence, he always found it peculiar that they would almost seem to court the violence.
‘The forum’s gone now,’ he thought. He remembered the destruction. The sound of the stones being ripped from the ground an the columns toppling would stay with him.
Ten til Midnight 