I am weary and my
hands are freezing, swollen and cracked from the evening snow. My nine adoring
children and my beautiful wife cannot keep warm. I made a promise to bring
blankets from the city to keep them warm. The stew my wife made days ago is
running low. My children are complaining of stomach pains. I too can feel my
stomach in knots. I must be a faithful husband and father and fulfill my
promise. Through thick and skin
family is the most important thing I must remember.
“Father?” my youngest child Peter questioned. His hand reaching out for me, I smile
and place him on my lap.
“Yes my son?”
“Do you have to go into the
city?” he whispers
“Yes, the city is where I buy
blankets and food for us all”
“Time for bed child” my wife
Anna interrupted
I walk into the
small bedroom we had made for the children. The window is chilly. Some are shivering.. They have already
fallen asleep, lying with their arms around each other trying to keep
themselves warm. The one blanket
that my wife and I own we have given to the children to share. My wife wraps her shawl around her. I
can feel her hand is freezing. I kiss it.
I will leave the before morning, so I can arrive at the gates when they open. My wife
is heavy hearted about me leaving the children and her alone. But my oldest son
Yuri is 13 years old and can protect the family with the shotgun I had bought
him. The children will not know I am gone, expect for Peter, who had promised
to keep the secret.
My wife will not
kiss me goodbye, she feels it is too dangerous. “I must leave now, the morning
will come soon,” I say. My wife doesn’t look at me, she knows I must leave, yet she refuses to let me touch her. “Oh Pavel, why must you
leave the children and I alone,” she paused. She looks towards the children’s room. “Take Yuri with you.
You are old” she continues She finally looks at me for the first time tonight,
her eyes gleeming in the moonlight, pretty as ever. “I can’t it is too dangerous for the boy. I must go alone ” I take the hankerchief in my pocket and whipe it across her eyes.
She smiles brefly. I kiss her forhead and leave without saying a another word.
I put on my cap
and coat and prepare my faithful
steed, Vlad for the long journey ahead. He has been my best friend since he was
just a colt. He will hopefully
guide me to the city gates by morning. My head is heavy. My legs are frozen.The cold defeats me.
The snow howling in my ear. The ride will be dreadful but in the end it will
all be worth it. The roads are empty. The heavy snow falls on the dirty ground
leaving a trail of Vlads hooves behind us. I can hear Vlad’s heavy breathing,
the snow is making it harder for him to move. Vlad is starting to clip clop
slower and slower and we aren’t
getting any further on the trail.
The city is miles off, my estimations were off, I
will not make it to the city by morning. I will have to take refudge in one of the
smaller villages that I pass. It will be the only way to make it to the city,
but then my family will worry. I must push Vlad harder then he has ever been
pushed before.
As
I get closer to the village I am greeted by the cackle of an old woman.
“Do you dare leave
your family alone”? She says with an ear-splitting voice. Vlad slows down and
whines lifting his legs up. “What did you say old woman?” I respond. She looks from underneath her tattered hood. She gives me an
overbearingly ugly toothless smile “I know why you stop here” her face was covered in dirt and
grease. I am afraid. My bones were shaking. And was now breathing heavily as my heart thudded against my
chest. Though I dare not show it.
“Speak!
I say”
The old woman points toward the Inn. She
cackles and limps away. This was my intention to stay at the
Inn and any resident of the village would guess that a traveler
late at night would want to make a rest at the Inn. So she could not be a witch, nor a gypsy fortune teller like
I had so foolishly predicted. She was merely just a villager gone insane. I
place Vlad on one of the poles and feed him a bit of hay that I find on the
floor. I pat him and let him eat in peace
I walk into the
inn and only a few faces are in the inn drinking. A young girl who couldn’t be more then 16 or 17 years old
greets me. “May I help you, traveler?” her voice is soft and gentle. “Yes, I
would like to spend the night here at the Inn, but I only have enough to spend
at the market tomorrow” I say. She sighs “I will ask my father, these are not
good times for us, we are one to give a home to travelers but it is not usually
for free”
She leaves and I
sit down at one of the many benches that were spread out in the Inn. The young
girl comes back with a brut of a man. He has hairy arms and a hairy face. “You,
traveler need a home for only one night?” he questioned. I nodded and lent my
hand out for a handshake but he does not acknowledge it. “No,I’m afraid you can not stay here
comrade ” he pats me on the back. He
must see the sadness on my face because he then smiled. “Just kidding” he says.
“Surely, I will allow you stay one night” he smiles.
I am shown my
room for the night. The room is small and quiet with only a bed. I can hear the howling of the snow
outside. I think about my wife and children who cannot get warmth or food. I
can not close my eyes.
I don’t sleep
well and in the morning I awake to the sound blood curling cries. I am hasty to thank the old brut
and his daughter for the free board. As I walk downstairs, they are nowhere to
be seen. I then walk outside, and the village is quiet.
The sky is a
pale gray but the snow has cleared. In the distance I hear faint voices. I go
to check on Vlad he is alive but something has startled him. I notice somebody
on the floor, it is the girl from the Inn she is bleeding from her stomach. She unable to talk but still alive, next
to her is her father, who is already dead, all four of his limps chopped off. Blood
stains the white covered floor. She is huddle over her father crying with heavy breaths. “ I will take you
to the city” I say. Other
villagers that are lay dead or wounded. The village is in ruins fires dot what remains of the village
huts.
