He had seen their like before. Hungry men, men beleaguered by the harsh words of their swollen-bellied wives, the thin cries of their ailing children. Men beset by exhaustion, who had given every year of their strength and knew that it was never going to be enough.
He understood, his future once was as theirs had proved to be; his boyhood had after all been spent with them.
But he had escaped, had known what was needed and had done it, done it all and yea, he had thrived, while they had not.
He emerged from the doorway, took three paces to the top of the steps, and as the light from the cressets identified him he both heard and saw the winnowed murmur of recognition, of hope pass from the front to the rear of the crowd. Saw that they regarded him as their demagogue, one who would know what was due to them, would know where to lead them.
Silence fell. He raised his voice, and spoke a single word.
‘Tomorrow.’ This week's entry for Steve Isaak's 3 word week -
beleaguer demagogue winnow
definitions to be found at
http://readingbypublight.blogspot.com/2012/02/3-word-week-32.html
Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]
Love this - great use of description, conveying emotion and action.
ReplyDeleteThank you both - I am intrigued by how the more ... rarified? ... vocabulary appears to raise, or at least change the way I write - I'm certainly enjoying the challenge.
ReplyDeleteI love 'winnowed murmur of recognition'. And I agree. Steve's choice of three words has a remarkable effect on how I approach the challenge.
ReplyDelete