It was the opposite of everything. No more the steady breath of fire in the hearth. No more the solid oaken walls that Grandpa hewed and Grandma charred. No more the steady view that only seasons marked.
She was aloft atop the bedding, swaying on the ruts, the creaks of wooden wheels squeaking out of step with the team’s heavy clip-clop.
Another place awaits, Ma says, though where or what Faith couldn’t tell. How when all who’d gone before hadn’t returned?
Pa’s steady shoulders hitched with the reins. “Prepare,” he said. “We’ll circle wagons and there’d be chores ‘fore long to tend.”
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Photo prompt © Alicia Jamtaas
Na'ama Yehuda 
Na’ama Y’kharah,
You’ve done a good job of capturing the wagon trail from the POV of a child. Love this.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Rochelle. I think that this had to be a very complicated thing, and that migration into lands uncertain and reception even less certain – to this day, too – is a scary dive into the unknown, with not much more than a hope stretched taut.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve given this story a very authentic feel Na’ama
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Sadje! I think it is not very far removed from the realities of too many still, today, even if perhaps not necessarily with wooden wheels. And yet, the disconnect from all one knew perhaps remains a resonance over times.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed that true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great voice of a child. Excellent write.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! I’m glad this resonated!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent evocative writing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, my friend! Coming from you, I am doubly happy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re very welcome 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
looks like scene from little house on the prairie. well done.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It would not be far from it, would it? 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are always chores. Well done.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed, and the grounding aspect of those, too, to anchor a world in flux
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautifully written!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Kaila! 🙂
LikeLike
I love how you chose the name Faith, because she had to trust “when all who’d gone before hadn’t returned.” Poignant story! -Angela
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m so glad you noted this, because … yes, that was on my mind … and also what she could’ve represented for others, and all that jazz. Glad you liked, Angela! 🙂 Na’ama
LikeLike
Nicely done… they know not yet what horrors they may face on their quest for new land…. Makes me want to rewatch 1883 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! Yes, as is true for many a migrant to this day. The stories – told by media and by traffickers and by smugglers and by the hopes of one’s desperate heart – are not always representative of the challenges one may actually face. Along the path or upon arrival. The quest for a new life, or a better life, or a life of self (as Rochelle’s story showed), is never simple. And it has been going on since the beginning of human time. … 1883? Now I gotta go find it out to watch myself! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed! 1883 is the first prequel to Yellowstone – Tim McGraw and Faith Hill play a couple in it. So many good actors and the one who plays their daughter is amazing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
On my short list now!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did you see Yellowstone? Not that it really matters, actually, because it takes place over a hundred years before 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I might’ve but I am somehow not sure – sometimes I’ve watched movies on planes and my movie-memory is not all that good for 30,000feet, apparently … ) 😉 I put both on my list and I’ll take a peek at Yellowstone to know if I’d seen it before (or, perhaps just see it again)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s a series, not a movie. Same as 1883.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah! Then that settles it – I did NOT see it yet! So will look for both and watch. I just proved how poorly my memory works for anything at 30,000 feet … LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are four seasons to Yellowstone 😉 The fifth and final one is taking FOREVER to come out. However, there is only one of 1883 and it’s fantastic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Faith is a good name for a child on such a journey.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Liz! It is the name that came up in my mind and the name she apparently had to have. Probably for this reason, too! Thank you for the comment! Na’ama
LikeLiked by 1 person
A land of milk and honey? She could only hope.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed, one hopes, or the adults, at least, hope and expect the children to somehow accept the hope by proxy, and hold on to it. Past and present, such difficult transitions for so many, often in a tangled web of dreams and hopes.
LikeLike
A wonderful read, and the character tells it well.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, James! I’m glad I was able to convey what I’d intended, and I appreciate the comment very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
In Wyoming there are rocks with ruts worn into them by the wagon wheels of settlers moving from here to there. When I saw them I thought of the sounds made by the wheels, the drivers urging on the horses, and in my mind I saw women and children walking beside the wagons in the hot sun. So much work. You captured that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Alicia! Yes, so much work! Each rut layers of stories. Glad you found it resonated!
LikeLike
Faith’s point of view is beautifully portrayed in your story. And I really like how you’ve used contrasting images of the three places (or times) in the child’s experience – the solidity of the home she’s left, the creaking, swaying uncertainty of her bed in the wagon, and the unknown future, where people have disappeared. Just brilliant. I love these three ideas. Fantastic title too.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Margaret! What an insightful, thought-provoking comment! Thank you! I really appreciate these kinds of analyses and the perspective your brought. YAY! 🙂 Na’ama
LikeLiked by 2 people
Na’ama, I like how the story is told from the child’s perspective.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re very welcome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
You and I were kind of on the same track this week! Very clear story of a child’s view of a scary, exciting journey into the unknown!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Linda! Here’s to the stories of children, and their views of the big world they live in, where so little is within their control.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was 10 when we moved from Minneosta to Oregon. Of course, we drove on a well-paved highway, and it took us only two or three days , as I remember. Still, it was a huge move, full of unknowns. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I enjoy reading about the pioneer era in our American history.
LikeLike
I think that to a child, a big move is a big move, whether by technologies of then or the technologies of now, or the muddy passes in the jungle that some still take in search of something better or a new beginning or a safer home. I think that it indeed informs us, to read about the eras of the past, and see better the present we live in. For so much, in essence, is the human experience. The details change. The vistas shift. The challenge and hope and dreams remain.
LikeLiked by 1 person