Prompt 71.6: Random Words: Different, Health, and Beyond,
They were comin' up on the end of the drive, and Heath found himself wonderin' 'bout his fate. Many of those who'd signed on were plannin' on takin' their pay and finally headin' home. Those plans had been the topic of almost every evenin' meal for the better part of the last few weeks and the youngest of the cowboys had finally had enough.
It wasn't that he wasn't interested in what they were goin' to be doing,' if anything it was just the opposite. In a way he felt a twinge of jealousy toward 'em, they all seemed to have so much to look forward to, something beyond just worryin' about how many meals they'd be eatin' on any given day, and whether they'd be sleepin' under a roof. They all seemed to have people who cared 'bout 'em, somewhere to really belong, and what did he have? Nothin'. Fact was, it finally reached the point where he'd heard it once too often and as the talk yet again drifted to the subject during the midday meal he'd abruptly interrupted them. He hardly noticed the glares that were tossed his way as he questioned why they were on the drive if they missed things so much. Sure, some scowled at his gripe, but for most, it was easy for them to laugh it off, he was young, he couldn't possibly understand. Then there were those rare few who figured nothin' was goin' to be hurt by taken' the time to try and explain why they were doing what they were doin'.
Somehow, Heath figured a beer or a bottle of whiskey might make things go better, but, the drive was a dry one 'cept for when Cookie pulled the bottle out on Saturday night, so, settlin' for coffee he took to his heels to listen. What he learned was for many it came down to a matter of dignity, they had joined the war to fight for what they felt was right. When they'd gotten themselves imprisoned at Carterson, they'd had everythin' stripped from them, includin' their health, goin' home straight from there would have meant goin' back as shells of who they were. In their eyes there would have been no dignity in their returns if they had gone back under those terms. Under Johnny Rebs terms. By signin' on for the drive and collectin' their pay before headin home, things were completely different, now they were in charge. Heck, they were proud of the gains they'd made, not just physically, but, with their pay jinglin' in their pockets, they'd be able to add financially. Their work on the drive, gave them the means to feed their families, and build their futures, most importantly though it was goin' to let them do all that the Rebs in Carterson had tried to keep them from doin'. Course none of that mattered much to Heath, all he knew was once the drive was over he was goin' to be on his own again, and that meant he needed to figure out where he was headin' and what he was plannin' to do with himself, 'cause he sure wasn't ready to tuck tail and crawl back to Strawberry.
Muse: Heath Barkley
Fandom: The Big Valley
Words: 437
PtV
It wasn't that he wasn't interested in what they were goin' to be doing,' if anything it was just the opposite. In a way he felt a twinge of jealousy toward 'em, they all seemed to have so much to look forward to, something beyond just worryin' about how many meals they'd be eatin' on any given day, and whether they'd be sleepin' under a roof. They all seemed to have people who cared 'bout 'em, somewhere to really belong, and what did he have? Nothin'. Fact was, it finally reached the point where he'd heard it once too often and as the talk yet again drifted to the subject during the midday meal he'd abruptly interrupted them. He hardly noticed the glares that were tossed his way as he questioned why they were on the drive if they missed things so much. Sure, some scowled at his gripe, but for most, it was easy for them to laugh it off, he was young, he couldn't possibly understand. Then there were those rare few who figured nothin' was goin' to be hurt by taken' the time to try and explain why they were doing what they were doin'.
Somehow, Heath figured a beer or a bottle of whiskey might make things go better, but, the drive was a dry one 'cept for when Cookie pulled the bottle out on Saturday night, so, settlin' for coffee he took to his heels to listen. What he learned was for many it came down to a matter of dignity, they had joined the war to fight for what they felt was right. When they'd gotten themselves imprisoned at Carterson, they'd had everythin' stripped from them, includin' their health, goin' home straight from there would have meant goin' back as shells of who they were. In their eyes there would have been no dignity in their returns if they had gone back under those terms. Under Johnny Rebs terms. By signin' on for the drive and collectin' their pay before headin home, things were completely different, now they were in charge. Heck, they were proud of the gains they'd made, not just physically, but, with their pay jinglin' in their pockets, they'd be able to add financially. Their work on the drive, gave them the means to feed their families, and build their futures, most importantly though it was goin' to let them do all that the Rebs in Carterson had tried to keep them from doin'. Course none of that mattered much to Heath, all he knew was once the drive was over he was goin' to be on his own again, and that meant he needed to figure out where he was headin' and what he was plannin' to do with himself, 'cause he sure wasn't ready to tuck tail and crawl back to Strawberry.
Muse: Heath Barkley
Fandom: The Big Valley
Words: 437
PtV