farms for city children

binded by the thick, syrupy sunlight, two ten-year old girls interlace their hands, meandering steadily behind their group through unmown grass, chattering constantly. 

two similar souls, two woven hearts. 

under the watchful gaze of the morning, they rake fresh hay into the hollow outside the barn, for the cows to feed. 

the cows’ teeth are larger than the girls’ hands, appearing to be that of a beast or alien creature. 

initially, they feared the cows. their deep cries, their stamping echoes under the barn roof. 

but their woven hearts warm. 

their bravery grows as they prepare the milk feed, handle the youth. as they see a new life brought to the barn that same morning. 

the pair grow fond of the cows over the week.  

guided by the hands of experience, they grow comfortable with the animals; immersed in farm life for a glowing fragment of their lives. 

now older, my memories of this time tumble and polish amongst older grey buildings and older responsibility. 

but what i still remember is 

the honeybees swarming us, a midday murmuration, landing on our arms, shoulders, no weight to them except the hum in our ears. 

the story the beekeeper told us, of patience – pained, she was stung, but feared for the bee. she waited, as the small creature writhed, carefully twisted out from the skin of her hand, wanting to preserve its life, rather than lose its stinger and suffer a slow death.  

the same honey the bees provided sustained us as part of breakfast. 

we learned countryside code, and the consequences of not following it; a child leaves a gate open, and thirty children run through a hay-barn herding rogue sheep.  

eggs, carrying a basket of eggs we considered fabergé, along with a bucket of cold water. 

not all of these memories are my own, through time they scar and blister – unidentified shapes and colours. 

but our two woven hearts will never truly forget. 

never truly forget the life we experienced in a short week. 

we will never truly forget. 

(this piece was inspired by my time at a school residential at wick court – farms for city children) 

 I'll be honest with you I'm fairly sure this makes no sense whatsoever, and I've barely checked it over but I'll find and edit the mistakes at some point I'm sure. I know I apologise for the lack of writing every time, but I decided to take my mock exams way too seriously. English paid off with a 9,9 though (not me crying coming out of English Language thinking I got a 3). Anyway, I don't know if this writing is any good, I'm too sleep deprived to tell, I submitted it to a competition that's due at midnight. Good luck to everyone doing their exams currently, I promise you'll be fine. <3

Song suggestion - Fable - Gigi Perez