Somewhere in Laos | Torsten Bachner, Google Maps
Today was lucky, she could feel it. She puffed an ember until caught beneath the pot of vegetables. When she was satisfied the fire was burning, she slipped out into the dark.
She was a hard worker. The man who came to put them in the television show had said so. As second daughter-in-law she had to be, for it fell on her to kindle the fire and make the morning breakfast. Beyond the morning chores that she alone must do, there was wool to spin, water to carry, rice to dry, and herbs to find along the way, in case any sickness came.
She looked out across the mountains. Purple tinged the sky in a way that signaled dawn. In the hen house, she slipped a slender hand beneath one snoring bird and then another. Treasure, so much treasure. Today, there would be eggs.
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150 words
This has been an edition of What Pegman Saw. To read more stories inspired by the prompt, click here.
Inspired by this video: The Akha tribe in Laos: Between tradition and modernity | DW Documentary
k. Rawson 
Excellent story. I’ve recently done a good bit of research on Laos and I think you capture the flavor really well.
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Thanks so much! I realized that I actually read an entire novel about the Akha people (The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane) so I probably picked some up from that.
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I love this slice of life from such a very different world. For that matter, except for the mention of the television, the rest of this could have happened in Eneana! Strange to think how many people are still living that way in our world today. I’m not one to overly romanticize the past (I’ll keep my modern health care and flush toilets and equal rights, thank you!) but I can understand the urge to go “back to the farm”, even for a little while, away from all the complications and distractions that certain technologies impose on modern life.
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I agree!
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Oh woe to that 150 word limit. I want to know more. 🙂
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What a lovely comment! Thanks so much Crispina 🙂
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🙂
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What a beautiful collection of words. 🙂
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Thanks so much!
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A lovely painting in words you’ve created there. I can almost see the light returning to the sky, feel the warmth of the fire growing and the fluffy belly of those chickens! Warm and vivid and just great
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Thanks so much.
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My pleasure, Karen
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Good for her! I wonder if breakfast will be fried or scrambled.
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