On the Roof

The next day, young Thom dried his sweaty forehead as he looked down from the hot sunlit roof of the schoolhouse. The last hour of the morning class was held outdoors. All children were seated on the grass and the teacher strolled through the young crowd while gesturing with her hands. Young Thom could not hear what she was saying but he did notice her dance-like moves as she carefully avoided threading on hands or legs. Hoping not to get distracted halfway this time, he once again started to count the broken roof tiles. Of each part of the roof he carefully wrote down the repairs that was need of. By noon the school ground was abandoned and young Thom started some preliminary repair work on the roof’s woodwork. When he reached the chimney he stood up and overlooked the village. It was much smaller than he remembered it from his childhood. It had appeared endless at that time – always a new corner to discover, but now – having lived for about a decade in a city - the village seemed a miniature version of a medieval place. Young Thom pondered on how much the villagers were aware of the rapidly changing world around them but then was interrupted by a call from below. The teacher stood at some distance from the schoolhouse, a basket under one arm and waving with the other arm for young Thom to come down. A last time he looked around. The low sun was casting an orange-red glow on the forest that surrounded the village. In the distance the city could be seen as a purple silhouette. In an hour it would be too dark to work. He climbed down a ladder and laid it against the schoolhouse. As the teacher approached, he quickly dusted of his clothes. She uncovered the basket and inside could be seen a handful of carrots, some turnips, a courgette and a large chunk of red lam’s meat, partially wrapped in an old newspaper. Young Thom’s appetite was further whetted by the smell of the fresh mint that hung out of the basket. The teacher offered to turn all of this into a nice meal and having lived on a diet of bread, butter and eggs, young Thom was unable to resist.

Dinner at the Inn