Lena raced through the meadow english literature essay

Borderless TownLena raced through the meadow. There, nothing could be seen except the tall, damp grass which occasionally brushed up against her exposed ankles, there were no mountains in the distance, or rather anything significant at all, just a large, vast expanse which seemed to carry on for miles. While at first Lena found this view pleasant, she had soon grown tired of it, and longed for a change in scenery. The motorbike she was riding was old, however well maintained, despite its age it was clearly apparent that it had been looked after by someone who knew what they were doing, the sprocket was smoothly polished, and the chrome exhaust pipe glistened in the sunlight, as did the spokes on the inside of the wheels. The engine made a faint humming noise, and pushed the vehicle along the thick grass effortlessly. The rider herself looked rather peculiar, a black jacket hung over her shoulders and underneath this she wore a white blouse. She had short, messy hair, which gave her a vague, androgynous look, upon her head sat a leather cap with long flaps which covered her ears, and a pair of silver goggles rested over her eyes, the rim of which had become torn and weathered, she would adjust these goggles occasionally, temporarily distracting her from the road. As time went on the rider became weary, as did the motorbike, accumulating a considerable amount of dust on its once shiny sprocket, as if in answer to her silent pleas a blurred object appeared in the distance, eventually coming into focus as she drew nearer. As she squinted, she managed to make out the shape of a small town, she was still too far away to pick out any specific details, despite this however she raced ahead in anticipation. It took several more minutes of riding before she was in suitable range. The first thing that struck Lena as being odd was that the town had no borders, so to speak, it consisted of cobble paths and groups of houses, however unlike other places she had visited, it contained no walls, she pondered on this shortly, before realising she had already reached the town. Lena released the throttle, allowing the bike to cruise along the path, a person not so far away began to approach her, it was a young man in his prime. He wore simple clothes, as if he were a farmer.” I don’t want to disturb anyone” said Lena earnestly ” I’d be grateful if I could buy some provisions” The young man laughed heartily, ” Don’t worry, we enjoy the company of travellers, you won’t be disturbing us, what kind of provisions did you have in mind?”” I’ll be needing food, water and fuel; if possible I would also like to purchase some other supplies such as blankets and lamp oil”” That won’t be a problem, there are several shops along the street which sell such things; do you also need a place to stay?” Asked the young manLena nodded in response, and the man soon directed her to where she needed to go, however just as she placed her hand on the throttle Lena was abruptly stopped.” I almost forgot” the man said ” I came as a representative of our chief, it’s been a tradition for us to sit down and eat with travellers for some time now, if you have no objections feel free to join us tonight, we’ll fetch you when we’re ready”” Thanks, I’d love to” Lena replied, and with that the man finally left, allowing her to look around. She decided to gather supplies first, however Lena was in no rush, and ended up wandering off, to her left she met with a moderately sized pasture, inside the pasture several women riding horses were to be found, some were younger than others, and Lena could even spot a pair of children. One of the women calmly approached her.” You must be that traveller” The woman said, keeping a firm grip on the horse’s reins.” Yes, but how did you-“” Word travels fast around here” She said whilst smiling affectionately, Lena noticed her speech was muffled, on closer inspection she noticed the woman was chewing on some kind of strange seed, thinking back Lena recalled the man whom she first met had something similar in his mouth.” If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work, but feel free to look about” Said the woman as she wheeled the horse around and galloped through the pasture. As Lena was about to leave the children she had noticed earlier raced towards the bike.” Wow…an iron horse!” Said a young boy, who Lena guessed was around eleven or twelve years old.” It’s cold!” added a young girl who had decided to touch the steel handlebars of the bike, she appeared to be around the same age. Lena noticed both children were also chewing on some kind of seed.” What are those seeds? You chew them too?”” Nah, these aren’t the proper seeds, only adults are allowed those. Because they work hard for everyone, they get to chew them as a reward. When we become adults, we will too” The boy said, his eyes still fixated on the bike.” I see…”” To become adults we need to be able to ride horses, the boys need to tend to the crops and help with the harvest” the girl butted in.” Yeah, but you don’t even know how to ride, you’ll stay a child forever” the young boy jested as he stuck out his tongue, the girl chased after him, shouting into the distance, and with that, Lena was alone again. With daylight soon fading, Lena finally decided to fetch her supplies, however as she traversed the street, she was interrupted yet again, this time by the same man she encountered when she first arrived.” The feast is ready now, would you like to follow me”” Sure, but I was hoping to get those supplies” She said, concerned that she might miss her chance