The old insane woman lay lifeless. I bend down to close her eyes
and say a prayer. There is a
thick stench of death in the air. My stomach is begins to turn. I can barley
walk with the young girl over my shoulder. The voices draw near. I hop on Vlad
and hold the young dying girl in my arm; she reminds me of my daughter.
The city gates
are not far, I hope she can manage to stay alive. I feel a cold wind up against my neck. I hear clip! Clop! following me and I
turn back to see several men on horseback holding guns. I try to stay calm as
we ride faster and faster. The girl is fading her eyes closing.
This is not what
I intended but I cannot let citizens die. I could only hope that my wife and
children would approve of this. I started my journey to get food and blankets
for my family. Her wounds are
bleeding onto my hands as we ride faster.
“Let me die” she whispers
The men behind
us are gaining on us, I push Vlad to ride faster and faster. And I see the gates of the city are opening from a far. I hear a
gunshot then I feel Vlad slow down and whine. The horrible scent of
gun powder fills the air. He falls to the ground knocking the girl and I
off. I wail at the sight of his bullet wound. I place my hand on the wound to
stop the bleeding but it is too much. The men stop suddenly. I can see one of
their faces. He is scared heavily across his face. “Do not hurt us, were are
but citizens,” I say.
Vlad is still
alive. I have hope that he is merely injured. But his is breathing heavy and I
see his eye reach mine. His heavy breathing stopped. Vlad has now passed away. I let out tears of anguish.
Pounding on his carcass. The girl
is still alive. I tug on Vlad’s
body but I am weak.
The tears
continue to come down my face. “Men do not cry it is but
a mere horse you pathetic swine,” the heavily scarred man said. He comes closer
to me, I smell vodka on his breath He smacks me in the face with the butt of
his gun. He and the rest of the men laugh as I whimper and wipe the blood from my mouth. I do not beg for
mercy. The scarred man is fat and drunk. He reminds me of my brother Nikolai.
The fat demon now points his gun towards my head and I begin to pray. I mutter
the last words of my prayer and hear:
“Stand
down citizen ”
The voice is
strong and powerful yet young and undeveloped. I look over and see a solider,
the girls eyes widened. “Brother you have come” she manages to whisper. But it was her final breathe. Her arms release my neck. The boy solider
solemnly walks towards us.
He lifts Vlad up
off his sister and I. He is a boy of about 18 years old. His
hair is clean and slicked back.
His red military uniform is dazzling. It sparkles even in the dark clouds. He
is strong and has the heart of a warrior. His face tells me he has seen many
deaths before joining the army. My
hands are covered in Vlad’s and the girls blood. My body aches and I can barely
speak. I start to wonder if my son too will end up like him. We do not exchange words as
carries her body and walks away. The
rain clouds have come. I am weak
and hungered but I trudge on with what little strength I have left. If I am to make it back home tonight I must hurry.
I am alone with Vlad now. I take the
things around Vlad’s saddle and begin
to dig a hole for Vlad. I bury him in a place unmarked, but a memorable place. I wash my body in a nearby lake and
clean myself of the tragedies that I now bare. But I cannot remove them. They
hang over me like an angels halo.
I must continue. I mustn’t dwell for my family awaits hungry and cold. I am
saddened by the death of my trusty steed and the young girl I was unable to
help but it is my family that
needs me the most.
Now that I am
here in the city, I check my pockets for the coins to purchase the items. But
they are gone. I have nothing. Trying to keep my head up I walk into the market place with the
bustling crowd. The city is busy with beggars, vendors, guards and
thieves. It smells of freshly
baked bread but it is dirty and unkempt here. I make little eye contact with the guards and force my way
through the crowd. A beggar woman tugs at my shirt. “Please sir. I am hungry”
she begs. Her voice is old and dry. “ I don’t acknowledge her.
I am forced to steal what I need for my
family. I find myself staring at a particular vendor. He is a brutish man with
a beard of solid white. He is
wearing a blue robe. His smile is comforting. I walk slower as not to cause suspicion. I feel the soft wool up against my
fingers and think how warm it would be. Every fiber now reaching me I smile. I
can smell the fruit and can nearly feel the sensation of the juices running
down my lips. His eyes do not reach mine. Steadily, I place my fingers on the
blanket and with my other hand I grab the fruit. I begin to walk away hoping
the vendor will not notice. It seems I make it far enough for him without him
realizing something is gone. But then “Stop Thief”. I hear the footsteps
following me. I look all around for
a horse I could borrow or…..steal.
Then I feet a
tap my shoulder and with a jump I turn around. But my heart calms when seeing
that it the young solider. I get on hoping that he will take me back to my home
and he did.
I arrive home. I
opened the door to see smiling faces I feel kisses upon my cheeks. I never felt such a sensation. I pull
out the fruit and blankets. The children take the fruit from my hand and
swallow it nearly whole. My wife grabs me and kisses me till I cannot
breathe. She notices the wound on
my mouth, but does not say a word.
Then the
children look outside and I am they looked outside and realize that did not
come with me. “But where is Vlad” Peter says. I lift him up and place him on my
lap. He too notices the wound on my lips. “I had to trade him,” I say. The
other children’s faces drooped but
I reassured them that he was in a better place.
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