hornborisbeaverden

[hornborisbeaverden]

Starvation

There once was a time of hope, with a warm southern breeze bringing promise of happiness and prosperity to the county. Migratory birds returned, flowers began to bloom and the peasants worked the soil as they should, straightening their backs proudly after the idleness of winter. Then the warmth came. Old grannies poked around in their gardens yelling at their good-for-nothing husbands, who were gently smiling at their wifes in a forgiving summer bliss. And when the lilacs bloomed and the swallows flew in the calm evenings there was even talk of a marriage in the village. And from the village green came the most joyful music together with loud laughter in the warm night. After midsummer it began to rain. It literally poured down from dark and heavy skies for two weeks in a row. Roads became filled with a slushy mud and the fields became even slushier. Golden fields of wheat and rye, promising a full belly, began to rot. The smell of rotting hay was heavy in the whole county. Old granny watched her granddaughters frisky newborn and feared what should come, because she knew. Then came autumn, cold and wet. Peasants slaughtered what cattle they could, the harvest was terribly poor. Days became shorter and the nights brought howling winds from the north. Old granny got stuck in a bog for a whole night while searching for cranberries. Then she caught a cold. Nights grew longer and the snow came. Grandpa scraped the bottom of the barrel, taking the last herrings with him, for the fishing had been bad. He feverishly waded through the muddy snow towards his granddaughters homestead to offer the hungry family his and old granny’s last filling meal. The snow fell and the wind howled for the starving family, betrayed by the promises of summer. Young mother Ingrid hugged her unnaturally skinny baby and sang her a lullaby. The child fell into a nervous sleep and the hungry mother suffocated her with tears in her eyes. The horrifying deed broke her. The starving husband, August, had retreated into the barn. Ingrid were the stronger of the two. His belly had been empty for a long time and when he heard his wife cry aloud he panicked. A rope hung from the roof. And the snow fell, the wind was howling. Lamenting for no one to hear.

#short novel