Quiet

The sun was too warm as I stepped outside. Another beautiful sunny day. It made me want to crawl back inside and hide. It was too bright out for how lonely I felt. It wasn't safe to be outside anyway but If I wanted to eat I had to work. We lived on our own as far from other people as possible. I know they must exist but at 16 I am still not sure if I have met anyone besides my mother and father.

I started up the familiar hill beside the modest stone house. Father had spent most of my life building and stacking the stones for the house in between all the other work that had to be done. He was a big and strong man, his back was scarred and his skin was tough, but he could fill the fields with his laughter. He could also get haunting looks that made you wonder if he was seeing what you were seeing. I spotted him standing next to the tree watching over the small field that grew berries and other things so that we could stay near home.

I walked up slowly but I could tell he knew I was there after just a couple of steps. He didn't move but that wasn't uncommon for him. I stood next to him trying to see what he saw. I was almost two heads taller then my father and not nearly as bulky. So I had a better view from the tree but I had no idea what he was seeing. All I saw was the same things I had been seeing before mom called me in for lunch. The stream that rushed from the mountains and then out into the forest and out of sight. The small fields that just about grew wild down the side of the hill. The mountains and the forest enclosing the errea. What I could see was never as interesting as what I could hear, but even that wasn't very interesting right now. My mom was singing again while she worked on cleaning up for the day. The birds and other animals were talking this afternoon. It hadn't taken long from most of the animals to learn to keep away from the field. Having two hunters around did that.

I had learned a lot from my father. Though on dreadfully beautiful days like today I wonder if there is anything left to learn from him. He glanced at me as I plopped down on the grass next to him. Gnats flew into the air from where I plopped down. The bugs weren't too bad yet.

It was nice to have a break, there weren't any skins that needed to be worked, or seeds that needed to be planted right that second. I looked up at my father as he cleared his throat. "It is too calm." I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just watched him.

The world was dangerous, that is why we lived so far out. Father and mother had both told me about their childhoods, or lack thereof, having grown up in one of the Lord's towns. That town was a three months walk away from where they were now. From the stories that wasn't the only town but it was the farthest from the lord's castle. Father never seemed worried that the lord's men might find them out here. He had said this place was a day's ride from the border. Apparently the town's folk would ride things that look like deer when they wanted to go somewhere that was more then a day's walk. I wasn't sure I believed Father, deer didn't seem to grow big enough to ride.

"Mir, go fetch up some water for you mother, then check that side and make sure the raccoons haven't come back."

I sighed, there was always something to be doing when you lived so isolated. I didn't complain though, Father could have easily found worse chores. I was gone before father responded to the sigh.

Father and Mother both called me Mir, it was short for Miracle since mother wasn't able to have children. That is why Mother and Father didn't live in town. A woman who couldn't have children was worthless, but father had followed his heart and stole her anyway. They had always been honest with me. I knew they had found me not too far from here left to the elements. Which is why I looked nothing like either one of them. Mother was smaller then father but not by that much. I was still a twig even though we ate pretty good. I was still hopeful that I wasn't done growing, but I wasn't counting on it.

Father said I was probably abandoned because I was so small as a baby and an unhealthy color. I was a lot more white then either of them. I wasn't completely white, my hair was blonde until a couple of years ago when it started darkening and now it was light brown. If you compared me to Mother and Father though, I was white. They were much darker and had black hair and brown eyes. There aren't any really good reflective surfaces around the house mother always told me my eyes were grey.

I really didn't care as long as my eyes worked but Mother and Father seemed sure that was strange. I had no way of knowing and from the stories I had heard of town I was not in a hurry to find other humans to check. Even if that did mean I was lonely. I grabbed the bucket by the house, It would take quite a few trips to fill up the trough by the house. They were simple objects but well made to keep from having to waste time making them again. I walked towards the riverbank. It had rained not that many days ago and the river was still a bit high. I shouldn't have to worry about flash floods this late in spring. So I didn't bother going down to where the bank sloped into the water. Instead I laid down and reached into the fast moving water with the bucket.

The water was cold, like always. I watched up stream as I laid there listening to the water rushing into the bucket. It didn't take long to fill and I started to stand back up but something caught my attention and I paused. The daylight hours should be safe, most of the dangerous creatures keep to the night but living as we do, I knew nothing was truly safe.

I rolled before I registered why. A shaft of wood dug into the ground right behind where my chest had been just moments before. It had come from the other side of the river. I was glad that I hadn't walked to the slope part of the river. As I rolled down the side of the bank. I stood carefully when I reached the bottom, and ran towards the house. I wasn't sure how well whatever had thrown the stick could throw so I tried to stay low.

Some birds would drop sticks and stones but that had not looked like anything I had seen a bird use before. Father was shouting something as I ran but my heart was still in my ears and I couldn't understand. Mother's terrified scream was the only thing that registered. I drew up short which saved me from another thrown weapon. I saw the man that threw it this time. This one was on our side of the river. Father was yelling again but I didn't think it was words as he charged at the man that stood behind the one that had thrown his weapon at me. I reached down and picked up the spear. I took a step towards the men Father was fighting but stopped, against father they were already dead anyway. So I turned toward the house.

Five men came out before I had gone two steps. The last one was dragging mother by the hair, she wasn't struggling. I watched their faces go from annoyed to fear as I let my anger get the better of me. I was among the men before I knew I had moved. They fell backwards but I couldn't understand why. Those five were dead before they hit the ground. Father's two were also dead but not before one of them wounded him.

Father was no stranger to fighting but he had gotten older. There were just too many men around for some reason. I watched as three more converged on father. I tried to move but the ground lurched and dipped. I felt like I had a fever, I checked to see if maybe I had been cut but I didn't see any wounds. I dropped the spear I had picked up as my knees gave out. My anger at the last thing I saw was not enough to keep me moving. As Father lost his head to our Lord's hunters.