The following day, at the picnic on the field close to the river, Audra sat beside her friends on the blankets they had spread out. Together, they sipped mead and told jokes on the springtime afternoon—one that felt more like summer with its healing warmth—and Audra’s spirits lifted.
Audra and Ina created a shady spot by draping a blanket over sticks stuck into the ground to shield Faye and Una’s new babies from the sun, and the little ones slept. Elen and Dera snacked on berries, then started mashing them to make “jam” for the bread.
“Oh, dear.” Faye frowned. “That’ll be quite the mess.”
“If it is one thing I have learned, it is to let go of the small things and irritations,” said Ina. “Enjoy your time with your little ones. That was something
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“Mam, I want to pick flowers for you and Gran.”
He pointed toward the hedges that stood at the woods’ edge. They were not so far away, and still a good distance from the river bank. She glanced over her shoulder back at the castle where the guard appeared to keep watch over them.
“All right, go ahead, Rory. That’s sweet of you.”
He ambled toward the wildflowers sprouting from the ground next to the bushes as Audra looked on. However, an instant later, a swarm of wasps descended upon the blanket where Audra and Ina sat. They both shrieked and tried to swat them away, but the flailing only angered the insects and they started stinging. The guard rushed down from his post and ran across the field, then helped Ina and Audra away from the swarm.
Breathless and her neck burning from several stings, Audra looked back at bushes where Rory had stood. He was gone.
Audra did not think; she ran. “Rory! Rory!”
The guard and Ina rushed after her.
“Rory! Where are you?” screamed Audra, hysterical, her heart leaping into her throat as she broke into a cold sweat of terror. He could have made it to the river, and the rains had created a few rapids, enough to sweep away a boy of
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The relief was replaced by anger that he had not listened. He might have died! Audra grabbed him by the shoulders. “Why did you run off? Haven’t your father and I told you how dangerous that is?”
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing!”
Aura spun him around and gave him a hard slap on his backside, then another. He did not even squeak. Clearly, Ina and the guard knew better than to challenge Audra’s authority as a mother, so they wandered back to the picnic blanket and remained quiet.
“May I turn?” Rory’s voice quavered, and the flowers lay at his feet; he must have dropped them during the spanking.
That little voice, full of fear and embarrassment, broke Audra’s heart. She might have listened to his explanation before she slapped his backside that hard. But she’d been so consumed with terror at the thought of losing him she had not been in her right mind. However, there was no simple way to explain that to a young child.
“Yes, you may turn.”
Slowly, he spun toward her, his wide green eyes red-rimmed, yet no tears fell. Like his father, he did his best to hide his discontent. “When I was at the bush, I called over and asked if I could go to the other side. I thought you said yes,
"Like the face, the whole countryside seemed to flow into her eyes. Fern's eyes said to them that she was easy."
THE PAST :.. In days gone by, the four species managed to live in perfect harmony. Witches, werewolves and vampires lived in secret, blending in with the humans on a daily basis - and the humans remained completely in the dark about their existence. It was after thousands of years of living this way, whilst everything was completely normal, that a small group of vampires decided that they’d had enough. They spent months devising plans.
One rather beautiful day I head down to the building fields of Uruk with my only son Urnabe. He is 14 and he is turning out to be a skilled mason or at least better than his old man. When we get there I see that Binfem was already waiting for me.
He took a long deep breath, and started, “My father always used to tell me that people deserved second chances. He talked about you a lot. He shared all the fun things you did together. He told me all the stories that you read to him. He also said that you two were the best at kite flying in Kabul. He always referred you as his best friend."
He turned his head toward me and peered at me through swollen eyes. “I begged her not to go with him,” he said quietly. “Do you hear me, I begged her!”
Her father lingered for a moment, promising her return within the hour before moving back up after her. She was in a foul disposition to be sure and as she found her way back to the keep, the angry tears were already falling down her cheek. "How could you do this to me? Marry me off to that savage? For godsake father, what if he is a beast?
Benjimin ran into his mother's outstretched arms. Noelle couldn’t figure out what good it would bring to allow young kids to attend such a horrid event. She rubbed his back and looked wearily at her daughter who would have to deal with Benjimins nightmares for the next few days. Holland was more of a mother to Benjimin than Noelle was, only because Noelle worked so much to get them a bit of food each night. Her hours were long and hard, when she arrived home, all she could do was sleep.
Nicholas gritted his teeth and shouted. “I hate you. I hate you. You didn’t need a friend, you were grown up. It’s not fair. You knew how to survive.”
Giggling, they rushed from the room, calling over their shoulders to the door guard they were headed for the kitchens and then to retrieve Maxen. The young guard did not seem to know what to do, so he remained at his post and grunted his acknowledgment. Audra and Una flew into the kitchen and spotted Mae, the former slave and newlywed, straight away. This was the first kitchen-raid Audra had been on since Petra died, and Audra’s excitement evaporated. How could she enjoy pilfering food when Petra was not here to make jokes and share moments of friendship?
she always used to wish for a way to escape her life. She saw memories
"I never lied to you.. I would never lie to you.." she shaky responded to her son's accusations. It pained her, it killed her even, that despite all the trouble she had gone through to protect her son's interests, it was them that turned on her and hurt her. "I merely hid the truth because it could tarnish our.. your.. reputation" she wept.
Adeline was back in the kitchen, with a fresh batch of raisin and oat biscuits. It was the anniversary of the explosion at the mine, where hundreds laid trapped under tonnes of debris and somewhat gold. This was the first time making Owen’s favourite snack since the accident. The house just wasn’t the same. Going to sleep every night knowing someone isn’t there with you. Living in the bush is dangerous and remote, Adeline can’t protect herself let alone her own child. She called her horse and draped the cloth over its hairy back.
After I finished telling her the story, Laura looked furious. Her face turned red, and her eyes were full of hatred. I had no idea why. “How could you leave him?” she yelled.
This ultimately displayed her commitment to helping her sister and the extent of her enduring love and care for Ellie. This resistance to abandon someone is also evident in Simple Recipes. As the narrator’s father continues their family tradition of having dinner together every night, the narrator’s brother begins to rebel. This urges the father to physically hurt his son after his negative remarks and “angry face[s],” (Thien, 342). Their father “holding [a] bamboo pole between his hands, …rises and again comes down,” and tears the
Quick to react, one girl steps forward from the crowd and takes control of the situation. Preventing Al from further injury by grabbing both sides of his head, the brave young senior moves with the seizing boy, fighting to hold him steady. She does not cry nor do anything but instruct a teacher to “YES, call an ambulance.” Al thrashes, not breathing, upon the white speckled linoleum.