The Common Pond Approach

Prologue

If it had not been for the work she still had left to do, tonight would be a pleasant night. According to this society, she was under the consideration of 'peasant' which meant that before she could go to be with her family in her home, she had to complete jobs. Knights watched the last of the workers to ensure nobody slacked or sneaked off. They knew everybody and had a list of their names and remaining jobs. Such jobs included cleaning up any animal and/or human excretion, top up the food and water for the horses so they could transport important people into a new town, tending to any growing foods, etc. But luckily for some kids, these knights had a schedule that they followed each night and they had memorised it now. There was about 3 minutes of unsupervised work where the knights would change shifts. And during this time, five children sneaked off being as cautious as a child can be. They were very good at not getting caught and it was still a wonder how nobody had clocked on.

Ava was quite a small girl of about 5"3. She sat on her knees, sorting through the horse's food, picking out any big bugs, filthy and moulding hay, and small pebbles that hid at the bottom of the bucket, just waiting for the horse to bite in so they could attack its unsuspecting victims' strong teeth. She was only just a child but they expected her to work non-stop from about 5:00am to 12:00pm, and then 3:pm to 11:00pm. The poor girl had a rough life. And to top it all off, she lived with an abusive family, not that it mattered to anybody anyway. In this day and age, if you weren't getting hit physically or verbally then you were not a normal child. It had been a few hours since she had managed to have some ale and she could feel her head pounding from the dehydration. To add to her predicament, the summer heat made her feel rather queasy, and she was starting to see dark spots on her arms. She just hoped it was not that pesky plague catching up to her.

This was her life. Spending each day picking through hay, tending to growing crops, cleaning waste. It was a terrible life but there was nothing she could do. Her family were not descendants of the throne and did not intend on lying about their family tree anytime soon so her only option was to do what everyone else did: suck it in, so to speak. While we are on the topic, the king was a disgustingly vile man. He did not care for people of her status, and did nothing to help the workers when the plague began to break out. No, instead he fled the city, the coward. Although Ava would not dare admit it she hoped, with great secrecy, that he caught the plague and died a slow and painful death. It would make her happy to hear that this "great king" died like a commoner.  

While still picking pieces of muck, she realised there was a strange sound coming down a small, dark walkway between two huts. It was like a very quiet bird was being hit by a stone. Scanning the area for any unexpected knights, she quickly slipped down the path, swallowed by the shadow. It was, after all, the signal. This night marked the final summer gathering between her and her friends before the Autumn season began before the harvesting would begin. Then they would be so busy, there would be no time whatsoever for their story telling. 

"Now, dear friends...let us begin. For one last time before we part. What shall I read for you, this musty night..." the teller began. This was a young boy with sight problems but always seemed to have one eye that was brighter than the other. He held the nickname "teller". He and his friends decided it was only fitting as he was the only one capable of holding them on edge. "Ah! But of course! We shall proceed with the story of...the barn-owl and the injured mouse." He finished with a sly grin, looking around the group of young children. Though there was really no point. He could just about see them anyway. And so he began, while his friends waited with bated breath.