Create a short story using all you have learned so far in the unit.

ANSWER

The Orchard

During a dull, dark and soundless day in the spring, the clouds hung loosely, and the birds chirped away. The whole neighbourhood was in tension. Today was going to be the day. The happy sounds of the children playing in the field could be heard. Some were singing spring songs while the boys wrestled with each other. The air was pregnant with expectation. This was the day that was most awaited trough out the year. The people waited for it more than they waited for thanksgiving and Christmas. It was the day that the village would have the chance to choose again. Exactly at midday, the clinging of the church bell was heard all over the village, and all the villagers assembled at the village square, nobody was left behind. The children continued to play while the women stayed in groups and gossiped. The men looked like they were having serious conversations with each other. The chief stood in front of the crowd and greeted, and everybody’s face brightened.

The children stopped playing, and the women paused on their gossip. There was pin-drop silence as people eagerly waited for the chief to address the crowd. “Today, we are going to do things differently from last year. Instead of having the full family picking, one family member will be responsible for choosing. Families should therefore come together and quickly decide who will be their representative.” There was shuffling of feet as mothers tried to locate their children and fathers tried to locate their wives and children. This was a ritual that was performed every year. Apart from the new changes that the chief made, the process is usually a shirt one as families gather and each picks a ballot. The ballots decide the family that will have won, after a few minutes of murmuring in the crowd, the noise died down, and families had chosen the person that was going to represent them. Each family had their family member representing them.

There was silence and then murmuring when the lonely old lady that lies at the corner of the village stepped up. She is only seen once a year and is never in the out. According to the village legend, she lost her husband and children on the same day and swore to never come out because of the grief. There are other stories that say that her family were cannibals, and she ran away from them to the safety of the village. No one really knows what her backstory is apart from the fact that she is very old and never misses the yearly games. Some people say she is 120 years old, but she still looks 70 because she keeps lilies. Nobody really knows anything about her because nobody has had the courage to ask. She has a beautiful orchard at the back of her home where children sneak in to steal fruits. She never complains, and she never asks them. I think it is because she is lonely, and the mischief of the children keeps her sane.

“Silence! ” said the chief ” We will start the voting process.” “Each family will cast their vote, and then I will announce the winner based on the family representatives.” The process will take shorter this year because some of us are growing older, and we need to get back home and rest.” The votes were cast, and everybody was sent back home to go about their business. The announcement meeting was going to be at 4 pm. Most people prayed that their family had not won the competition. This year had been harder than most, the harvest was meagre, and most families were struggling to make ends meet. The men broke into small groups and continued their conversation as the women walked home. Everybody was waiting for the final announcement at four. There was excitement as well as anxiety in the air.

At 4 O’clock everybody was ta the village square waiting eagerly for the announcement. The chief dragged himself, and everybody in the village thought that it was time to pass his wisdom to his son and let him be chief. However, this was not the agenda of the day. The air was silent, and the people were breathing heavily. Families were huddled together, hoping apart from the old lady with the orchard. “The vote today has gone to the Orchard,” announced the chief. Everybody’s face was filled with disbelief and defeat. But how could it have fallen on her? she is the only member of the family available, and if she voted herself, she only had one vote. No family would want to depend on her little orchard for the supply of food the whole of winter. How did she end up having the majority votes? The decision had been made, the coming winter was going to be hard, and the whole village was going to be depending on the orchard for the food supply.