Week Seventeen Writing - 1052 words
Leigh woke up late that day, feeling like absolute death. His head pounded with a beat similar to the rights long ago where he had a bit too much fun at the local tavern. Most of all, though, he felt completely drained. Completely and utterly drained. Not only did his body beg him to go back to sleep another night or another thousand nights, but his mind was as crashed out as the shallow cave rocks after high tide. It took several extra tic tingly long moments for Leigh to untangle himself from his covers. Ie He swung his legs over the straw and cool bed end struggled to sit up. His limbs didn't want to work with him.
He sighed and heaved himself up.
On days like this one, Leigh just had to put a few things on the forefront of his mind. This had started when he was young. Vera implemented a set of basic instructions for him when he first started relearning so many things that had been robbed of him.
Get up, let the morning in.
Leigh opened curtains on the small window by his bed. The first wisps of sun light filtered through the thick, uneven glass, casting rays of various colors onto his room. The hinge to open the window itself as just outside of his reach from his position on his bed. Leigh's struggle to reach the window caused a involuntary spasm in his body that ended in a very long stretch. A yawn capped it off and Leigh rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and forced his legs to stand.
He opened the window and cold at salty air buffeted his face and burned his nostrils. He took a step back and examined himself in the large i reported mirror. A gift from Vera. Appearances were important for finding a good wife, of course. Leigh didn't know about that.
He inspected the reflective version of himself. He was shirtless, as that was the only way he could sleep without sweating like crazy. His shoulders looked swollen compared to his stomach, with lines around his armpits shoving the efforts of the warmer months. So much exhausting work, but he guessed he had something to show for it. Leigh's eyes travelled lover and rested on the disgustingly large scar just above the navel.
When he was younger, the muscles in his stomach were defined enough that the scar hid itself for the most part, But now, his muscles were surrounded by a healthy layer of flesh; the signs of actually being able to eat. So, the scar stood out like a blight on his body. Even after all these years. Which was more apparent, the Sco on his body or the scar on his mind? He ran his fingers through his black hair. and lightly shook the knots out of it from the last night's sleep. Grabbing a brush from a small pedestal and combed it through his hair, repeating the process more thoroughly. After hastily tying it up, he splashed water on his face from a bout by his bedside. The water was strikingly cold and it shocked any remaining sleep from him.
While this routine couldn't prepare him for today, it was enough to get him back into the state where he could she/to himself. Numb, but he couldn't afford to feel anything.
Not today.
He dressed himself, worn clothes but not the same ones from the night before. Looking around, those soaking wet clothes had vanished. That meant a couple of things: that Vera had woken up before he had, Vera had also entered his cabin sometime why he us asleep. and that she had taken upon herself to keep after him like he us a child again. It must be giving her comfort. Leigh gave himself one last look in the mirror. His face looked sunken in, the morning sun casting state shadows udv his eyes and jawline. He hadn't tried to share his facial hair in weeks, but thankfully it only grew in patches around his chin and upper lip, like a cradle highlighting his cracked lips. Dark eyes stared back at him, but he found no life in those eyes. It was as if a spirit inhabited him, haunting the shadows and crevices of his face, only visible to Leigh when he viewed his own eyes. When he viewed himself, it was not him he saw, just an echo of a past he tried to forget and erase. So, instead of dreading the whole picture, he examined details of himself.
Good enough. Some people found them appealing, and they could do so for Leigh. He forced a smile on his face for a moment, and grimaced at how fake it looked.
With that, he left his cabin. Sure enough, he was the last to wake. The children were playing in the grain field. their heads bobbing over the youthful shoots. Upon further inspection, he found Vera bending over the voloor pen, dumping pale paste into the troughs. She stood up and stretched, hands digging into her back. Her eyes scanned the wheat fields, no doubt counting the kids, making sure none of them vanished under a variety of mysterious circumstances. Her eyes wandered, and she found Leigh. A smile cracked upon her face, and she waved him over. As he got closer, he noticed a shadow behind her smile, lying deep in her eyes. It felt twisted, but Leigh felt glad he wasn’t alone in his loneliness.
"Good, youre awake!" she shouted over the bleating of the voloor. "Come help me with feeding the animals. I've done most of it, bat the chales still need their feed." she sighed and dropped the pail by her side. "If you do that, I can get started with for of our our."
Leigh. nodded. "Good morning," he said hollouly. "Good morning.
“I let you sleep in. Figured one of us should try to get some rest."
A chuckle escaped Leigh." Doesn't feel like it."
"Yeah." She sucked in a large breath, steadying herself. She blinked away tears and smiled again. "All right, let's get to it. Lots to do today."
Vera and Leigh's eyes lingered on each other for a moment, and she ducked under the gate and left him there, alone.
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