When we got to
the farm, we spent the first day getting settling into our new living area. We
had been given bunks inside a large shed that was made into a bunk house. It
was a tight space but it was big enough for four bunks and an end table next to
each. When we sat down to eat with everyone else inside the house, we were
approached by an older lady.
“Oh, you must be
the new workers Jim said he recruited today?” she asked.
“Jim,” returned
Bro who was speaking for all of us who didn’t know who Jim was.
“Well, my
husband of course!” she exclaimed, “You mean to tell me Jim didn’t even
introduce himself when he hired you?! I’m sorry for his rude behavior then. My
name is Iona, I will feed you and do your laundry while you are here, and my
husband runs the farm.”
“Thank you mam,”
I said to show our appreciation.
“So are all of
you looking for other work right now?” Iona asked randomly.
“No, why do you
ask?” I responded.
“Oh, most folks
don’t last here long. We either get the people who have nowhere else to go, or
we get those who are trying to transition to a different job.”
“Why is that?” I
asked.
“It’s hard work,
son,” she said as she began to chuckle. Then she filled our plates and moved on
to serve the others.
There were three
other men who had been working there as well. One was a short man who had been
working there for a few weeks. He had short curly black hair and scruff
covering his face. He seemed like he was a very serious man. And everyone there
was calling him Tom. The second man was pretty chubby. He had long blonde hair
that didn’t look like it was his. He seemed jolly from the way he was lit up at
the dinner table. He also talked as if he had been there the longest of the
three. And the boys were calling him Sam. The third man was tall and skinny. He
was the type of guy who stood out in a crowd. It was mainly because his height,
but his smile was one that caught on if you looked at it for just a few
seconds. His name was Ian. He came in just a couple days before we did.
Bro, Peyti, and
I introduced ourselves after dinner to them. They were all what I would
consider fairly chill guys. They all decided to lie down and talk in their beds
until they fell asleep. I can’t say that our group did anything different
though, we were really tired from all the day’s events anyway.
We woke up at
10:00am and we began to freak out because we were supposed to wake up at
8:00am. I looked over and all three of the guys were just waking up as well.
“We’re late.” I
said expecting them to get up really fast. Instead, Sam began to laugh.
“We aren’t in
any hurry. We will get our jobs done. It looks like you all need to be trained.”
He said as he was still laughing a little. Then he began to show us around.
There was a small farm with a few vegetables and a large pinned area with many
pigs. “Now, the pigs just need feeding and cleaning the dun out of their main
area. Once a week, we get to wash the pigs. We decided to play rock, paper, and
scissors to see who has to do it for the week. But most of our time is spent
pulling weeds on the farm or just general upkeep. Old Jim pays us 25 Coin a day
no matter how long we work, so we usually just do a couple things here and
there.”
“How come he
said this is hard work?” Peyti asked.
“Well most
people here just work a few hours a day and get paid a lot more.”
“Then how come
you still have worked here so long?” she continued.
“Well, for me, I
only have to work hard when no one is around. My job gets easier the more
people who are here and I have learned to eat my fill during all the meals as
you can see.” He said as he chuckled.
“I’m not sure
how long we are here,” I explained, “but we will work hard to earn our wages.”
“If that is the
case, I hope you guys stay longer,” Sam said, “Tom and Ian have been working
hard too.”
Then we began
working on the various tasks we were shown. Sam was right in that it only took
us an hour to do everything we were asked to do. We then relaxed for the rest
of the day.
During the next
day, I was working along with Tom scooping up the pig dun, when Tom asked me about
my time on the Island.
“So how long
have you been here on the Island?” He asked. After I told him about myself and
our group, I asked a little about him.
“How long have
you been here?” I asked.
“Too long,” He
began, “I was told I was born here although I was raised in an orphanage in
Acedia. When I was old enough to leave, I left to Avaritia and found a new home
there. I enjoyed it for quite a while, but I knew deep down it wasn’t enough. I
wasn’t a very happy person, so I came here to spend my earnings on
entertainment. I didn’t even notice the amount of money I was spending, but I ended
up going completely dry while playing poker one night downtown. I needed a job
right away and Old Jim was hiring so I immediately accepted. That’s me up to
this point.”
“Thanks for
sharing that with me, Tom,” I said, “Are you planning on anything next?”
“I don’t know,”
he shrugged, “I thought about going back to Acedia. I feel like there is
nothing out there for me.”
“That is really
encouraging.” I said sarcastically. “My group of friends and I have been
traveling the cities because we keep feeling like there is something more out
there. I’m a bit discouraged now.”
“Ah, don’t
listen to me the entire time. Besides, I haven’t been to most of the cities
myself; only the ones I mentioned before. If you find something worth it, let
me know.” He said as he smiled.
“Will do.” I said.
By that time I hadn’t realized that our conversation took the whole work time
for that day. After we finished up, we relaxed again and talked until we went
to bed.
