Random Acts of Kindness [Sher]

Ailis says she wants to go to the barn with me and I smile and nod. Then I yank on my work boots and open the door, letting Ailis out first and then following her, closing the door behind me. "By the way," I say, "At least twice during the work day I try to visit Em and see how she is. You can do that too if you want." I smile and start walking towards the barn. It's a big, white building that looks very broken down on the outside, but is actuallu very well organized and clean on the inside. I point to the buildings as we walk and I tell Ailis about them. Pointing to the barn I say, "That's our barn. We have pigs, cows, goats, sheep, and chickens in there."

Next I point to a tiny red shack and say, "That's our tool house. It has all the items we need to take care of the animals, including food, except for hay and the pig slop. Hay is kept in the horse house and the slop for the pigs is kept in a big compost type box. When we feed the pigs we brings buckets of the slop over to their troughs and dump it in. Our barn has three separate outdoor pens, one for the pigs, one for the chickens, and one for the goats."

Next I pointed to the second to last building. It was big and white and in about the same condition as our house. "That's the horse barn. There's an outdoor pen for the horses, they're just not out there yet I guess. The horses eat hay because we can't afford any special horse feed or anything. Each horse has is own small indoor space with doors in the make that lead to the outside pen where they can get exercise when we're not riding them."

We're almost to the barn now, so finally I point to the last building. It's big, but it's got a very gloomy look about it, almost like the feeling you get at the Reapings, but so bad because you know you're not actually in danger. "That's the slaughter house. It's got slaughtering tools and whatnot, but the most important thing inside it is a huge meat locker that we keep the meat in once the slaughter is done. John usually does it himself, but sometimes he makes us do it. He says that just in case we're ever chosen for the Games, he wants us to know at least the basics for killing. He doesn't mean it in a cruel way though, he just wants to make sure we're at least a little prepared. Usually I can worm out of it, but sometimes I have to do it." I shiver slightly and finally we've reached the barn.

"Ok." I say. "Those are all the buildings. First we have to feed all the pigs that need to be fed. The troughs have a line etched into them that marks where the slop should reach. If the food is really low, then just take the two pails that are in front of the trough, go to the slop compost box, fill the pails and then bring them to the trough and dump them in. Just keep doing that until the slop is back up to the line. If it's just sort of low don't bother though. And just so you know," I say as I bend down to grab the pails next to a particularly low trough, "It REALLY stinks."

I pick up the buckets and then say, "After we're done with the pigs we'll probably feed the chickens and then we'll move on to the horses and clean out their pens. We have to shovel out their droppings, give them new hay and water, and replace their hay bedding. Then we'll probably give the horses who need to be cleaned baths. After that we don't really need to do any more morning chores so you could go to the market or ride horses or talk to Em. You can really do whatever we want in your free time. Then after lunch we'll probably do some house cleaning chores and then more free time and then after dinner we'll make sure the barn and horse stables are locked and the animals are OK. After that we can just relax before we go to bed. Or do something else before bed, I don't really care." I say all this with a happy smile. I love working on the farm. Even doing chores is fun when you're doing it around animals. I guess i was just made for farm life. Holding my buckets I start off towards the slop box. The pigs are the worst chores, but they don't take long so it's OK. I hope I'm not being too rigid. It's just when I have work to do I like to do it fast with no nonsense and do it well. I take pride in my work quality, even though it sometimes makes me seem like a stiff. I like to work hard when it's work time and play hard when it's play time. That's just how I raised I guess.