to get what she needed.” Don’t worry, we’ve already sent them to your room, you can collect and pay for them later” The man said reassuringly. Following this, the man lead Lena further down the street, until they approached some kind of strange building, it almost looked like a shrine of sorts. To the left stood another structure, if she had to guess she’d say it was some sort of warehouse, perhaps for storing crops. She soon found herself within the building, at first it was hard to see, the lighting was dim and gloomy, almost foreboding, in the centre of a room stood a large table filled with people, at the far end sat an old man, he worse some sort of gilded robe and an engraved staff stood firmly between his clenched fist. Lena assumed this man to be the chief. She took the only remaining seat, which happened to be directly opposite the old man, Lena then noticed a cup of strange liquid before her.” Please, have some tea” The man said warmly, taking a sip from his own cup. Lena apprehensively sniffed the tea ” It has a… unique aroma, what kind of tea is this”” Ah, uh, it doesn’t really have a name” the man was slightly taken aback, however continued, ” Go ahead, try it for yourself”” I’m afraid this tea might be a bit too strong for me, sorry but I’ll have to decline” She brushed the cup away, its scent making her feel sick. Upon doing so she received disgusted looks from the people sitting around the table.” I think it’s time for me to leave” she said, standing up and walking towards the exit. Suddenly Lena heard something whistle past her ear, someone nearby had attempted to strike her with some sort of club; she leaped forwards, kicking the table, sending several plates of food up into the air.” What are you doing?!” Lena cried” You should have drunk the tea…” Sighed the old man, walking slowly towards Lena. Several young men blocked the exit; all of them were carrying weapons of some kind, most of which were clubs. Lena dove forward and snatched a carving knife from the table and seized the nearest person, the chief.” Bastard…” The old man cried as Lena poked his neck with the knife.” You might be able to kill me, but do you think you can fight against everyone in this room?”” That would be absurd” Lena replied, before pushing the old man away. Without warning she swept her leg across the table, sending a nearby oil lamp flying into the wall, it exploded in a burst of flames. Several screams could be heard at the back of the room, and the men who once guarded the exit were now frantically trying to put the fire out.” Don’t let it spread!” one of them shouted. The chief struggled to his feet, using his staff for support.” Your motorbike will have been destroyed by now; either way, you have no choice but to stay here with us” Lena suddenly felt a firm grip on her shoulder, and was abruptly pulled backwards until she was outside of the building, the cool air hit her face, and she welcomed this refreshment, once she felt the hand let go, she spun round in anticipation, to her surprise there stood the man whom she had first met upon entering the town.” I’m sorry about this, I knew what they were going to do… even so I still went along with it, the least I could do was rescue your motorbike”” I don’t understand” Lena said, a blank expression on her face.” I’m sure you’ve noticed those seeds, the seeds you just set fire to” he said, pointing towards the small warehouse that sat opposite the shrine, the fire had spread and it was now covered in flames, a repugnant stench came from it.” They’re some kind of drug, and an extremely addictive one at that, that’s how we take in villagers, the chief invites them to dinner and gives them tea laced with a powdered form of the seed, then they have no choice but to stay, otherwise it kills them. They go mad, wither up and die” He paused, then spat in disgust ” eventually they even give them to the children, that way no-one leaves, ever.”” I never got your name, what is it?” Lena asked inquisitively.”…Raoul” the man repliedThe stench of burning flesh slowly filled the air, several men had desperately tried to extinguish the flames, only to be overpowered, even as they burned to death they still tried to salvage what they could.” Take me with you” Raoul pleaded, as Lena mounted the bike.” I’m afraid there’s not enough room, I need the extra space for my supplies, and I don’t want to have to look after someone else. I’m sorry” The man wiped his brow, before sighing ” I suppose I have a purpose here, someone needs to help those children, maybe I can raise them differently, teach them about the mistakes the adults made, and then, I’ll die of madness. Death is as good a lesson as any”” Very well, I’ll be going then” Lena said, waving goodbye as she sped out of the town. Meanwhile the man gathered up the children and told them he had something to tell them, something that was very important. The children slowly circled around the man, he observed them, but in that instant fell to the floor like a lifeless ragdoll as a sickle was stabbed into his neck.” I saw you!” A small boy said ” You helped that traveller escape; you’re the enemy of everyone!” The rest of the children cried, they eventually grew tired, and the boy spoke up.” We’re by ourselves now; we need to live on our own” Everyone agreed.” We need to do everything as the adults did” Everyone agreedThe fire had now died down, the children cautiously entered the shrine, and picked up a small bag from one of the adults, it was full of seeds.” The adults always chewed these, we must too”” But we’re not adults” A young girl cried” No, we are now, and this is our reward”.